After less than two years as a US Senator, Barack Obama has suddenly, almost instantaneously emerged as a very real Presidential possibility, the Democrats’ poster boy for the forthcoming elections, the nation’s “Great Black Hope,” and the media’s anointed new messiah of US politics. On “Meet the Press” and the cover of Time magazine, the Junior Senator from Illinois, the Land of Lincoln, wins hosannas for his charisma, intelligence, authenticity (he’s admitted to doing drugs in the past), and fresh approach to the issues of the day.

Of course, much of Obama-mania stems from strategic hype rather than the organic, substantive development of a major leader. Nothing he’s done in his few months as a Senator (with a voting record far more liberal than Hillary Clinton’s, by the way) has particularly impressed his colleagues or even Capitol Hill staffers. The sudden flurry of publicity, rather, stems from the desire to sell his new book “The Audacity of Hope” (riding high on bestseller lists) and the election-eve desperation by Democrats to find an appealing new face for their party that will connect with the voting public more effectively than John Kerry’s, Hillary Clinton’s, Al Gore’s, of Howard Dean’s tired, Baby Boomer physiognomies.

There is also, of course, a natural, even healthy nationwide desire to vote for an African-American candidate for President – the same desire that helped to inspire excitement over potential presidential campaigns by Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. Given our cruel history toward blacks, the election of a credible candidate of color would seem to settle the issue of whether or not the nation has purged its racist past. And Obama, with his mixed background (his WASP mother is from Kansas, his father from Kenya) represents a new generation that seems less obsessed with arguments over racial identity.

It might be easy to conclude that all of the fascination with the Illinois Senator stems from external elements that have nothing to do with his own talents, ideas or achievements, but then there is the intriguing evidence of his new book. I’ve only read parts of “The Audacity of Hope,” but even a cynical and partisan Republican like me must conclude that it’s several cuts above the normal political pap prepared by potential presidents (try reading pre-campaign autobiographies by Hillary, or even George W. Bush, by way of doleful contrast). There are even hints from Obama of an open mind and energetic intelligence.

You don’t believe it? Consider this passage on the destructive impact of children of the ‘60’s on American politics in the ‘90’s and beyond:

“In the back-and-forth between Clinton and Gingrich, and in the elections of 2000 and 2004, I sometimes felt as if I were watching the psychodrama of the Baby Boom generation- a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago – played out on the national stage.” He’s exactly right, of course—and as a former Yalie who collided on the New Haven campus with both Clintons, George W., Joe Lieberman, Howard Dean, John Kerry, Clarence Thomas, George Pataki, and more – his remarks spark special resonance with me. “The victories that the ‘60’s generation brought about – the admission of minorities and women into full citizenship, the strengthening of individual liberties and the healthy willingness to question authority – have made America a far better place for all its citizens. But what has been lost in the process, and has yet to be replaced, are those shared assumptions- that quality of truth and fellow feeling – that bring us together as Americans.”

Naturally, the self-serving aspect of this observation involves Obama’s status (at age 45) as the only Presidential contender who’s clearly a member of the post-Boomer generation--- and therefore untainted by the desperate stridency of the ‘60’s.

His book also displays a startling willingness to pinpoint the weaknesses and failures of his own political party, as he mentions the real danger that Democrats will become known as “the party of reaction.” He writes: “In reaction to a war that is ill-conceived, we appear suspicious of all military action. In reaction to those who proclaim the market can cure all ills, re resist efforts to use market principles to tackle pressing problems. In reaction to religious overreach, we equate tolerance with secularism and forfeit the moral language that would help infuse our policies with a larger meaning. We lose elections and hope for the courts to foil Republican plans. We lose the courts and wait for a White House scandal.”

This stands as an exceptionally acute indictment of the current state of Democratic disarray.

Is Barack Obama the “real deal” (as John Kerry so fatuously proclaimed himself) who can cure that disarray, or just a media sensation--- Barack Flash-in-the Pana?

It’s far too early to answer that question with confidence, but it should be clear that Republicans will underestimate this guy only at our peril.