I heard about Senator Barack Obama a long time back from an old friend, Chris Ng (also known Modeus among a certain circle of friends), way before Obama made his bid for President. At that point of time, I have never thought how Obama could hope to compete against the Hillary Hilarious Clinton.

Even after the Iowa Caucus, I would thought his win was just the bloom of the Morning Glory, where it would fade when the sun sets. New Hampshire seems to support that view, even though I talked about Obama often with a few friends, and we generally root for Obama. Then Senator Obama bounds back in South Carolina, and one of my friends sent me several videos of his speeches, and I begin to pay more attention to the Senator of Illinois. The video demonstrates that Senator Obama is a powerful speaker as he is definitely doing right what has been taught in some of the ‘How to be an effective communicator’ courses I have been to, though I have not given his speeches a more serious thought. After all, the context is more suitable for audiences in the U.S.

Yesterday, Feb 6, is Super Tuesday in the U.S. (Feb 5 over that part of the world). And since I had to work in spite of it being the Chinese New Year Eve here in Singapore, I began to ‘tune in’ to the news coming out of the U.S. and keep track of the progress of Senator Obama in the primaries going on across 20 over states. And as I was looking through the news coming through the Reuters Kobra software on one of my traders’ (who has gone on leave) workstation, I came across a report of the following video.

Yes, we can.

As I watched the MTV, and listened to the snippets of Obama’s speeches in the background, it dawned upon me that being an effective communicator isn’t what Senator Obama is all about. Hilarious can accuse Obama on being short on policies and plans (i.e. ‘You campaign on poetry, but you govern in prose.’ ), but Obama offer more than just policies. He offered hope, and something for the people to believe in, the ability to be bigger than themselves, and to do more in spite of what they are. Never since listening to the speeches of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy, have I seen a politician who can inspire so much. Now I believe he stands a chance, and I’ll glady cheer on Senator Obama, even though whether he becomes President of the United States or not, it probably wouldn’t have much effect on me over here in this country.

Hilarious may claim she’s more experienced, may have been more savvy and ready to rule, but in the last 150 years, one of America’s greatest President, Abraham Lincoln, has hardly the experience of some of his peers when he campaigned for President. And if Hilarious talks about experience, then we need not look further than the White House in the person of Dick Cheney. ‘Nuff said!

The MTV reminded me, that in the movie ‘Enemy At The Gates’ , when Khrushchev ask what else can be done now that intimidation and execution has failed to rally the people of Stalingrad, and one of the cadre replied: We give them hope, comrade.

Yes, hope, and something to believe in. That is what Senator Obama offers to the American people.

Sadly, as I watched the MTV, I also felt that if Obama is a Singaporean, then he would fail dismally. Because for a speaker to be successful, you need an audience of similar capacity. I do not think I would find a receptive audience in Singapore, much less politicians of this calibre, who would probably come with a lower price tag.

Lyrics here:

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can. Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores
and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can. Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized;
women who reached for the ballots;
a President who chose the moon as our new frontier;
and a King who took us to the mountain-top and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
(yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can…)

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can. Si Se Puede
(yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can…)

We know the battle ahead will be long,
but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way,
nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We want change!
(We want change! We want change! We want change…)

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant.
We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check.
We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. We want change!
(We want change! I want change! We want change! I want change…)

The hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA;
we will remember that there is something happening in America;
that we are not as divided as our politics suggests;
that we are one people;
we are one nation;
and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast;
from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.
(yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can, yes we can…)