I Will

These are very heady days for Democrats in America. The often ridiculed administration of Republican president George W. Bush is about to come to an end and his anointed successor, John McCain, does not enjoy the advantage of an incumbent over the upstart Barack Obama.

The resulting relatively level playing field, as evidenced by the closeness of the race as shown in most surveys, is surprisingly aided in large part by disparities in the contending personalities than they ought to be on core issues separating the policies of both parties.

McCain, despite his military background, is getting on in years and does not inspire much physical confidence in long-term leadership. By contrast, the sprightly Obama puts the bite in time with his gait, and cuts a more exciting figure than the staid Al Gore back in 2004.

McCain is too laid back to be remarkable. On his own, he cannot hack it in a closely fought presidential election. It is up to his party's political planners to stir up the air with the kind of excitement and confidence the Republicans need to keep the White House.

Obama, on the other hand, is greatly aided by a personality that seems to match the mood of America for change. He hews well to the ground and what the undercurrents say. The litany of failures of the Bush administration is what is providing Obama his own litany of promises.

But it is not yet a done deal for the Democrats. In fact there is a need to rein in the remarkable passions stirred in those remarkable four days in Denver. Obama, in his acceptance of his party's nomination, appears to have been carried away by the emotions and jumped overboard.

As if all the remarkable things in his campaign are not enough, Obama did one more remarkable thing that, hardly noticed by the euphoric crowds, may just be a tad too much as to make the dream self-destruct.

On hindsight, as things settle down, don't you think Obama promised just a little too much for even those who are patently suckers to swallow? It was an acceptance speech that cannot be described in any other way but that he promised everyone the sun, the moon and the stars.

It was a speech that became too beautiful to be true. It was as if Obama was describing himself as God's gift not only to America but to the rest of the world as well. It was as if he had the answer to every question and the solution to every problem.

Listening to Obama ramble on, the disaffected among his listeners began to seriously wonder whether it was humanly possible to make all of those dreams come true. He made his operative phrase “I Will” seem as if it meant simply picking berries from a bush.

Obama said “I will” do this and “I will” do that so many times reporters covering the event will be hard-pressed counting them all. And those of us who were watching him live on tv in the Philippines began to wonder if Obama is not a Filipino as well.

Only a Filipino politician could have made such a staggering number of promises and get away with it. And the biggest surprise of all — the more than 80,000 in the stadium actually loved it. Why, many were in fact crying, as if Jesus was there for the second coming.

Obama has a better chance of winning in November. But winning the election does not necessarily translate into a successful presidency. For if Obama actually believed his own speech, then he is just as naive as they come.

The world turns no longer on the say-so of one man, especially if that one man is an American. Just because Obama says “I will” does not mean the Pearly Gates will open and let him in. And when the gates do not open, boy, are Obama and America in for a big surprise.