Skipp O. in Kamakura, Japan

Occasionally, within the long discourse of American political history there are speeches which represent sea changes in the way either Americans participate in our democracy or draw the contours of what the American dream ought to be about. With the exception of the grand speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King we think of these as largely emanating from officials elected to high office. However on a summer evening in 2004 before a national audience at the Democratic Convention, an Illinois State Senator electrified a national audience with his message of bringing a nation torn apart by divisive policies together into a political environment that embraced hope and the ability of different groups to come together in order to resolve common national problems. It was, as is the title of his 2006 book, a message about the audacity of hope. It is this compelling message that first attracted me to the now junior Senator from the state of Illinois.

There are some who might say he does not have sufficient experience. But is experience always the bellwether for success? I would argue no and in fact there have been many highly experienced Presidents who ended up in the political graveyard: Buchanan, Harding, Hoover and Nixon to name a few. Contrary to what another President Bush derisively referred to as "that vision thing" because he admittedly had none, it is precisely having a vision and a demonstrable ability to lead which is of pre-eminent importance. I believe Senator Obama has these qualities and because of it I feel he, better than any other candidate, can help re-light the American dream after these 6+ years of the dismal dark ages of the corrupt Administration of George W. Bush.

Erin K. in China

I moved to London in 2002, six months before the Iraq War began. During the past five years I have been a front row observer to the remarkable deterioration that America’s reputation has suffered overseas. I am and always have been proud to be an American, but over the course of the past few years I have found it impossible to explain, let alone defend, the actions of the Bush administration. To a large degree, the rest of the world has stopped listening to us, stopped respecting us, and that is a shame.

About a year ago I started thinking about the upcoming election and discussing it with any American who was interested. Who were the candidates going to be? Clinton? Gore? Edwards? McCain? To me it all sounded pretty depressing – the same people, the same politics. Then, in October, I watched Obama on Meet the Press say that he was considering a run. I felt a surge of hope. I was, and still am, a bit beside myself with excitement at the prospect of an Obama presidency.

While I know that it is a lot to ask of one person to repair America’s reputation abroad, I believe that Obama is the best person to do that as president. His life experience of having lived overseas in another culture, of having an African father and a white American mother has taught him to be understanding and tolerant of people’s differences. I think he understands that America’s vision for itself is not a ‘one size fits all’ vision for nation-states around the world. Yes, democracy is best, yes, a free and open entrepreneurial society is best; but these things take time to develop and they need to be developed within the context of a society’s underlying beliefs. I think Obama understands that.

I am now living in China and I know first-hand the intricacies and challenges of living and working in a society vastly different from the American one I grew up in. I believe Obama is up for the challenges ahead as we reengage the world in a dialogue about where we are heading as a planet. The dialogue has been sorely lacking over the past eight years and I hope that Obama is the one to strike it back up.

Marcellus K. in London

As a recently naturalized US Citizen (in 2005), I have become increasingly frustrated with the US losing its credibility abroad and its diminished status as a global leader (on various issues ranging from economic to environmental). Its time to put leadership in place which will restore this lost credibility, re-build foreign relations and consequently regain the respect it deserves.

I became an American because the values the USA represents: freedom, equality for all and the ability for every single individual to shape his/her own destiny. Our founding fathers gave us those basic rights. We need leadership which inspires people to employ those basic rights, expands the US' global economic leadership position and inspires people to make "home" a better place from both an environmental (cut green house gas) and social responsibility perspective (healthcare). I believe Barack Obama could inspire various classes of society to take on those challenges.