The Obama Phenomenon and the 2008 Presidential Election

There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come (Victor Hugo)

Hithrto the various polling data seems to indicate an electorate shifts towards Democrats. Many reasons can be cited for this observable shift, which we don’t go into in this piece. The important point that needs to be made is that Democrats have a much better chance of winning the Presidency than the Republicans in 2008.

Caveat: Obviously, a thousand different other factors will certainly influence the outcome of the next presidency.

The most important question, however, is who has a better chance of winning the general election from among the three Democratic front runners?

Whether or not George W. Bush ever had a “Mandate of Heaven” - you can debate that all day long - but for me, an insightful observer of America politics, it appears more and more that Barak Obama has a “Mandate of Heaven” to win the Presidency.

Unlike the other front runners, Barak Obama has quite well learned that candidates should talk about substance, not strategy; what they want to do, not how the electorate will perceive what they want to do; what their vision is for the country, not what their vision is for getting votes. In short, they must have the guts to articulate what the country needs to hear to move ahead. That I submit to you is a good winning strategy.