Andrew Sullivan wrote a piece in The Times the other day, and it has to be the most articulate, almost poetic, analysis of Obama that I’ve read. Entitled Can Barack Obama fix it? Yes he can, the article looks at what makes President Obama tick, and takes a look at his stance on different political questions.

The column starts:

Magnanimity in victory: that was Churchill’s advice. And since his precocious victory last November, Barack Obama has walked that Churchillian walk. It is not common in politics, especially after a meteoric rise past every prejudice, every smear and every Clinton, but Obama has an old soul’s perspective and an intellectually secure man’s confidence. Perhaps he has too much confidence — except that every time his friends feared that in the campaign, he proved them wrong.

From the shallow brittleness of George W Bush to the supple strength of Obama is a revolution in temperament and style not seen since Jimmy Carter gave way to Ronald Reagan 28 years ago. It signals the kind of administration that now looms before us: a conciliatory, inclusive, pragmatic form of liberalism. It’s a liberalism eager to learn from the insights of conservatives, and it is pioneered by a president-elect shrewd enough to know that generosity of spirit means more leverage and influence, not less.

This was my favourite bit:

When you listen to him rattle off all the dimensions of the broader conflict, you are aware that this is a president who does not see the world in black and white or in with-us-or-against-us terms. He sees it as a series of interconnected conflicts that can be managed by pragmatic solutions, combined with a little rhetorical fairy dust and willingness to offer respect where Bush provided merely contempt. This is not a panacea. But it is not nothing either.

It’s quite a long piece, but definitely worth reading every word.

I have every faith that Obama is the right man, at the right time, for the job at hand, and America is lucky to have him.

Thanks muchly to Dawn B for sending me the article.