In the brief time that has passed since Barack Obama burst onto the world political stage, he has been viewed as many things by many people. By taking Tom Daschle's advice to "run before you have a record that they can use against you," he was able to present himself not as a candidate with a past, but as a concept with a future. His potential election was viewed as historic -- for some because of his proclaimed status as "the first black president of the United States," by others as the fulfillment, fifty years later, of the interrupted promise...