Such Low Expectations for The Obamessiah

Imagine if this guy had actually accomplished something in his life. Of course, with the endless hype will come the inevitable disappointment. Of course, none of that will ever be his fault.

Here's all Barack Obama has to do to meet the world's expectations if he's elected president of the United States:

End an unpopular war in Iraq, heal misery in nations hit by the global food crisis and stop global warming in addition to building bridges to Muslim countries and reverse the unilateralist approach of the Bush administration.

The euphoria that has swept much of the world at the sight of a young and idealistic black politician seizing the Democratic nomination has generated waves of anticipation.

Yet Obama, precisely because of his lofty yet undefined message of hope and renewal, can be all things for all people — a blank canvas on which to project the world's longings.

And in that sense, if he is elected, he may very well be forced to disappoint millions around the world, especially if he takes over a nation caught in an economic slowdown and intractable wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Disillusionment could come on several fronts.

Many in developing nations who are drawn to Obama's charisma and concern for the underprivileged might be surprised to learn he publicly espouses protectionist policies that could dampen their struggle to conquer poverty.

He has campaigned on a pledge to pull troops out of Iraq, a popular stance in much of the world. But a sober assessment of the security risks of an early pullout could lead a President Obama to reconsider.

"There is the almost unrealistic hope that Obama will bring change, that anything will be better than Bush," said Robert McGeehan, an associate fellow at Chatham House in London who researches anti-Americanism.

He said few people who are embracing Obama have actually studied his proposals but like him because he represents an end to the Bush era. "Obama's been given a very easy time of it, but now it will become much more difficult," said the scholar, who has been supportive of Bush administration policies.

Of course the disappointment can be avoided by not voting for this lightweight.

In countries that suffered for centuries under the domination of Western powers — and are re-emerging as world players — Obama's message of "Yes we can!" strikes a particularly powerful chord.

"For the common man, in India, the fact that he's a person of color, he represents the equivalent of the underdog," said C. Uday Bhaskar, a New Delhi-based analyst with the Institute for Defense Studies. "I think Indians will connect with the underdog."

"He's not the red-necked white man that invokes the deepest kind of colonial anxiety in India," Bhaskar said.

Some analysts said Obama's multicultural background and vision of engaging the world on the key issues of the day would help repair America's tattered world image.

Read on. It gets worse.

The stories will almost write themselves when he loses in November. We'll see prattle from his crestfallen media cheerleaders about how if only the world were allowed to vote and how America hasn't overcome its racist past.

Poor Chris Matthews will overdose on Viagra trying to restore the tingle to his leg.

So entirely predictable. It won't be pretty.