The Black Man in a White House - a journey

The entire world had been transfixed on this man called Barack Obama & not necessarily just to the American election of 2004. It was definitely a case being made of, potentially the 1st Afro-American person winning the post of American Presidency.

That destination, he eventually did reach. In itself, the victory while great, is an incomplete story.

The deeper elements of that journey are worthy of admiration.

It is said that "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"!

America - the supposed winner of the cold war & world's only perceived super power, however had since a decade, been demonstrating recklessness beyond belief in both moral & ethical terms. 

Notwithstanding the huge spend & promise, Osama bin Laden had not yet been caught but Bill Clinton's extra-marital affair with a much younger intern Ms Lewinski, had been captured on tape. 

That was followed by the declaration of Iraq war (not sanctioned by the United Nations vote).

Compounding the problem, in parallel was a resource draining ill-conceived and badly defined "war on terror" as called out by the now infamous & then isolated George Bush. 

As if the loss of goodwill from compromised policies & principles was not enough, the pain further got punctuated with the US economy being punctured by the collapse of the Lehman Brothers, eventually leading to the greatest bailout in the world's financial history. 

There was a huge cynicism among American people towards their career politicians.

With that dark background, Obama had walked on the stage & stood under the spotlight to perform. And perform he did & how.....he had the world outside of America playing the role of a big cheer leader as while they could not vote, they could judge him in the absolute without the distraction of party or ideological biases ! 

Along with several others, Obama had decided to put up his name to contest for the most coveted address & powerful office in the world, i.e., The White House. 

In the beginning however, Obama was just this : a skinny black man with huge ears, funny name, even funnier last name & having a Muslim middle name ( at a time when America was at a war, in terms of both real & ideological one with Muslim Middle East); one who was born in the disconnected from mainland island state of Hawaii, with no deep experience in politics or any Godfather in the government and finally, a person with very little bank balance & a thin resume. 

Initially, the American press hardly took notice of him.

Using his gift of the gab & by being as crafty as gentlemanly, he out navigated every other opponent.

Only Hillary Clinton from his own Democratic party & John McCain from the Republican party remained to be beaten.

Both of his opponents were heavy weights.

Hillary Clinton had actually already lived in the White House & so as the former First Lady, enjoyed President Bill Clinton's experience & clout. The public was very familiar with her as a long serving senator, who had been by her husband's side when American economy was really booming & also stood by him when he had fallen from grace by demonstrating her softer side as a forgiving wife. She even nullified Obama's 'novelty factor' with her own debutante attempt of being the possible 1st Woman President of America.

John McCain was a seasoned politician, with lots of friends, a man respected on both sides of the House & vast international experience. He was known for his patriotism, was a POW in the Vietnam war and still bore scars on his body from torture by the enemy. 

America needed such a person esp. when it had 2 on going wars - in Iraq & Afghanistan and a belligerent Russia too had once again raised it's head in a manner that was not tickling the American funny bone. 

Sensing the mood of the moment, McCain ran his race on just two words long slogan - COUNTRY FIRST. He had easily climbed to the top by beating all the candidates from his own Republican Party.

Running low on money and not expecting Obama to win but afraid that inner competition was working to the opponent McCain's advantage, Hillary Clinton actually offered to Obama, the underdog, a chance to withdraw from the race and support her for the top spot in exchange for an assured "Best, less just one" position,  i.e., of Vice President of America. 

Tempting as it may have been, Obama still refused and eventually beat her too, leaving her in huge debt from campaign finance expenditure.

Obama now had to focus only on his main opponent John McCain, whose campaign's appeal was, that when the country is in such dire straits, it is time to put it in the tried experienced hands & not experiment with the amateur or the "different."

However much to John McCain's displeasure, through the campaign trail, Obama had instead managed to construct a refreshing & reassuring brand of himself & was seen as one who is far & away from the usual crop of leadership.

He had also surrounded himself with talented individuals for his campaign. A master strategists, he paid attention to the smallest of detail. 

As an example & of significance to us, when Field Marshal Sam Bahadur Manekshaw died, Obama was quick to send his condolences to Indian government, saying "India has lost a great hero" & so managed to sway even the wealthy NRI hearts, who were otherwise known to supporters of the Republican party.

He had sensed the cynicism towards the career politicians type mood of American public and so went about collecting goodwill of the masses at one end & channelizing their anger emanating from financial difficulties at the other, by harnessing both to his advantage. 

As if wanting to highlight to the voters that he is indeed a person that can make a "difference" & give an in-the-face rejoinder to McCain, Obama in fact ran his race on just a one word slogan - CHANGE !

Again, secure as it would have been, Obama demonstrated integrity by walking-the-talk for the American public to see, by refusing to accept any money & donations from large lobby groups whom he may have to repay later by favors. Instead he reached out to the ordinary Toms, Dicks & Harrys in the crowds to shell out just as little as five dollars for his campaign, as even small mattered to him. Offering them dignity in donation, he was able to convert individuals into a huge supportive crowds & ended up collecting about 650 million dollars, twice that of McCain, who was in fact having support of the very rich, including corporate America !

Barack Obama's campaign story is that of textbook leadership - he picked freedom over security, remained at easy in his skin, demonstrated huge amount of grit, determination, temperance, collected knowledge as he went along, listened aggressively and spoke his mind as emphatically as eloquently.

When the result came out in the end, it was clear that the Americans had put their COUNTRY FIRST by demanding a CHANGE. It was a dream that had come true, where voters had put content of character over color of skin to buy The Black Man a ticket to a White House. 

The rest is history but we were right there to witness it all happen - the triumph of the human spirit over all odds.

Barack Hussein Obama - Yes He Did!