"When Barack Obama was still in his 20s and ran for the presidency of the Harvard Law Review, he won not least because he was able to attract conservatives as well as liberals. His capacity to project a receptive political personality attracted students who, although they saw themselves as ideological opponents, thought they could get a fair hearing from him. That habit of mind, which Obama made so conspicuous in the 2008 campaign, came up hard against the realities of U.S. politics as they are lived in the furious here and the partisan now."
Time's 100 list in "the people who most affect our world" has people from all walks of life which is quite fascinating. The list includes "Bad Boy" Bill Clinton, J.T. Wang, Don Bloom, Didier Drogba, my girl Liya Kebede, Prince, Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey, Lea Michele, Elton John, David Chang, James Cameron, Zaha Hadid, Atul Gamande, Victor Pinchuk, Lee Kuan Yew, Deborah Gist, Lisa Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor; among others. Interestingly, social networking made the list which brings to the fore the powerful effect of Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and all the numerous networking families.

David Remnick on President Barack Obama








