Barack Obama should not have been Time's Person of the Year 2008

I wish for us to have a fun yet serious debate that we both can take something out of. I would also like to state that any videos posted should be watched when I ask in the argument so you the reader may get the full context of them. I accept my opponent's definition of what exactly Time's Person of the Year is for the most part. However, it should be noted that in the past that such as the choice of 2001 with Rudolph Guiliani and Albert Einstein as Person of the Century in 1999 that Time also factors in who they believed had a stronger influence on history. Whether you agree or disagree with that, that is Time's choice and reasoning. When it comes down to it, Barack Obama will/has a stronger influence on history and 2008 then French President Nicolas Sarkozy which was my opponent's main example. Second, Barack Obama is the most influential person in the world. My opponent acts like being elected is such a easy thing with words like "he has done nothing yet besides getting elected". The Time Article was simply stating other places to go to find out about Obama, everybody who has turned on a television or opened a Time magazine in the past 6-18 months know of Barack Obama and his accomplishments. If you ask people in places like Kenya or even the U. S who the president of France is then you are most likely to get a blank stare. If you ask them about Barack Obama or even mention his name then (love or hate him) people will have a response. He is perhaps the most well-known person in the world today living (or at least one of the most well known) and has had major influence on how people feel and act all across the globe. The first few seconds have citizens of Paris celebrating Obama's victory in the first video shown! (Feel free to watch the video now) . http://www.youtube.com... Or how about the second video that shows more celebrations? This one from BBC. (Watch the second video now) . http://www.youtube.com... Does Sarkozy's victories have such reactions? No, of course not. . http://en.wikipedia.org... Another thing, Sarkozy won 53.06% of his country's vote which equals out to 18,983,138 votes. Almost a close lost to Segolene Royal of the Socialist Party who had 16,790,440 votes or 46.94%. Mind you, these two results are from the second round of voting while in the first round he only won 31.18% of the country's vote. The man was barely a big enough influence to win the election in his own country, why should he be chosen as the biggest influence of the world when he clearly isn't? . http://en.wikipedia.org... Barack Obama on the other hand (in the more influential United States) won 52.9% of the vote but by a much bigger margin (A little less then 10 million votes compared to Nicolas's 2.2 million). How much of the popular vote did he win? 69,456,897 votes! Which is 3.6 times more votes then Nicolas received, which by size alone makes Obama more influential. Also take into factor (with the 52.9% of the vote) that America allows third party candidates to have a part in the final results of an election. Obama also had a problem that Nicolas did not; race. Many people in the United States wouldn't vote for Obama simply because he was half African-American. Now I ask you readers, how big is that and influential not only here but for the rest of the world for the U. S to elect such a man? Pretty influential if you think about it. Third, who is more influential? Well I believe throughout this debate I have proven who is quite easily more influential; that being Barack Obama. Reading my opponent's second link; all 4 clear reasons could easily fit Barack Obama. 1. ) Barack Obama is a clear leader. He has made plenty of decisions already and implemented them. He sees America as having plenty of problems and wants to solve them; hence the platform of Change. Barack Obama believes he can change America, otherwise he wouldn't of ran for President. 2. ) Barack Obama has already thought outside the box as shown through his picks for his cabinet. Barack Obama has show much diversity and bipartisanship with his cabinet picks. He picked the main opposition he ran against in the Democratic primaries for Secretary of State; Hillary Clinton. He has chosen Robert Gates to stay on as Secretary of Defense. He has chosen Steven Chu, who won the Nobel Prize in 1997 in Physics as Secretary of Energy; once confirmed he will be the first Chinese American to hold the office of Energy Secretary and the second Chinese American to be a member of a cabinet. He has chosen Republican Ray LaHood to be his Secretary of Transportation. A full list of his cabinet picks so far can be found here: . http://en.wikipedia.org... To further my evidence on Obama's cabinet picks. 75% of the public approves of Obama's cabinet picks thus far as shown in this poll: . http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com... Obama has also thought outside the box with many of his ideas such as solutions to the energy crisis among many other ideas. 3. ) Obama has elevated America back to a respected country. The George W. Bush Administration has brought down America's standing with the rest of the world for the past eight years with his actions. Barack Obama has changed this quickly with his election victory and has/is bringing back America to a country it was when it comes to respect. The evidence of this is this BBC article on Nov 5, 2008: . http://news.bbc.co.uk... To quote from the article to prove my point further: "Opinion polls around the world have confirmed America's unpopularity. And the chance that a young, apparently pleasant and modest black man might become its president was greeted favourably everywhere. Last summer a poll for the BBC World Service, conducted in 22 countries, indicated that people preferred Barack Obama to John McCain by four to one. Almost half said that if Senator Obama were elected, it would change their view of the United States completely. " My point has been proven here. 4. ) Which actions as President of the EU has Sarkozy taken? He reached out to Britain, made some plans at the G-20 summit which will remain to be seen if they stick, and that's about it from all I get from the article. Europe along with America is in one of her worst economic crisis perhaps in modern history. Does this reflect upon Sarkozy? Of course it does, just as it reflects upon President George W. Bush here in the United States. What I have proven: I have proven that Time's Person of the Year definition fits Obama. I have proven that Obama is in fact the most influential person in the world. I have proven that Obama is more influential then Sarkozy who I have shown has done little to nothing for the EU. I have also shown that Obama fits all the qualities that my opponent feels makes Sarkozy the most influential in 2008. Obama has changed history in 2008, he has done things that many said were impossible. His path was long, and will continue into 2009. Change is coming to America, and already Obama has made such an impact on not only America but the world in the year 2008 that he easily deserves this honor. Thank you once again for reading my argument dear reader.