YES HE CAN

Admitedly the USA the last eight years has been a country that not many foreigners would really want to visit. A country that had such a bad publicity world wide and a president that looked like a fool most of the time. A country that seemed small at heart but had faulse ideas of grandeur. A country that was constantly raising its foreign debt deficit and a country that was too dependant on others. A country that hardly reminded the world's superpower it once was, except of course of its ease to send troups and missiles anywhere it so chose.
But yesterday in Denver, history was written. History that I had the blessing to experience from my hotel room. History that 80,000 people witnessed. History that gave to millions across america what they had lost: HOPE. America is changing. Not only one man is responsible for that. But one man is responsible for the enthousiasm and the thrill and the excitement and the pride that americans are regaining. Barack Obama.
Trully, I have never listened to a politician, or any leader, that can really make people smile and cry at the same time. Well, not during the last 25 years or so.

To be fair, Andreas Papandreou was equally magic in front of a crowd in the early 80s, promising change which he delivered, only to let us down later on when 80s change became the status quo of the 90s, when his policies became policies of the past, when he endangered the future of the 21st century by not ensuring that the legacy of change would be followed by a solid reconstruction of the country.

Hence, the word 'change' is the only similarity between the Papandreou and Obama. In my book. Obama is more serious - that's what the country need. Papandreou was a rebel in a time were rebels were worshipped. Yet, Papandreou could afford to be a rebel, being born into a political clan and all. Obama, does not have the pedigree, as he put it in his speech, yet he is the one that dares to challenge the system. If that is not rebellious, then I don't know what it is.

What really impressed me by Obama last night is his seriousness, his firmness and his humbleness. And most importantly his party's agenda. As I have never, not ever, listened to a politician that has described in a speech very clearly his policy. Not that political mambo jambo, but his policy. At least not during my adult lifetime.
Yesterday, in my hotel room, jet-lagged and all, I stayed up until 2am to watch his speech over and over and over again.
The date of his official nomination is also historical: it is the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's 'I have a dream' speech. Obama is here to make that dream true. And he is here to make the dreams of so many americans come to fruition. And he is here to make the rest of the world believe again in America.
Not only he has a vision, he knows the obstacles, he stands tall, but he is a crowd magician. The millions of people that listened to his speech last night can account for that.
His speech and the democratic convention was so successful that has McCain's troups thinking they should postpone their convention. They need to regroup. They are thinking of doing something low-key to differentiate.
It will be hard.
I just hope that americans will listen and will vote.
I only wish that there would be a politician in Greece that would inspire one third of Obama's seriousness and responsibility and trust that he or she would really care about the country and not own agenda. But there isn't - At least not in a major party. Obama talked both to the hearts and minds of america's middle class yesterday. Analysts say that this convention is very hard to beat.
YES WE CAN shouted the crowd of 80,000 last night. Yes, we can change America. Obama whether he gets to become president or not, has already changed america. He has made people pay more attention, caring, voting. Obama is successful even before he was given the nomination.
My prayers and hopes are with him.