There were, to be sure, a number of risks associated with Barack Obama’s nine-nation foreign policy foray. It is one thing to masterfully run a primary campaign, and quite another to travel to three of the world’s hottest conflict zones, each with its own unique challenges.

The two candidates who have emerged from this year’s grueling presidential primaries as their respective parties’ standard bearer present Americans with a dramatic choice. For all that can be said about their differences in background, experience, political philosophies and prescriptions for the future, it is their profoundly distinct personae that I find most compelling.