mandela versus obama

Obama is fresh in our hearts. He is the idol of the moment. He is the symbol of change and hope. He is the symbol of a long-standing dream come true. Almost the whole world, maybe with the exception of his political opponents and some racists, adore him. Mandela was also greeted with a similar amount of euphoria when he came out of prison and became president. Till date, he is still warm in the hearts of many people around the world. The popularity of Mandela is virtually undiluted. Every lover of freedom and fairness, and every hater of racism, oppression and persecution, loves him. Mandela was, and is, a champion and symbol of all those attributes. Indeed, both Mandela and Obama are popular and great men. However, because the popularity of Mandela has endured for long, I will tip him as more popular. Moreover, the two great men are incomparable in other areas. While Mandela is well tested, Obama is not. For instance, let us consider the following areas: 1. Selflessness 2. Sacrifice 3. Doggedness/perseverance 4. Principle 5. Fearlessness 6. Service to humanity 7. Good governance 8. Voluntary surrender of power 9. Respectability 10. Experience 11. Permanence/sustainability Mandela would have good scores in all the areas listed above. Obama, on the contrary, could score high marks in some of the areas as well, but we have no adequate record to judge him on most of the highlighted points. I pray that Obama will remain popular for long as Mandela has done. Time will tell.