Man of 2008 Has to Do it All (New Zealand Herald)

When Time magazine nominated Barack Obama as man of the year readers could be forgiven for thinking the award somewhat premature, too much too soon. Sure, he fought a mighty campaign to win the top job in his country and the world, but he has yet to slip into the chair behind the big desk in the Oval Office, therefore his main challenge - the defining task of his life - has not even begun in a formal sense.

And yet just getting to the point at which he could undertake that challenge was an outstanding achievement in itself. It was not so long ago that the election of someone with Obama's background would have been unthinkable in America.

However he handles the daunting task before him, whatever his successes and failures, we can be sure that in future the shorthand versions of history will note him as the first black President. That simple fact will be seen as a marker of a profound shift for the better in attitudes in the United States.

But in the present there are more urgent and pressing issues that define Obama's contribution to 2008. He set out to shine the bright light of hope in the gathering gloom of a great country which seemed to be losing confidence in itself and its ideals as it was weighed down by the consequences of an economic crisis and a debilitating war. And shine that light he did.

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