Flicking between the news stations just now, I came across a channel showing the episode of the West Wing in which Matt Santos, a Latino candidate, is elected president. But when you think about Obama’s story it is more remarkable than any TV or film script. Indeed, in fiction it would seem implausible.
Four and a bit years ago, a black Senate candidate with an usual name addressed the Democratic National Convention. The sheer power of his rhetoric transformed him from an aspiring local politician to a national figure. He spoke to a widespread yearning for unity.
A couple of years later, after a book tour in which he had drawn crowds that would be the envy of candidates running for any office, he decided to take on the most powerful machine in the Democratic party and run for the party’s nomination.
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