Hamburger Adendblatt, Germany

The Day that Martin Luther King Dreamed Of?

Translated by Daniel Smith

January 05, 2008

Germany – Hamburger Adendblatt - Original Article (German)

The 46-year-old Democrat candidate raises for many US citizens memories of John F. Kennedy - and hope for the revival of the "American Dream".

As Barack Obama, together with his wife Michelle and their two daughters Malia and Sasha took the podium at the Residence Inn in Des Moines climbs, a wave of enthusiasm arose. "Obama, Obama" and "Change, Change" resounded in loud staccato from around 1000 throats in the packed room. The black, tall politician, as always, sitting in a perfectly cut suit, with an almost shy visage. Without calming the crowd, he dearly hugged his wife and children. Then the 46-year-old approached the microphone, breathed deeply several times and called out to the hall: "They said this day would never come." Applause. "This Day" - the day of the surprising victory of Obama at the Iowa Caucus, the first official defeat of the huge favorite Hillary Clinton, who until three months ago led with ten to twenty percentage points. A success that many are not unduly claiming to be "historic".

One would have been glad to be able to read Barack Obama’s thoughts this evening. Thinking of his childhood with an African father (Obama: "black as pitch"), who soon disappeared, and with a mother from Kansas (Obama: "white as milk"), and educated by his grandmother? Thinking that this 3rd January 2008, the dream of the black civil rights leader, Martin Luther King’s dream, described in his famous "I have a Dream" speech in Washington on 28 August 1963, that " children … will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" , is becoming reality?

Although all possibilities for Obama remain open, it is clear that something unusual happened. The people of state in which more than 97 percent of the population are white, and which has never selected a local politician with black skin color, selected a n African-American with a large majority over the candidates for the US presidency.

"They said our goals were too ambitious," Obama continued, " They said the country was too divided, and too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose. " More deafening applause. "Obama, Obama." Here, cheering all together - young and old, women and men, farmers and lawyers, White and Black. "Obama, you are our man," calls a bearded man in a lumberjack shirt to the candidates. The spontaneous replies: "And you are my man"

During the last few months in Iowa probably no word was heard as much as the word "change”. Candidates of every stripe, about 20 in number, promised change. And Barack Obama was no exception. A plate in front of his lectern declares "Change we can believe in". But what from most of the other would-be presidents sounds just like a phrase, has in Obama substance and credibility. The young senator from Illinois promises change and connects the noun repeatedly with the word hope.

That's it. Almost everywhere in the United States millions of people have long been desperate for change to the "We" - to values that once made the United States great. Obama promises somehow a revival of the "American Dream" - but with new content, not only new packaging. "We are one nation. We are one people. And our time for change has come," he calls out to his audience. And there is no doubt that Obama’s deeds will follow his words.

Within a few years, from a political nobody to political star. Actually, Obama did not intend to seek the presidency. He only wanted to gain experience as a senator in Washington. But after his speech at the Democratic Party Election 2004, people suddenly took note of the young politician. First, there was talk of a "rough diamond", and then the media pushed. "Time" magazine headlined in September 06: "Obama - The next president", and the "New York Times" wrote a little later: "Run, Barack, Run" - a request that he make the presidential bid for 2008.

And now suddenly Barack Obama has the best chance – to become the first African-American president of the United States. Even sympathetic critics had until a few days ago pointed out that the "land of opportunity" is not yet ready for a president with black skin. Obama has now impressively refuted that claim.

While Obama’s triumphant fans celebrated, some blocks away in the ballroom of the Hotel Fort Des Moines, the losing favorite Hillary Clinton told her fans that she will continue unperturbed. The image on the stage is a glaring contrast to the Obamas.Hillary is framed by her husband Bill, the aged ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other old-timers. All this indicates little of the new mood.

In another ballroom in the Iowa capital, meanwhile, celebrates the Republican Mike Huckabee, an outsider victor over the favorite Mitt Romney. The former governor from Arkansas has managed to get out of the political no-man's-land to the top. A huge group of Evangelicals helped the conservative Baptist preacher to victory. Whether it will endure, will probably be evident in five days at the primaries in the much more liberal New Hampshire. Huckabee’s success is in any case only a political victory.

Barack Obama can rightly say: "This victory is a memorable moment in history”. He has a movement in motion, recalling the times of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. And he was probably right when he concluded to his supporters: "One day, Americans at the Iowa Caucus in 2008 will look back and say, 'That was the moment when it all began'."