The Bridge

David Remnick has written an extensive (750 page) biography of Barack Obama, entitled “The Bridge.” The work is a formidable book about the life and ascent of the current president of the United States, in my opinion the most important North American politician since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, perhaps matched only by John F. Kennedy or even with one politician who did not become president, Adlai Stevenson; the most brilliant intellectual who intervened in that period of gringo politics and whose countrymen should surely have taken him to the Oval Office of the White House.

The author of this great work is an important figure in North American journalism, editor of The New Yorker since 1998 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1994 with his book “Lenin’s Tomb.”

Reading this book, one understands the reason Obama comes across as an exceptional figure in the global landscape and how his personality transcends the borders of his country, thereby situating him as an international leader. Although the domestic polls fail to show the real dimension of his political stature thanks to the measure of his popularity being so influenced by the extreme gringo right, this sector was severely undermined by Obama’s government when the health reform was successfully implemented in the face of ferocious opposition not only coming from Republicans in Congress but also from the gigantic insurance companies and the powerful providers of medical services, which saw their economic interests seriously affected by the reform impelled by the president.

And only a few days ago he dared to challenge the Jewish community when he stated that the borders between Israel and Palestine should be those laid out following the war of 1967, enraging many Jews, and everyone knows the influence that they have in American elections, not only in terms of the number of votes but also as providers of campaign funds.

Obama’s racial component is a microcosm. Born of a Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas, having grown up in Bangladesh and Hawaii, and with a second name that is Arabic and has unpleasant associations, in the presidential election Obama found himself up against a solid representative of the right, Senator McCain, who followed the vice presidential formula of the formidable Sarah Palin, the hirsute politician from Alaska. He took both of them head on, gracefully passed the test — his dark-skinned image captivating the audience — and he took his place on the platform like a dancing Fred Astaire, according to the wife of the Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes.

As a liberal and a Democrat, I hope Obama gets reelected in the 2012 presidential election so that his vision of creating a more egalitarian society may be realized and so that the United States may once again be, without dogmatism or exercising illegal interference, the great example of the free world.

The return of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, and the hopefully imminent recovery of the economy will attest to his efforts. From what I saw and heard on my recent trip to the United States, the conditions are ripe for this fascinating man to continue as president. I recommend that my readers buy Remnick’s book, confident that those who read it will be grateful for the recommendation.