The ranting of Barack Obama's former pastor may have been objectionable, but America needed to hear what he said.
Few of us will like Jeremiah Wright's tone, but surely we know from the reaction of so many around the world that much of what he said echoes loudly. For strong supporters of America, like me, it is painful and unpleasant. But from Vietnam to Palestine, and from Nicaragua to Iraq, America's public attitude to so much of the rest of the world has brought condemnation and in too many, hatred.
Pastor Wright's shouting "God damn America" may have drawn the sound bite generation on You Tube, and Barack Obama may have fallen back in the polls as a result. But millions across the world do damn America every day, and in this election America needs to understand why. It has, come November, a unique opportunity to repair that hurt, and elect to the office of president someone who has none of the baggage of the post-cold war years and who can rebuild trust in America as the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Barack Obama may be a little thin on policy. But he is big on leadership, and he can renew a connection with and appreciation of America the world over. Last week in his amazing "A more Perfect Union" speech, Senator Obama explained that only in America could he the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas be a serious candidate for president. He is the epitome of the American Dream, a dream that has been all too bruised over the past ten years.
Serving as president is not only about rhetorical greatness, though Obama has than in spades. Equally policy development is not what being president is about either. Being president is more inspiration than perspiration. It is about building a team, uniting the nation, and representing the largest economy and most powerful military and culturally influential nation on a global stage. And particularly now, it is about letting the whole world come to love America a little more and hate it a little less.
I heard John McCain speak at the Conservative Party conference in Bournemouth in October 2006. Undeniably he is a hero, and come November he may be president, and if he wins he will deserve the full support of us all. But Senator McCain's 40 minute speech to the Conservative Party was read from behind a lectern with full autocue. There was nothing personal in it. No warmth or endearment. No love. It was a speech that we could have heard from Gerald Ford 30 years ago. Formal, well meaning, determined, but dull and uninspiring.
America has to change the way it is perceived by the rest of the world it. It needs a new great communicator who can inherit the mantle of that greatest of presidents, Ronald Reagan, and not only unite one nation across the United States, but also unite the world in a more peaceful, respectful, and eloquent democracy. To my mind Barack Obama is the only candidate who can deliver that, even more so following his amazing speech on race last week, and for that reason he has my support.
