Obama has changed his country and kept promises; what’s there not to like?

I like Mr Obama. And I have 10 good reasons for that. The best steak I have ever had was at a restaurant called Rivabella on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.

The food was glorious, the crowd effortlessly glamorous, and my colleague paid — his credit card gave off a cloud of smoke — and our hosts were a bunch of Latino rogues who kept us entertained.

America is a clean, safe, developed place — most of it anyway — and I quite like it. But it is a bad idea to be poor, and a worse one to be black, in that country. To be poor and black in America, to live for example in the inner city settlements, is a very unhappy set of circumstances.

It is hard enough for a black man to stay out of jail in America, from what we see in the news. It is doubly difficult to prosper. But to actually succeed in ruling the place and getting all those people to have faith in you and vote for you takes a very good politician.

Mr Obama is one of the best black political leaders in the history of man, purely on the basis of his achievements so far.

Secondly, some might argue that he is a fortunate man who was in the right place at the right time. But not only was he elected on the promise of change, he has changed his country.

The place of minorities in America today is different from where it was in 2007. And it is not just racial minorities, sexual minorities as well.

Thirdly, Mr Obama has delivered the goods. He inherited an economy suffering from years of mismanagement from a predecessor who was more occupied with starting and fighting wars.

The housing crisis is basically over and the US economy is fine. Mr Obama has fundamentally reformed America, in my opinion.

Fourth, Mr Obama has remained true to his values. When he became president, his country was torturing suspects and holding them in secret prisons. It was spying on its own people in circumstances he said he found objectionable.

He put an end to all that and demonstrated that it is possible to secure a country, even one with as many enemies as his own, without throwing human rights out of the window.

Fifth, he has restored America’s standing among the nations of the world. He does not say you are either with us or with the terrorists but adopts a softer, coalition-building leadership that does not leave the rest of the world feeling bruised.

Do the feelings of the world matter? Maybe not, but it is always a good idea to treat people well, even when you are rich and powerful and they are weak and poor.

Mr Obama has ended wars and restored relations with former foes. He has not managed to pacify every enemy and has had to order the killing of quite a few, but such is the cost of leadership in the world we live in.

Sixth, Mr Obama has spoken his mind on race and inequality. He is not an angry black man, and African Americans have a few reasons to be angry, but a rational and optimistic leader who believes that his country is a work in progress and that the process of change should continue so that America can provide a better home for all its people.

Seven, Mr Obama has stood up to Israel in the pursuit of his country’s best interests and, in his opinion, in the interest of peace in the Middle East. While the Israelis have legitimate fears, theirs are not the only interests.

There are Arabs who have been disinherited and uprooted from their homes. In any case, justice for Arabs is not wasted — it undermines the argument of those who hate Israel.

Eight, Mr Obama has done a deal with Iran. Some think this is a very bad idea, that Iran should have continued to suffer under sanctions and probably finally invaded, fought, and destroyed like Iraq.

There are others who think that the deal calms the nuke race in the Middle East and gives Iranians a chance to prosper and enjoy a better standard of life.

Perhaps a prosperous society will be more difficult to mobilise for radicalism.

Nine, Mr Obama has made peace with Cuba and normalised diplomatic relations. Of what use was that quarrel from another age? Communism can survive poverty and isolation — it thrives in those — but will struggle in prosperity and plenty.

Finally, Mr Obama is blood. He is an American. But he is also a son of the lake.

What’s there not to like?  
[email protected]. Twitter: @mutuma­_mathiu