My husband lived in South Africa for 25 years and was there when Mandela became President. He said Mandela did what many thought was impossible, he united a country no one thought could ever be united. Even more impressive he made every person in South Africa proud to be South African. He sees Senator Obama being able to do the same for our country.

Mandela spent years in prison - is that where the NYT sees Obama headed for?

What about this Rezko trial and Obama's kickbacks don't we know about?????

March 5th is the date the trial starts.

the author clearly doesn't know as much about nelson mandela's life as they would like to think. the only legitimate comparison that can be made at this point in obama's career is that they both have the ability to inspire people. I really wish people would stop this kind of thing, he doesn't claim to be a savior of any kind and people should quit trying to put him in that mold.

Only morons will compare Barack Obama to Nelson Mandela.

Barack Obama does not even come close to Steve Biko, the late leader of our Black Consciousness Movement.

The Obama Camp is really spending some money on Public Relations.

Who is next?

Obama who is begging for gay voters and pro-abortion voters?

Gays dare not even say they are gay in the open in Africa.
They would be stoned to death.

Women who commit abortion in Africa are cursed as whores.

Barack Obama of the Antoin "Tony" Rezko fame?
Barack Obama is a desperate politician.
Nelson Mandela was never desperate.

Obama would flee than spend 24 years in a penal colony on Robben Island.
Obama that could not live in his fatherland Kenya and fled back to his White mommy in America is nothing like our Nelson Mandela.

Barack Obama can spin America, but he cannot spin Africa.

In fact, the Nigerian 419 Internet scammers are likely busy looking for ways to compose their Yahoo-Yahoo Scam mails using the name of Barack Obama.
Barack Obama will soon be related to a Nigerian Minister.:)

Wake up America!

This piece is truly a work of either wishful thinking or outright fiction.

Do some research. Obam's daddy worked for Jomo Kenyatta not Mandella.

Obama has more in common with the philosophy of Paul Robeson, Ralph Bunche and C.L.R. James than he does Martin Luther King or Mandella.

As usual the hounds of Huffington Post
are barking up the wrong tree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Jacobins

We have fallen for Obama, enraptured by his poetic oratory and the strength of his inspirational ideas and have been caught up in what has been coined the "Obama swoon."

Hillary has attempted to combat his vision, described by as part MLK and part JFK, by reminding anyone who would listen that Obama is inexperienced, and talk is cheap and that what the country really needs is someone with the ability to navigate the politics and to actually get stuff done. Nobody is listening, and it doesn"t matter because the big ideas that Obama offers will redefine our country. He is truly the candidate of change. He has articulated the vision.

"This was a victory for hope.....by showing that we could disagree with each other without being disagreeable...put your cynicism down...by challenging you to stake in your neighbor's dreams and struggles as well as your own..... Democrats and Independents and Republicans are here. You are liberal and moderate and conservati­ve....This has never been my campaign. It has always been yours. The real heroes here are the thousands of you, here...You are the ones who transformed this from a political campaign to a movement for change and I am honored and awed by what you have done...You made a claim on history....to govern in a whole new way, to make change real and lasting and meaningful. to refuse the politics of division and fear.... 'hope for the best and work for it.'..."

Inspired and brilliant. It is, however, actually the words of David Axelrod"s client immediately previous to his campaign work for Obama. It is the acceptance speech of Deval Patrick, black governor of the State of Massachusetts.

We know that Obama is not the experienced candidate. Is it a possibility that what is really behind Obama that has made us all a part of the "swoon' is simply the very effective product of David Axelrod political guru, who validated the message during the successful Governors campaign in Massachusetts, which he managed? Have we all been suckered by illusion?

I do not think there are any parallels between Obama and Mandela. Different issues different times. Mandela is a real hero of humanity whereas Obama is a product of our political system based on ulterior interests, which are beyond the scope of the american people.

Obama, Clinton or any other political candidates has the capacity to transform our country into a transparent nation. Corruption is eating us from the inside out. Just like Mexico. Next time we will be chatting from a concentration camp.

I am reading posts on here by people that probably don't even know an ounce about mandela...nyt's parallels were very accurate...we only get people like obama,mandela once in a generation and believe me it's right here with us again...some people wouldn't know it even if it hit them

If the purpose of this article was to note that Barack Obama can make a good speech, I agree, but I like the comment below saying that a comparison with FDR is more apt. I also recall FDR as a pretty good president, in spite of the Republicans who have called him the usual bad names!
I suspect all these comparisons with Blacks (some with KIng) are not what them pretend to be. Is this simply praise for Obama or are they repeating Bill Clinton's South Carolina message: "Hey, folks! Obama is Black"?
He is, but frankly, my dears, I don't give a Rhett Butler!

Have yu gone crazy?

Obama is Mandella, Jesus Christ, Kennedy, Oprah, Maria, King, etc.... all rolled into one?

Dont insult our intelligence ... and dont insult Mandell.

I support Obama and even canvased for him in Iowa. Having said that, I couldn't disagree more. Mandela was a hero facing incredible odds. He also brought the black majority to power in a peaceful way, even after being imprisoned by the whites for 2 decades.

Obama is a great man, but has not been tested in the same way as Mandela.

Isn't there some law prohibiting public orgasm?

This is a stupid misleading headline, and it's an Obama turnoff (maybe that was the intention!).

We all know Mandela's story, there is no comparison to Obama and you know this. Oh, except that they're not caucasian.

In comparison, Obama has yet to make his mark on this world, and he hasn't even done it in America yet. That's why he's running for president, and for those who see great leadership potential in Obama for presidency, we can only hope that in America we can even come close to inspiring the world as Mandela has.

"Within minutes, I couldn’t recall a single thing that he had said, and the speech dissolved into pure feeling, which stayed with me for days."

George Packer, New Yorker
http://obamamessiah.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-couldnt-recall-single-thing-that-he.html