Obama is different

There is so much being endlessly broadcast about the US primaries that I've avoided the subject on this blog. Till now, that is. The following is an excerpt from "Unstoppable Obama" by Barbara Ehrenreich, published Feb. 14, 2008 in Huffington Post:

" ...Let's take seriously what (Obama) offers, which is 'change' The promise of 'change' is what drives the Obama juggernaut, and 'change' means wanting out of wherever you are now...
"Consider our present situation. Thanks to Iraq and waterboarding, Abu Ghraib and the 'rendering' of terror suspects, we've achieved the moral status of a pariah nation. The seas are rising. The dollar is sinking. A growing proportion of Americans have no access to health care; an estimated 18,000 die every year for lack of health insurance. Now, as the economy staggers into recession, the financial analysts are wondering only whether the rest of the world is sufficiently 'de-coupled' from the US economy to survive our demise....
"Obama is different, really different, and that in itself represents 'change.' A Kenyan-Kansan with roots in Indonesia and multiracial Hawaii, he seems to be the perfect answer to the bumper sticker that says, 'I love you America, but isn't it time to start seeing other people?' As conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan has written, Obama's election could mean the re-branding of America. An anti-war black president with an Arab-sounding name: See, we're not so bad after all, world!
"So yes, there's a powerful emotional component to Obama-mania, and not just because he's a far more inspiring speaker than his rival. We, perhaps white people especially, look to him for atonement and redemption. All of us, of whatever race, want a fresh start. That's what 'change' means right now: Get us out of here!"