Barack Obama – follow the lightning

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In Hebrew, my mother tongue, Barack means lightning. Yes, I know that lightning comes before the thunder, before the storm. But to anyone who sees it in a clear sky lightning is an amazing phenomenon. Barack Obama is a lightning phenomenon. I am a happy with my Irish citizenship but these days I often think I would like to be able to vote for Obama, to work for his election, because, simply, I have never come across such a mesmerising US presidential candidate. Watching the Denver shmaltzfest, I cannot help thinking that here is the fulfilment of Martin Luther King’s dream. It has been said many times before – but the fact that a black American can stand proud in front of thousands of people and seek their votes is deeply meaningful. The fact that only 45 years after segregation and after King’s famous speech, a black professor and senator can become the Democratic candidate means that America may be able to go beyond race, towards a new future.