Watching the election returns roll in Tuesday night, it was hard not to be reminded of that crucial scene in "Casablanca," when Ilsa Lund, snuggling against Rick’s shoulder, sighed, "Oh, I don’t know what’s right any longer. You have to think for both of us."

This is essentially what Americans were saying Tuesday. You have to think for all of us. Which is why so many of us found ourselves clinging to Barack Obama. Like Richard Blaine in the movie, Obama was a hard man to define. His origins were shrouded in mystery, and therein lay his appeal. Granted, he isn’t quite the enigma Rick was. There is no Inspector Renault to say, "I’ve often speculated why you don’t return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Run off with a Senator’s wife? I like to think you killed a man. It’s the romantic in me."

Yet Rick’s response, "It was a combination of all three," was vintage Obamanian obfuscation. We tolerated his obliquity because it served our interests. As the embodiment of hope and change, it was essential that Obama not define those qualities. Otherwise, how could so many of us pin our hopes and dreams to his presence?

Today ostensibly shrewd commentators are devoting themselves to the question of whether Obama will be able to rein in the Congressional liberals. Those few who studied the man and his history are more inclined to ask, "Why would he want to?" But for the rest, the relatively moderate, centrist Obama of the last few months allows them to hang their hopes on the presumption that this is in fact the real Obama. The rest of his life, the bulk of the statements, actions and associations of the previous 47 ½ years, mean nothing.

For others, this desperate redefinition recalls the punch line to the old bawdy joke, "Who are you going to believe? Me, or your own lying eyes?"

The fact is, we don’t know who Obama is, nor how he will govern. We can hope that his ability to deliver a compelling speech, to act on cue and move to the right spot on the platform, will translate into genuine leadership. We can hope that his failure to respond to last month’s market crash was in fact a sign of grace under pressure, and not a failure of imagination. We can hope that his condemnation of Detroit automakers for building SUV’s "because they could make a profit," doesn’t actually mean he thinks it is wrong for a corporation to make a profit. Then again, we have his comment about pharmaceutical companies, "Now, these drug companies won’t willingly give up their profits."

But that might just be the kind of thing he had to say in order to win the nomination. His every action, alliance and statement over the course of his life could conceivably have been done and made solely to reach the point where he can bring his refreshingly moderate form of unifying leadership to the fore.

One can hope. One can hope most fervently that he achieves greatness, that like Ronald Reagan’s, his sunny optimism brings a new spirit to the American people. Perhaps a nation repeating "Yes, we can," will revive our spirit, and allow us to move ever forward as a beacon and shining example to a desperate world.

One can hope. As Americans we must hope that this will be the case. The greatest benefit of this dream sequence achieving reality will be its positive impact on that segment of society most in need of a psychological and spiritual boost, that of black males. It would be a tremendous benefit for us all if an educated, articulate, and in the words of our new Vice President, "clean" black man, who is married and an active father to his children, could become the new role model for African-American men and boys.

If Obama’s election comes to be viewed not as an end, but a new beginning for African-American men and boys, then that will be a true achievement. If he manages to rise to the level of greatness he embodies for his fervent supporters, then perhaps, just perhaps, the disappointment and despair, and yes, fear, so many conservatives feel, might not, in the words of Rick Blaine, "amount to a hill of beans."

Last Sunday I was in San Francisco, watching my daughter run in the Nike Women’s Marathon. It was her first marathon, and she finished it in great style with a sprint to the finish line. My wife and I were thrilled to be along for the ride. It was great fun hopping in and out of cabs, fast-walking shortcuts, leap-frogging the route to be there to cheer her on.

Since the purpose of the race was to raise money to fight leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers, I exercised discretion as to when I would sneak a smoke. Somewhere around mile eight, ahead of the race, I took advantage of the down time. When I finished, I field-stripped the cigarette, as is my wont, and thinking myself a good citizen, I tossed the butt down a storm drain. A San Francisco police officer said, "Hey, don’t do that. It drains to the bay."

"Sorry," I replied. "I won’t do it again."

"You better not," he warned, resting his hand on his holster.

I said, "Don’t tase me, bro."

He said it wasn’t a Taser, it was a gun. I said that would probably be even worse, and we had a laugh. What a neat city San Francisco is, I thought, where you can joke with a cop about him shooting you. We started talking. He told me his father was a Spaniard, 90-years old, and grows grapes for local wineries. "My name is Guillermo," he said, pointing at his name, stitched on his uniform. "G. Amigo."

"Officer Friend, that’s great."

Then he rattled off a sentence in Spanish. When I said, "No comprendo," he came back with an amazing statement. "You Americans are so arrogant, you think you only need to know one language."

I said, "But you’re an American." He replied that he spoke five languages. "But you’re an American."

"I’m European, more international."

"But you’re an American, aren’t you?

He finally, grudgingly admitted that he was in fact an American citizen. He became one just before Vietnam. "Nice timing," I said, and the conversation went off in a different direction. But his original comment, "You Americans are so arrogant," ate at me for the rest of the day. I wasn’t asking him if he was a citizen, I was asking him if he was an American.

I realized this is why John McCain can’t get any traction in this race. This is why Barack Obama’s past doesn’t put people off. This is why his association with avowedly anti-American speakers and actors doesn’t hurt him. This is why his wife can get away with boasting that until recently, she had never been proud of her country. This is why our nation is so divided.

For too many Americans, the idea of identifying themselves as such is anathema. For too many Americans, the American is a fat, ignorant slob, bloviating about shopworn concepts such as individual freedom, American exceptionalism, and "land of the free, home of the brave ." For too many Americans, the very concept of America is yesterday’s news.

When Obama sneers at bitter Americans clinging to their guns and their religion, too many Americans think, "There but for the grace of God go I." When Obama runs away from America, he runs into the arms of enlightened, educated, intelligent, grown up citoyens du monde.

Officer Friend is a great guy, and by all appearances, a good cop. But he’s a lousy American, and no doubt, a proud Obama supporter.

Having concluded that deification alone is not sufficient to keep the infantile left on board the Obama juggernaut, his acolytes in the mainstream media have upped the ante with frequent fawning comparisons of the junior Senator from Illinois to John F. Kennedy, the once-junior Senator from Massachusetts.

The similarities are uncanny, and uncannily legion. Both rose to prominence on the strength of their awesome oratorical powers. Kennedy was married to Jackie, a beautiful, classy dame wearing pearls. Obama is married to Michelle, a beautiful, classy dame wearing pearls. Kennedy had two photogenic children willing to ham it up for the cameras. Obama has two cute little girls, one of whom, according an article in "The San Francisco Chronicle," said she thought it would be "cool" to live in the White House. Both project a substantial change to politics-as-usual. Kennedy surrounded himself with intellectuals like Andre Malraux and Arthur M. Schlesinger. Obama surrounds himself with intellectuals like Chris Matthews, Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers.

Both men went to Harvard. Both men wrote books describing formative periods in their life. Both had to run against major precedent-breaking obstacles: Kennedy’s Catholicism, Obama’s African-Americanism. Kennedy gave a speech in Berlin during which he called himself a jelly doughnut. Obama wants to give a speech in Berlin, though given our more health-conscious era, insiders suggest he is more likely to compare himself to a whole wheat bagel or, in a bid for Hispanic votes, a tortilla.

Given these remarkable similarities, it is possible to project Obama’s Presidential achievements by studying Kennedy’s. Early in Obama’s Presidency, he will sign off on a CIA plan to train Iranian dissidents. He will promise them air support when they launch an attempt to overthrow the oppressive theocratic regime. Once the invasion is underway, he will renege, and the rebel forces will be slaughtered at the Bay of Unclean Flesh.

JFK fulfilled his promise to meet face-to-face with Nikita Krushchev with no preconditions. The Russian Premier was so impressed with his interlocutor’s sincerity and grasp of geopolitics that he immediately embarked on the importation of nuclear-tipped missiles to Cuba. Obama has promised to meet face-to-face with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with no preconditions. Given his own sincerity and grasp of geopolitics, it seems reasonable to assume that the Iranian President will promptly invade Iraq.

Marilyn Monroe once figuratively prostrated herself before the President while singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Since she is no longer with us, Britney Spears will have to assume the duties during a future Obama birthday celebration. Elton John will write a song for her after she dies.

After the filibuster-proof Democratic Senate majority approves Obama’s proposal to raise the corporate income tax rate to 65%, the President responds to wholesale immigration of most of the Fortune 500 companies to Ireland by saying, "My minister always said all businessmen were S.O.B.’s, but I never believed it until now."

Yes, the similarities are myriad, and ultimately frightening. Given the way Kennedy’s Presidency ended, one would think Obama would shy away from such comparisons. This subject is far too distasteful to pursue, so we will leave it up to "The New Yorker" to cast any other roles.

After a week of watching Barack Obama struggle to come to grips with his Uncle Jeremiah’s endearing tendency to spew racist invective, Team Billary decided it was time to jump back into the fray. First Bill borrowed a page from the conservative talk radio play book by suggesting that the Junior Senator from Illinois hates America. Not to be outdone, Hillary then started reminiscing about her time under fire in Bosnia.

"I remember landing under sniper fire," she coolly recounted. "There was supposed to be some kind of s greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

It was an impressive tale, certainly proof that Hillary, unlike her callow opponent, has what it takes to command troops in time of war. The only problem with it was it wasn’t true. A CBS news report demonstrates a complete lack of danger at the airport, where Hillary, and her high-powered foreign policy team which included the comedian Sinbad, and Global Warming Cassandra Sheryl Crow, exchanges greetings and hugs with Bosnian children.

You can watch the video at http://youtube.com/watch?v=8BfNqhV5hg4

Although this might seem like an embarrassing moment for the scrappy underdog, it’s entirely possible that it may work out to her advantage. Hillary has repeatedly cited her Bosnian vacation as the kind of hands-on experience she will bring to the White House, where she will be ready to lead from Day One, unlike her opponent, who will be too busy reading poetry and composing the sort of flowery speeches which have rendered him unfit for higher office. Even though the junket turns out to have been more of a USO entertainment tour than a significant mission, her memory of how it went down is much more important that the actual circumstances.

Reading her description I was struck by its similarity to a scene from "A Clear and Present Danger." In the film, based on the Tom Clancy novel, Jack Ryan, played by Harrison Ford, risks life, limb and pension to stop an illegal and unsanctioned insertion of American forces into a South American country. Arriving at the airport, Ryan is told by a DEA official to keep moving, and keep his head down. "You don’t want to be a target," he is told.

Later on the motorcade is ambushed by drug lords, and most of the secret service agents and FBI officials are blown to bits by rocket launched grenades. Fortunately, Jack Ryan is on hand to orchestrate their escape. No doubt Hillary will be embellishing her recollections to include this firefight in future speeches.

Rather than being just the latest example of Team Billary’s, shall we say, awkward relationship with veracity, Hillary’s identifying with Jack Ryan might produce dividends. In Clancy’s long-winded, multi-volume biography of the intrepid CIA analyst, Ryan eventually ascends to the White House after a Japanese terrorist flies a hijacked 747 into the Capital Building during a State of the Union address, which manages to kill everyone in the chain of command other than Ryan.

Given the recent trajectory of her campaign, Hillary might need such a stroke of luck to take possession of her birthright. It’s possible that channeling Jack Ryan is an indication of her thinking on the matter. Still, if she turns into the kind of President Jack Ryan proved to be, American foreign policy, and the entire world will be in very good hands, indeed.