How do Thom and Sneha's attitudes about Barack Obama's election differ in the novel, All This Could Be Different?

Thom's attitudes about Barack Obama as compared to Sneha's own are an important symbol of the contentious relationship they have with one another over questions of class, politics, and radicalism. Although Thom observes that Obama himself was not a particularly progressive president, and opines that he would not be so beloved if he had not been Black, Sneha also privately observes that Obama would likely have been even more beloved if he had been white. This disagreement, which centers on Obama, in reality encapsulates the complexity of Thom and Sneha's political relationship; while Thom is nominally the more radical of them, he is also white and privileged, while Sneha occasionally skews conservative in her politics but faces a great deal many more obstacles.