Roger Cohen has an important column in today's New York Times. He explains why Clinton and McCain are running 20th Century campaigns, while Obama has firmly located his in the 21st Century, understanding that contemporary reality is defined by global connectivity.

As Cohen points out, "The overwhelming global interest in the current U.S. election is tied in part to a spreading belief that America’s leader may be as important to French lives, for example, as the incumbent in the Élysée Palace. Obama’s people get that. Connectivity means going it alone is a fool’s errand: that’s a basic lesson of Iraq. If Obama has promised to appoint a chief technology officer, to open up government via the Web, and to make dialogue rather than war a centerpiece of policy, it’s because he knows he must speak to a 21st-century world."

The whole column is worth reading--and pondering.

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