I was just sitting here doing some homework, and it hit me. For the first time in history it is highly likely that the US will have a non-white male as President. The brevity of this is immense, and could bring massive change. Has anyone else been hit up side the head like me with this revelation, and if you have are there any thoughts you might want to share? For me I find it awesome, but a little bit scary as I fear for the lives of Obama and Clinton.

i like the big o--he will save us all...ohh wait the was a cartoon..y bad

but serously I do like him for the office

It's not a foregone conclusion that Clinton or Obama will win the candidacy, and it's not a foregone conclusion that the democratic candidate will win the presidency. The election is a year off, and a lot of things could happen to change the field.

The democratic candidate will have a big advantage this election, but the democrats don't really have a sterling record for taking advantage of opportunities.

Why does it matter what race or gender they are? Obama is the whitest black guy in history anyways. Did you see him trying to dance?

In any case, I don't think either of them are going to win, and I really hope they don't.

True, true but as of right now both candidates are pretty far out ahead of the rest. I just like to think about how far we've gone towards a country with racial and gender equality.

@Lanceuppercust. It doesn't matter what race gender they are, thats my whole point in a nutshell.

Obama for me is too much like a preacher. Wherever he goes he tries to tell the people what they want to hear. I dunno what he really thinks and i don't want to take the chance. Also his great line"I didn't vote for the Iraq war" is a little incomplete because he didn't vote against it either, what really happened is that he didn't show up for work that day and didn't vote at all so we will never know what he truly would have voted for.

As for Clinton well i could see myself voting for her but def. not Obama. It has nothing to do with race or creed but i hope Clinton wins. The U.S. needs some change and i think Clinton will give the more drastic change. Sure a BLACK president will give change but i think a WOMAN president will give a more significant change. Now if there was a BLACK WOMAN running well.....

I'm not an American, and I didn't pay too much attention to American politics until I turned 18 (so I've only really paid attention to the last two elections) but I really think there are several things that will sway how this election will turn out.

First off, the ecconomy will be interesting to watch because it is unhealthy and the fed is dangerously injecting money in an attempt to prevent a collapse; typically Republicans have been trusted more then Democrats in poor ecconomic times, and right now the Democrats seem to be planning a "new deal 2" which most ecconomists think is a bad idea.

Secondly, there is the question of who wins in each of the parties and who they choose to run with them; in order to create a completely balanced platform, the potential "vice president" is critical. There are certain pairings for the Democrats and Repubilcans which could be good whilst others will be awful.

The final unknown is the skeletons in all the candidates' closets; you don't get to be in the position any of the candidates are in without having a (somewhat) dark past. Unlike a lower profile election (senate, congress, or mayor) there are so many people digging through their past that their skeletons will be found and will be brought into the open with a ton of spin from the press. As Dan Rather can tell you, there is also a risk that people will make up stuff about the candidates, if they're successful it will hurt the candidate while if they are unsuccessful it may hurt the other candidate.

It just hit you? Why do you think they make such a big deal out of everything either of them do?

I do NOT like Hillary's politics, and do not think she would be a good president. As for Obama, he is too young in politics to really have a record of anything, so I wouldn't trust him either. I see him winning the Candidacy though, and maybe even the Presidency. He is very likeable.

But I like McCain for the GOP more than any other candidate.

A lot of people seem to think that Obama's youth and inexperience are bad things, but I actually think that they're advantages. Washington has a tendancy to indoctrinate US politicians into a crazy, lobbyist-driven groupthink. That's how the ideas of a group like PNAC look like rational notions, instead of the manifest destiny insanity that they are.

The more insulated the next president is from the Washington reality-distortion field (which portrays investment in expensive, high-tech weapons systems as part of a solution for fighting guerilla insurgents, for example), the better.

Basically, I'm saying more time in Washington won't teach you how to govern better. It'll just teach you how to play politics better.