Crossing my fingers

November 4 is almost over in Hong Kong, and like much of the world, I am hoping that Americans elect Barack Obama as president.

I wasn't a believer when this campaign started. I still think that Hillary Clinton would be a good and able president. I think left to his own judgment, McCain would make a good president, too. (The less said about Palin, the better.) But Obama appears to embody all the traits I hope the next president has, all the traits I believe the next president must have in order to restore some of the goodwill and respect the U.S. used to command in the world. The more difficult task, I think, will be to bring some of that back into the U.S. itself.