"With someone like Barack Obama, I think the whole America, the whole world will coalesce. Every election is about change, and change takes a long time because there are big issues that can't be changed overnight. But the one thing that will change dramatically is how we're viewed around the world. Once Obama is in there, the world will view Americans in an entirely different light. And that, to me, is a good thing"
About this Quote
The intent is aspirational and strategic. Reiner is selling Obama as a unifying figure who can make “the whole world” coalesce, but the subtext is post-Bush fatigue: a hunger to exit a period when American power felt synonymous with unilateralism and war. Obama becomes a corrective image - not just a different platform, but a different vibe: cosmopolitan, measured, symbolic of a more plural America. Reiner’s “entirely different light” language is literally cinematic, treating international opinion like a scene you can relight.
Context matters: in 2007-08, “change” was already a branded slogan, and Reiner leans into that marketing while tempering expectations on substance. There’s a quiet admission here that structural problems won’t move fast, but reputations might. It’s hopeful, even a bit starry-eyed, yet it also captures a real political truth: legitimacy is partly perception, and perception can reset quickly when the face of a nation changes.
Quote Details
| Topic | Change |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Reiner, Rob. (2026, January 11). With someone like Barack Obama, I think the whole America, the whole world will coalesce. Every election is about change, and change takes a long time because there are big issues that can't be changed overnight. But the one thing that will change dramatically is how we're viewed around the world. Once Obama is in there, the world will view Americans in an entirely different light. And that, to me, is a good thing. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/with-someone-like-barack-obama-i-think-the-whole-173690/
Chicago Style
Reiner, Rob. "With someone like Barack Obama, I think the whole America, the whole world will coalesce. Every election is about change, and change takes a long time because there are big issues that can't be changed overnight. But the one thing that will change dramatically is how we're viewed around the world. Once Obama is in there, the world will view Americans in an entirely different light. And that, to me, is a good thing." FixQuotes. January 11, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/with-someone-like-barack-obama-i-think-the-whole-173690/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"With someone like Barack Obama, I think the whole America, the whole world will coalesce. Every election is about change, and change takes a long time because there are big issues that can't be changed overnight. But the one thing that will change dramatically is how we're viewed around the world. Once Obama is in there, the world will view Americans in an entirely different light. And that, to me, is a good thing." FixQuotes, 11 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/with-someone-like-barack-obama-i-think-the-whole-173690/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
