I'll try to reply to you and craig this way:

Obama's popularity in Canada is "salient" in context of how his election was viewed throughout the world. Voters rarely get what they vote for because of pragmatism and balances in the system. Polls indicate the electorate's high disapproval of Congress for its stultifying partisanship.

There is no pretence in my saying that I'm indebted to the United States for giving me hope. Craig wanted me to comment on Obama's character but that's not the point. Obama preached hope and change. The American people who gave him successive majorities galvanized new possibilities everywhere.

Without minimizing this extraordinary political development, I see Obama as an agent. Endorsement of his hope and change came from the American people, for the second time only eight months ago at a time of crushing unemployment and their soldiers fighting and dying overseas.

What a country! With a white candidate, it would have been only two more of the same.