Barack Obama may well be our next US President. I welcome that prospect and support the agendae I perceive him to hold. Any insights and information that anyone has I'd like to add to what I have gathered to this point. I am interested in knowing more about him, how he is perceived at home and abroad. (I haven't yet read more than excerpts and subsequent reviews from and about his two books; I definitely will.)

Obama seems to be a multi-faceted man and I think we are going to be frequently surprised at where his intellect and his ambitions take him.

We are well aware that the next administration, whoever it is, will be faced with tremendous, almost irresolvable problems, at least in the short term. I hope Americans, as well as the world stage recognizes that fact and are patient with results and alert to nuance and intent.

Here is a recent article that explores Obama:

"Obama never uses the soaring language of Bush's freedom agenda, preferring instead to talk about enhancing people's economic prospects, civil society and—his key word—"dignity." He rejects Bush's obsession with elections and political rights, and argues that people's aspirations are broader and more basic—including food, shelter, jobs. "Once these aspirations are met," he told The New York Times's James Traub, "it opens up space for the kind of democratic regimes we want." This is a view of democratic development that is slow, organic and incremental, usually held by conservatives."

Fareed Zakaria