That is something another generation will get to see, so in our lifetime, we will just have to settle for a gold standard, which at least is an incremental improvement.
People who took their place opposite him one by one, clutching a scrap of paper bearing the address of an overseas relative or else the business card of some European traveller, unwittingly exchanged in a moment of good humour for a lifetime of another person's hopes.
Although Presidents Clinton and Bush could afford to campaign one way and govern anotherin prosperous times, Obama will take office in what could become a once-in-a-lifetime downturn.