A leaf from McCain's book

To the developing world, Africa in particular, the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the Oval Office carries extraordinary significance.

As Obama himself put it, his election has shown that "everything is possible in America", a reference to his campaign's ability to reach out to diverse - even divergent - voting blocks: The man who doesn't "look like other presidents on the dollar bill" resonated with young voters, reached out to erstwhile Republican Hispanic and Jewish voters, embraced gays and heterosexuals and got out an unparalleled solid mass of black America.