At the moment, nothing but sweetness and light attach to the last name Obama. Skeptics note that he is a creation of the media, as if this speaks badly of him. Most politicians would spend millions and go through every exertion to be so created by the media. The more serious, related objection is that Obama has no record of accomplishment during his two-year stint in the Senate. There's a political trade-off here, though. By the time he does anything in the Senate, he will probably be thoroughly acclimated to the institution, making him just as unappealing as the dozen other senators who consider running for president every four years.
The genius of Obama is that he has a pure liberal voting record -- a 100 percent rating from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action in 2005 -- at the same time he appeals to independents and avoids seeming noxiously partisan. No doubt, some of this sheen will be lost the day he were to announce for president. But it also reflects something real. Obama is willing to say that Republicans are wrong, not evil -- a very basic concession that nonetheless takes some bravery in the blog-besotted fever swamp that is much of the left right now. He has shown that he can speak the language of religious believers in a non-focus-group-tested, genuine way. And he has charisma, an invaluable asset that can't be bought or faked.
In the 1990s, the phrase "move on" became a way to try to keep President Clinton from suffering any consequences from the Lewinsky affair. Then, it became the name for the Bush-loathing outfit MoveOn.org, which carried the partisan warfare of the 1990s into this decade. Among the public, there is much sentiment in favor of actually moving on, creating Barack Obama's opening on the national stage.