Well, finally the media has gotten the Democratic primary that they have salivated over- Race vs. Gender!! Who'll win? What's most important? I think the idea that Obama somehow has an advantage or is treated with 'kid gloves' because of his race is ridiculous. Let me put it another way, the world has seen females lead other countries, in Britain, Israel, South America, etc. There are dozens of examples of females presidents/prime ministers in our past. Can anybody give me a case where a candidate from an ethnic minority has become president/leader of any country EVER? (I'm not counting religious minorities if they look like the majority of the country.) If you know of examples, please share them. The only country I could think of was South Africa during Apartheid and those contests were rigged to have it happen. As far as I can tell an Obama presidency would be the first time in the history of the world that a man/woman/alien would lead a country when he didn't look like the majority of the population.

whats your point? does that mean he will be a good pres.? no, it just means hes a minority..sorry, no points for being born...

There was the Japanese dude who ran Chile. That's the only one I can think of

Peru, you ignoramous!

:0)

Plus a Jew ran Britain for a while if I recollect...

One reason that there have been female prime ministers and not a female POTUS is that prime ministers are not directly elected. Becoming a prime minister is akin to becoming house majority leader. Gender stereotypes are harder to overcome in the general population than they are among the elite/lawmakers.

Gender stereotypes are harder to overcome in the general population than they are among the elite/lawmakers.

Can you substantiate this claim?

you're right spikey...I spend so much time providing supporting documentation for my arguments that I don't have time to get my other facts straight. If only I was a radical feminist and I didn't have to prove anything.

Yosemite was great

While it is certainly true that there have been many women leaders, past and present in other countries, both in more and less progressive countries than America, while ethnic minority leaders have been quite rare, I think this is a pointless discussion. Obama is no more 'owed' the presidency because of his race than Clinton is 'owed' the presidency because of her gender.

It is precisely these types of personal, but pointless, distracting, and divisive identity arguments that Obama's speech yesterday was trying to rise above.

What about this black negro Kilpatrick ? Mayor of Detroit ! What a joke ! These stupid negros keep stepping in s**t everytime they turn around !!!!!!

Wait, he's not Irish?

Well, maybe Saletan will start writing for you again now that you are back. :-)

Glad it was great.

Actually Alberto Fujimori (Peru) wasn't the only minority elected in South America.

Evo Morales (Bolivia) is Quichewa (Incan).

I think there have been a number of ethnically minority PM's in India (Singh comes to mind), but don't recall the details.

I agree. I don't think we as the voters should fall into the trap of seeing this as an equal rights referendum for either women or blacks.

However, I do think that Obama's background (including the times he lived in Indonesia) may make him uniquely suited to tackle the challenges ahead of us. I think he has run a very smart campaign and has shown a great ability to learn on the job (moreso than any of the other candidates).

In short, I intend to vote for him based on his record, his character, and his intelligence. I can't think of any better qualifications.

Spaceghost:

I don't know much about many other countries, but I did find the following out - this should rest your worried, tired soul about why showing the world an example of equality should be America's burden in the 21st century form of Kipling's white man's burden:

Iraq: Saddam Hussein - Sunni, leader of a Shiite majority Iraq

Pakistan: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - Shia, leader of a Sunni majority Pakistan

and tons of examples from India:

K R Narayanan - Dalit ('lower caste') Hindu, former President of India

Manmohan Singh - Sikh (2% of India's population), current Prime Minister of India

Giani Zail Singh - Sikh, former President of India

Sonia Gandhi - Christian (2.3% of India's population) & woman, current leader of the majority party (Congress)

Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed & Dr. Zakir Husain - Muslims (13% of India's population), former Presidents of India.