The day I wake up to a minority or female president, will be the day

[whatchamacallit]

my confidence in America is restored. It's been a long time comin.

[fenriswolf]

1. one trait

does not a good president make.

[whatchamacallit]

5. No, but we've waiting 232 years for "The Promise of America" to extend to all her citizens

The wait is over.

[Ian David]

2. What if that Minority President is Alan Keyes? n/t

[MadMaddie]

3. oops....good point.

Be careful what you wish for.

[toadzilla]

4. or condoleezza?

[whatchamacallit]

7. Pointless. The candidates aren't confused wretches like Keyes or Rice

It looks like it's going to boil down to Obama or Clinton anyway so why not celebrate it. What are you gonna do, vote for a republican to prove your point?

[Warpy]

6. Or someone like Phylis Schlafly?

I doubt most of the women of the UK thought Mad Maggie Thatcher was a good representative of their sex.

Just having one party get two "minority" (women are the majority) candidates this far is proof either we've grown up as a party and as a country, or it's proof all the pubbies are crossing party lines to foul up the process. I doubt it's the latter.

[Ian David]

8. What if our first Openly Gay President is Jeff Gannon? n/t

[whatchamacallit]

21. Why stop making your awesome point there, why not throw in John Allen Muhammad or Lizzy Borden?

:puke:

Please Ignore this post if you meant that as sarcasm.

[Ian David]

31. My point is that being a member of a minority does not automatically make you a good person.

Every minority and every majority has its fair share of bad apples.

Imagine if our first Jewish President were Joe LIEberman?

[jackson_dem]

9. I wonder how much of this sentiment is to blame for Edwards' performances?

Condi Rice 08'! Minority+female rolled into one. Isn't it about time? Fuck policies! :eyes:

[whatchamacallit]

11. This Condi angle is a straw-woman. She's not running and if she were no sane dem would consider her

I'm just sayin if this really can happen in a country with a history of slavery and suffrage, it's a good day in America.

[jackson_dem]

17. Policies don't matter as long as they are a Democrat?

So if the second coming of Joe Lieberman is a minority female we should all vote for her?

[ecstatic]

32. We have a general Democratic platform, in case you don't know nt

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

10. Proof that no well-intended post on DU can go unsmeared

Having a woman or African American in the Whitehouse would show that we have moved forward as a country.

Which is decidedly NOT the same as saying you should vote for someone BECAUSE they are a woman or an AA.

[whatchamacallit]

13. Man, not the kind of response I expected from "progressives". Maybe we're still not ready...

[lastliberalintexas]

15. Why? Because you expected progressives to take a superficial

statement and support it wholeheartedly?

That kind of thinking led to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in my state, btw.

[whatchamacallit]

18. Again, all the Republicans being used to frame your bullshit argument AREN'T RUNNING!

You'd have a point if they were, BUT THEY'RE NOT. Did republican women vote for Kay Bailey Hutchison because she's a woman, or because she's a repuke? My guess is the latter.

[lastliberalintexas]

19. But you didn't say that it would be nice to wake up to a

progressive female or minority president. Sorry, words matter. The idea in your post is what many, many republican women and minorities have used as themes in their campaigns. No substance, but hey, I'm a woman so vote for me.

You'd be amazed at how many people who are not political junkies fall for this kind of campaign. I knew several moderate to left leaning women who voted for Hutchison just because she was a woman and they were tired of the white male stranglehold on politics. While I understand that sentiment, I also understand that Charlie Wilson (white and male and described by Ivins as the best feminist Texas ever elected) is still better for my gender than ANY republican woman.

[whatchamacallit]

20. What is change?

I'm not saying minorities or bust, but you have to admit breaking the stranglehold rich white men have had on American politics will open the door to other substantial changes. A nation willing to make this kind of change is willing to make others. Call it a sign or a signal. Viewed as part of a long ongoing process, having a minority president represents major, meaningful, change.

[lastliberalintexas]

22. Then we'll just have to agree to disagree

I don't think anyone's gender and race, in and of themselves, is indicative of good and meaningful change. Otherwise, you'd have to agree that JC Watts' election to Congress was also a step in a better direction, and I refuse to do that.

[whatchamacallit]

23. As a measure of overall social progress it is.

I guess I'm just thankful this country has progressed far enough that Obama or Clinton have the opportunity to be deprived of your vote.

[lastliberalintexas]

14. Not really

For many years now, many political watchers thought Elizabeth Dole had the best chance at being our country's first female leader. Without any further specifics, the OP would also be in praise of a Dole administration, now wouldn't it?

"Having a woman or African American in the Whitehouse would show that we have moved forward as a country."

Yes, unless that woman or minority is a puppet of the powers that be. How the heck did Thatcher's rule demonstrate that the UK had moved forward as a country? How would a Dole, Rice, Powell, Chenoweth (no longer possible) administration have shown that our country was in any way, shape or form advanced?

Embodies the short-sightedness of some Obama and Clinton supporters who have chosen their candidate based on those very things.

[BringBigDogBack]

12. werd.

[LordJFT]

16. 1/20/09 isn't too far away :)

[FlyingSquirrel]

24. The day I wake up to a president who CARES about the poor

will be the day my confidence in America is restored. It'll be a long time comin.

[whatchamacallit]

28. That too.

I guess I did a really shitty job of expressing myself. My statement wasn't meant to disregard or minimize other important change. It's not mutually exclusive. Simply put, of the many changes we desperately need in this country, a change in the gender or race of our president is welcome by me. Sorry if I fucked everybody up with that notion.

[AGirl]

25. true that.

[NJObamaWoman]

26. "A Change Is Gonna Come" -Sam Cooke... Perfect Song for Obama

I was born by the river in a little tent
And just like the river, I've been running ever since
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

I go to the movie, and I go downtown
Somebody keep telling me "Don't hang around"
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

Then I go to my brother and I say, "Brother, help me please"
But he winds up knocking me back down on my knees

There've been times that I've thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

My whole family will cry if they saw a black president in the WH. I know that my family would be so sad that 1 year ago my grandfather died before ever getting the chance to see this happen.

[ErnestoG]

27. Amen to that.

And so far in my life experience, this race smells the closest we have ever been to that reality.

[Iktomiwicasa]

29. Neither...

...the black man nor the white woman who are candidates will do a goddamn thing to help my people. Hell with all politicians, they do not represent me nor do I recognize them as my leaders.

[whatchamacallit]

30. That may be tragically true, but

The entire point of the OP was to say let's keep breaking down the barriers. The chance of any candidate righting all the wows and wrongs of the world overnight is zero, but if we keep taking steps in the direction of equality and inclusion, we at least have a shot of addressing some of them in time. I'm sure I don't need to remind you what people who look like George Bush did for your people. Maybe you should run for president someday.