Is America ready for a minority president? Options

[MiSSxMELON]

The 2008 election marks a milestone in history - minorities are running for presidency. There's the woman - Hillary Clinton, and the African-American - Barack Obama. We have never had a woman or a minority in office. Is America ready for it? Or should things stay the way they have been? Some argue that if a woman is president, then other countries - specifically those that look down on women - will lose respect for America. Others argue that it's about time for some major changes; we need reform!

What do you think?

[flaymzofice]

Countries in which women are looked down upon generally have little respect for the US anyway; communication and co-operations between the US and states which do not share a similar ideology to the former, are conducted on a grudging tolerance basis - governments the world over acknowledge the military and technological stronghold of the States, and realise that it would not be too intelligent to pose an outright challenge to that. So if Clinton were to win office, I doubt it would impact much on the position occupied by the US on the international front. And also do not forget that you've got a black woman as Secretary of State and nobody could argue that she is more than highly competant in her ability to do her job.

As for whether American is ready in itself, well, that's basically saying when is a good time for a minority individual to accede to the Presidency? Define what a 'right' time would be? Is there ever a 'good' time for such an event?

And yes it should all come down to the ability of the individual to conduct their role but we were debating this in my jurisprudence class yesterday. We were talking about the tiny percentage of ethnic minorities and women among the judiciary in Britain. Nobody could say either class were less able to exercise the duty required of judges and yet it is dominated by white males in their late 60s (at youngest) coming from very conservative, upper middle class backgrounds. Why is this so?

At the end of the day, while it should be about ability, it's actually more concerned with how certain individuals are perceived. It'd be as wrong to vote FOR a woman/ethnic minority BECAUSE they are so, as it would be to vote AGAINST them for the same reasons. But in an age where we are so aware of the right to equality, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between a person's ability and the minority they represent. Because it's also very important to remember than ultimately, a person's class/racial origin/gender WILL affect the decisions they make; because being unable to detach one's personal opinions and feelings, is the very flaw of human that makes politics so interesting.