* Barack Obama has made history by becoming the first African-American president of the world’s most powerful democracy. The most significant aspect of the victory has nothing to do with colour however. Credit should be given to the manner in which he was able to earn the confidence of the people. All said and done, the undeniably important factor is people’s anger at the economic collapse. In fact, any candidate put up by the Democrats had a great chance of winning. Obama was in the right place at the right time. —S. Rajagopalan, San Ramon, CaliforniaPresident for all* Obama is the president of all Americans, not of those of any particular race. At last, intellect and charisma prevailed over the race war in America. Obama’s words reflected his sentiments for fellow Americans. His success became imminent when concerns over the economy overrode concerns over the war in Iraq. Obama is the phenomenon that has shaken America; that might yet change America. He personifies a revolution.—Anjan Kumar Samal, Delhi Vision realised* This has not really been a vote for Obama. It has rather been a vote against the Republicans who are being blamed for the economic crisis. Well, history has been made in more ways than one. First, we almost saw an encore of the Great Depression; and now, for the first time in US history, an African-American has bagged the most powerful job in the world. Martin Luther King would have been delighted seeing his vision materialise. The question still remains: can Obama address current American woes? The challenges confronting the US indicate that he should fix the economy first. Every thing else will follow automatically. —Navneet Dhawan, New Delhi Humble beginnings* Unlike most of his predecessors, Obama’s humble background and past experience — including his work as a community organiser — will surely provide him a perspective on issues from the grassroots level. Taking into consideration the path he treaded to reach the pinnacle of power is not without purpose, especially since he campaigned and got elected on the platform of “Change”. Hopefully, his purpose is the well-being of humanity as a whole. Given the gloom of the financial crisis, change is not an option but a necessity. That is why the American people and the world have responded to Obama’s call for change and entrusted him with the Oval Office. And it is not wrong to say that Obama’s speeches during the campaigns created more than a glimmer of hope about the different path he might take from those taken by previous administrations. —Md Ziyaullah Khan, Pune
