Summary

“Obama!!!!!” - The author writes about his experiences during the 2004 presidential campaign in the United States – or, more specifically, the first campaign in which Barack Obama was running, and which he (Obama) eventually won. The author describes how he was traveling around the world throughout almost the entire year; how he encountered almost universal doubt about Obama’s chances; and how that doubt seemed to be anchored in the almost universal belief that America as a country is racist. He also describes how doubt about Obama’s chances continued right until Election Day; how reaction to Obama’s election was almost universally positive across Europe; and how that positivity had a faintly patronizing feel about it. The happiness, the author comments was “Not ‘how wonderful that you have a thoughtful new president’ but ‘How wonderful that you elected the president we thought you...