Obama Also Leads McCain on the Bookshelves Obama Elected First African-American U.S. President Kenya Celebrates President-elect Obama as Native Son

So began Democratic Party presidential candidate Bill Clinton in his nomination acceptance address to the Democratic national convention in 1992, turning the audience into a sea of laughter. With the humor he erased the shame he sustained four years earlier when the audience jeered his long boring keynote speech. Delivering a keynote speech at the party convention, by nature, offers a next-generation leader a gateway to success; perhaps because of a sense of burden, such speeches often fail.

But the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic national convention given by obscure politician Barack Obama heralded the birth of a new star, deeply moving its audience. "Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let’s face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely," he said.

What he meant was that a “daring hope” for a gaunt boy with a strange name, born in Hawaii as the son of a Kenyan student, had been made possible by living in the United States. The audience was moved by the intellect and passion with which he eloquently spoke while addressing the challenges the U.S. faced.

He has since delivered a series of famous addresses. His New Hampshire primary speech, among others, concisely and dramatically portrays the American spirit -- of 'Yes, we can' -- that passes through the founding fathers, frontier explorers, immigrants, and John F. Kennedy, whose beliefs sent man to the moon. The speech was sampled in a music video by Will.I.Am., in which many U.S. stars appeared. In his Philadelphia address in March, he repudiated the remarks about “God damn America” by his spiritual godfather, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

At the same time, however, Obama requested understanding of the serious racial discrimination that prompted those remarks. He then appealed boldly for evolving America into "a more perfect union" by pursuing the ideal of the U.S. Constitution that "the citizens are equal before the law."

Persistent with Obama is the idea that although it cannot resolve all problems, the government must do what the citizens cannot do by themselves, and the belief that one has to look after one's brothers and sisters. His exclamation that if senior citizens cannot pay for medicines life becomes poorer, makes one anticipate a reform of the U.S. medical insurance system Hillary Clinton attempted unsuccessfully in the past.

But Obama offers something distinctly different from liberals of the past. Cognizant of the importance of family and the power of morality, he emphasizes that both individual and social responsibilities are important. His emphasis of the responsibility of patriarchal roles within black families has invited indignation from old-style black leaders, like Rev. Jesse Jackson. His economic security formula through tax cuts for 95 percent of working families is an approach substantially removed from that established by liberals.

Relative generosity toward heterogeneity has gradually expanded in the U.S.; German-born Jew Henry Kissinger was previously secretary of state and an Austria-born actor is California’s state governor. If elected, the nation’s first black president will advance tradition a few steps.

Yet Obama has shortcomings, such as scant diplomatic experience and no administrative career. He is also inclined to protectionist trade policies on behalf of the U.S. economy, a major temptation under the current fiscal crisis. But the fact that the decisive factor aggravating the Great Depression of 1929 was extreme trade protectionism, called the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, speaks well for itself.

He is a new-style leader who will present hope to a world that regularly changes overnight. He is capable of coping rationally with unregulated greed, restoring international credibility that Washington has lost. He can lead the development of alternative energies. Chances are he will continue the anti-terrorism strategy implemented by the Bush administration.

If Obama is elected, the pendulum will shift towards demanding a greater role in government. I sincerely hope that he, buoyed by his strong intellect and passion, will establish an appropriate balance between the social insurance system and neo-liberalism -- and wisely address the onerous tasks the U.S. and the world confront.

The column was contributed by Kang Kyu-hyung, a professor of history at Myongji University.