http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/07/uselections2008-barackobama
Barack Obama supports the death penalty, falls short of offering truly universal healthcare and has made crudely hawkish noises about Afghanistan and Israel during the campaign. His stirring talk of change has sparked expectations which way outstrip anything he can either deliver or even seems to wish to. I know all this perfectly well, yet watching the results roll in on the small hours of November 5 I felt (more or less) unalloyed joy, an unfamiliar political emotion. And many lefties I've spoken to since admit to feeling the same way. Is this a case of being wilfully duped?
I don't think so. For one thing, there is the undeniably moving symbolism of a black family moving into the White House – a defining moment in American history certainly, and arguably a significant one for global north-south relations. Then, of course, there is great pleasure in seeing a line drawn under the Bush years. That line is all the clearer because on two principle crimes of the Bush-Cheney era, namely Iraq and Guantánamo Bay, Obama took a progressive position early. The prospect of action on climate change is a more practical reason that many progressives cite to explain their pleasure.
Some interesting comments as well.