It has been eight years since a young George W. Bush entered the White House, riding on a wave of Conservative revival following 8 years of prosperity unprecedented since the Golden Age of the 1950s and 1960s. At the time, Bush held many question marks for analysts and the public. His lack of substance was especially visible in foreign policy. Yet it was precisely foreign policy that became the paramount issue throughout his presidency.

What has happened since?

Americans are less confident, less prosperous and more wary of the future now then they were back in 2000. The housing bubble burst, affecting consumption, consumer confidence and growth. The structural problems affecting US trade patterns grew worse, accentuating American dependency on East Asia. The dollar, meanwhile, has slid upon a slippery slope, and now has a realistic prospect of losing its supremacy as a worldwide reserve currency, affecting seignorage abilities of Washington, D.C.

Perhaps the most worrisome development throughout the Bush presidency, has been the gradual decline of American power relative to China, but, most of all, that of American legitimacy as a global leader. The war in Iraq, the intolerant and bellicose rhetoric, and the self-righteous attitude of Bush’s neocon puppetmasters has affected US credibility. What used to be a paragon of democracy and freedom, has now turned out into a hated struggling hegemon.

Enter Barack Obama. Coming from virtually nowhere, a young Illinois Senator manages to inflict the most astonishing upset in recent Democratic history. His personality is magnetic, his rhetoric inspiring. He is a byword for ‘change,’

Critics of Obama have attacked him on two main fronts:

  • lack of experience. According to this view, Obama lacks the leadership experience that would allow him to effectively run the US administration, and to actually effect the change he has been promising from day one of his presidency.
  • lack of substance. Obama is all words and no substance, he has no clear take on the issues that matter most to Americans.

Yes, Obama is young, and he lacks the kind of political experience that Hillary Clinton has. But then again, America is in desperate need of a break with the past, of a clean slate, and this is where Obama holds the day. Also, many of the people who listen to Obama think that, just because he is a formidable public speaker, that necessarily means that there is little substance behind his words. I invite these critics to navigate Obama’s website to the “ISSUES” tab and read.

Obama is the absolute opposite of Bush. He is what America needs right now, to boost confidence in the US as a political system, as an economy, and as a melting pot of various races and creeds. To restore the US image throughout in the world and reposition America as a constructive and benevolent hegemon with the power to effect, in cooperation with its traditional partners, a change for the good.