Obama’s smiling face graced the pages of a number of local dailies on display in my local Suguo CVS this morning. I’ll admit that I only maintain a passive, layman following of US presidential politics. As a non-eligible voter my opinion amounts to squat and this probably influences the amount of time I dedicate to following the coverage. I also hold true to the notion that Canadians generally stick their useless noses into American politics far more than they should (usually in the same stereotypical fashion).

But I couldn’t help but smile as I walked out of the Suguo. I mean, I can’t recall an American politician shown in such positive light (and being awarded a front page photo) in the four years I’ve lived here and it is probably a safe assumption to assume that it hasn’t happened within the past eight. And here was a grinning Barak Obama…front page…Nanjing, People’s Republic of China.

I think people around the world are hoping for change.