By Jon-Christopher Bua, Sky News political analyst

BARACK

On Tuesday June 3rd Barack Obama reached an historic milestone, becoming the first black nominee for the Presidency of the United States.

Another candidate who believed in a unifying dream and vision for America predicted this moment four decades ago.

Robert F. Kennedy said at the time that things were changing quickly in America and that he thought it was possible that there would be a Negro president of the United States in 40 years.

It is fitting that the first black nominee for president is not only the embodiment of our collective hopefulness but that he shares the spirit and the ideals of those who have paved the road with their scarifies before him.

Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Lyndon Johnson, James Baldwin and the entire civil rights movement built the platform on which Barack Obama now stands.

Many believe that Obama's appeal is that he speaks to our hopes. He challenges us to become a more enlightened and more inclusive nation once again and to work together to achieve our common goals.

As well our noble ancestors knew change never comes easily or quietly.
 
When it does come it is often met with resistance as the fear of the future and complacency with the present painfully give way to hope.

Only time will tell if Barack Obama can measure up to the epic tasks ahead.

If his campaign for the Democratic nomination is any indication, he will be a force to be reckoned with.

As with the former president Bill Clinton sixteen years ago, Obama's candidacy may have aligned with a special moment in time when people are eager to embrace something new and challenge the status quo.

HILLARY & BILL

Hillary believed that she had earned the right to be the Democratic nominee.

Since she left the White House she and the former president continued to rule the Democratic Party.

Hills and Bill raised mounds of money for Democratic candidates and held sway over the Democratic Party apparatus with an iron first.

Although Hillary thought that she had paid in full for the loyalty of these elected officials - Superdelegates - in the end it was the crumbling support of this very group that forced her to accept that she had lost the nomination.

Hillary had planned and plotted to take her "rightful place" as the first female nominee for president.

She started out as the "inevitable nominee" practically being measured for her ermine robe and crown while arrogantly ignoring the other Democratic contenders and proceeding as if it was already the general election.

Her strategy and message were based on the "back to the future" and return to the “good ole days” of the Bill Clinton Administration.

She also expected to have the nomination all sewed up by February and therefore had no "Plan B".

Hillary planned to use her secret weapon - Bill - in a way that Al Gore, to his own peril failed to do.

Taking credit for all the good things in the Clinton Administration - without dealing with the "troubling parts" or the "dicey bits" that still continue to plaque their legacy.

Hillary and her team overlooked the "skinny guy" until he trounced her in Iowa.

True, she underestimated Obama but it was Bill who was both her greatest asset and in the end her greatest liability.

Bill started out as the most beloved Democrat who not only could raise money but also capture the hearts and minds.

However Bill seemed conflicted and could not get it quite right - that The Campaign was about "Hillary" and not him. 

Often it seemed that at the moment she began to pick up some steam he was there to pull the plug.

Especially when after Iowa, he opened up the racial divide trying to define Obama as the "black" candidate, calling his campaign a fairy tale and comparing his inevitable victory in South Carolina to that of Jesse Jackson's.

It was never clear which Bill feared most, electing Hillary as president who might accomplish more than he did or Barack Obama himself, a charismatic figure who could usurp him as the object of adoration in the Democratic family.

In the end there may have been nothing that Hillary could have done to stop this inevitable and historic seismic shift.

And for Barack Obama? Well, at least now he only has one candidate to run against for his place in history.

Comments

[Namvet 19 Jun 2008 19:55:18]

Congratulations to Senator Obama, he will be a great President if elected. I do have a concern though. Some of the Washington papers have recently reported about some of his recent staff additions to his campaign team.

A case in point is Stephanie Cutter who was the communications director during the Kerry campaign. How did that work out? Cutter was one of the Kerry "brain trust" folks who decided the Swift Boat Veterans against Kerry could be ignored; against the advice of many Veterans for Kerry professionals, the campaign never spent a dime responding to the smears generated by the Swifties against Kerry.

Because of the lack of response at the campaign, many veterans and other voters in the U.S. believed there was an element of truth in the lies and distortions of Kerry's service record. Let's hope we don't hear about Senator Obama hiring Bob Shrum or Mary Beth Cahill, two other folks who proclaimed loud and clear in 2004 there was no need to respond to the Swifties.

Mark my words, if the good Senator from Illinois does keep hiring from the Kerry retreads, he'll suffer the same fate the Bay State Senator did and we'll all be crying in our beer again the morning after election day.

[El Lepero 17 Jun 2008 11:04:07]

Hillary should have been the Democratic Nominee. Obama does not stand a chance of winning against Senator John McCain.

[Khalid 17 Jun 2008 04:19:24]

Sir
Whilst I take note of your most comprehensive synopsys of this campaign, it really does pave the way for much to mull about.
On the one hand, the people of America showed their true intent, whilst others will percieve it as being another gameshow.
Looking at http sky-news we now learn that Al Gore has decided to back Senator Obama, taxing certain brain cells thus far as to ask how did Al Gore reach such a decisive decision after eveyone knew who they wnated to be the next President? Now, putting aside for a moment the shenanigans of Mr Clinton and the many a warring faction, then there is no contest whatsoever between Senator Obama & McCain. The latter rather tired and carying credentilas we all are screaming to avoid...war!
I agree with many a person that America needs a tough commander in chief, however, in the UK there goes a saying, once tarred its very difficult to return to normality, an asset Im afraid will haunt McCain for ever onwards.
America has decided for fruitful change and perhaps may have chosen what it perceives to be the best,but didnt the other half also choose what they thought was best for mother America. All in all you can say we have another EU disaster emerging [Robbie Williams] but with [No Regrets] to show. Novemeber will tell.

[Kristin 16 Jun 2008 15:35:40]

Elizabette Italy, I'm with you on that one!

[Elisabetta Italy 16 Jun 2008 12:32:10]

at this point let's hope McCain wins, Elisabetta Italy

[Dime, London 12 Jun 2008 19:13:12]

Truly historic moment which I had no doubt would happen once I saw the Clinton old tricks come to play. I was worried that Obama would be drawn into the dirty mud slinging and he nearly did. I hope he has learnt an important lesson to apply with Macain. The Republican nominee is a more crafty and seasoned opponent. I forsee that his very underdog look at the moment will draw people to the soft spoken 'old veteran'. An appeal which he is carefully building, making out that Obama is barely out of kindergarten! He needs watching, but fortunately he will find it hard to push his line on Irag, which is still an illegal war that continues to drain American hardly needed resources, while demimating Irag.