IN THIS country, we mostly belittle our politicians. They are, so the theory runs, “all the same” and worthy of scorn or suspicion. It puzzles me why anyone would want to be one, considering the aggressive scrutiny the job attracts.

Power and the potential to influence must be the appeal – and part of the reason why we are suspicious of those who seek to have power and influence over us.

This has been a week, on an international scale, where politics and those who practise its seemingly devious arts have appeared in a brighter, more optimistic, less cynical light. I refer to Barack Obama, of course, who cannot be avoided at present.

This man’s remarkable rise to become the first black president of the United States is well documented, and the hopes he raises for the world are numerous. Whether or not one human being can live up to such hyperventilating optimism seems doubtful, yet it is impossible not to wish him well, and to hope that he truly can make a difference.

Obama faces what Robert J Samuelson, a columnist on the Washington Post, this week described as “the Great Foreboding”. This, he wrote, was both a burden and an opportunity. Americans – and with them, the world – are suffering from collective depression, and need someone to lead them out of the gloom.

Yet this misery provides an opportunity, too. The biggest challenge Obama faces is the sense of hopelessness that envelopes the US, a cloud that has drifted over here as well.

If he can see a way through that choking fog to some sort of economic recovery, he may be able to convince Americans – and the rest of us – that we are not all sunk.

One aspect of Obama’s personality to receive attention has been his devotion to maintaining his physique. He has not only altered perceptions of how a president can look in terms of race, but also with regard to the middle-aged male body.

Obama is said to favour a 45-minute workout, six days a week. This led one of our national newspapers to run a health feature on Obama. A picture showed the new president emerging from the surf in Hawaii in a pose to threaten Daniel Craig’s position as trunks-wearing man.

The caption beneath said something about “what a middle-aged man can look like”. Funny, then, that the same week Obama moves into the White House should also mark the return of Ken Clarke, the veteran former Chancellor, to David Cameron’s Shadow Cabinet.

The 68-year-old Clarke also shows what a (late) middle-aged male body can look like. This man easily fills his shirts, his chin has never been afraid of duplicating itself, he appears to favour beer and cigars over workouts, and yet seems at ease within his comfortable self.

As Tories go, Clarke has something about him, a sense of the fully lived life. His love of jazz helps, suggesting a man of taste (to me, at least). Politically, he is a heavyweight too, and a bruising troublemaker. Cameron should perhaps watch out.

The extensive picture researchers at this column’s disposal failed to unearth the picture of Obama in his trunks. Then to be fair, I couldn’t find one of Ken Clarke without his shirt on either, which is probably no bad thing.


* WELL, I shall certainly be watching tomorrow night. It should be a TV moment as Jonathan Ross returns to BBC1 after his three-month suspension, imposed as punishment for the Andrew Sachs affair.

He was foolish at the time, but this episode now seems overblown. The salary is hard to defend, but Ross at his best is a quick-witted broadcaster who earns his place on TV, if not his millions.

His detractors on certain newspapers will be watching his every move, ready to pounce. Sharp but sensible should do it.