Are Americans ready for a President Obama?

If ever there were a dark horse in a political race, Obama would be it. (And for those with extremely thin skin, the "dark horse" comment had nothing to do with skin color.)

All that I know about Mr. Obama is that he is a great speaker and a new voice in the Democratic party which is clearly hungry for new voices. I am fairly underwhelmed with the choices that the Democrats are offering so far. (I do still lean toward John Edwards though. I think he can do it. Edwards/Obama? Obama/Edwards? What do you think?)

I think for Obama to have a chance he would have to convince voters that both parties were anemic and had nothing positive to offer. Then he could be offered up as the alternative to the corrupt "White male club" that dominates both parties.

But the main attraction is the idea of having a "President Obama" as the leader of the predominantly Caucasian, white bread, Christian nation of America. I mean no offence, but "Obama" sounds like the name of the President of a South African nation, not the President of the United States. And I think that is a good thing!

I have always been jealous of the colorful names that the leaders of other countries have. I mean we have presidents like Johnson, Carter, Reagan, and now Bush, what could be more boring then having a name reminiscent of a house plant. I mean other countries have leaders with names like Fidel Castro, Omar Bongo, Roh Moo Hyun, King Abdullah, Mahmoud Abbas, and my personal favorite Jacques Chirac. I mean these names are a blast to say!

President Barack Obama! Isn't that just a treat for the vocal chords?

And think about the late night comedians and political pundits. Think what fun they will have with Obama's name. I mean if he is tough they will nickname him "Barack OBam-Bam", and his initials are "B.O.", I mean the guy is comic gold even without a scandal.

So for those very convoluted reasons I think that we should keep Obama on our radar, just in case.