Obama honour: Time hails ‘architect of the new America’

TIME magazine has tapped US president Barack Obama for its Person of the Year for the second time, citing his historic re-election last month as symbolic of the nation’s shifting demographics and the rise of younger, more diverse Americans.

In announcing its annual selection yesterday, the magazine called Mr Obama the “architect of the new America”.

“He’s basically the beneficiary and the author of a kind new America – a new demographic, a new cultural America that he is now the symbol of,” Time editor Rick Stengel said of Mr Obama, who was also selected for the honour in 2008 when he became the first black US president.

Mr Obama beat Republican challenger Mitt Romney last month with clear majorities from Latinos and other minorities as well as among young adults, a result that has forced conservatives to rethink their political strategy.

There are many reasons Obama won again, “but the biggest by far are the nation’s changing demographics and Obama’s unique ability to capitalise on them. When his name is on the ballot, the next America – a younger, more diverse America – turns out at the polls,” Time contributor Michael Scherer said.