Wouldn't it be great if our candidates for president were judged not on the color of their skin but on the content of their.... oh, never mind.

"Is America even ready to vote in anyone not white as president?"

Yes but they would have to run as a Republican. The racist "Southern Strategy" of Nixon is still being used by the GOP. The GOP will try to divide us by race while trying to pander to Hispanic and Black voters.

I still think that Powell would be a better president than Bush.

I still think there is still too much closet racism for a non-white candidate to ever have a chance at being the President.

yes they are. they would vote in powell right now, if he was a strong enough candidate on his own.

the first female, and black president of the US will be condalizza ride. $20 to anyone.

I heard a disappointing rumor that Condi really wants out of DC at the end of term one. I've only heard it in one place (ca't remember where) so it may be false info, but it's something I heard. I hope it's not true. I'd love to see her and Cheney switch jobs for the campaign.

Look at the odds for a non-white candidate. Presidential candidates would likely come from the senate, house or governor's mansion. That adds up to 585 potential candidates. Add another 100 for past govenors, senators, etc and you get 685 or round off ot 700 potential presidential condidates in this county - and that's likely high.

What percent of these potential candidates is non white? I don't know, but would guess less than 10%, but let's take 10% as the proportion. Presuming a purely random selection for president, the odds of a non-white president is 10%. I suspect that using the same analysis for women would result in a lower odds for a female president.

As someone who has a number of very racist relatives (which makes for very uncomfortable holidays), has run across enough of them in churches, and can spit and hit a confederate battle flag in a pickup truck window, I can honestly say that the answer to that question is a resounding *no*.

It reminds me of the question of interracial dating. A lot of people don't have a problem with interracial dating, but their opinion changes when it's their daughter or son who's doing the interracial dating.

Similar thoughts arise on the prospect of a woman being elected president.

and that's the honest truth.

I would vote for J.C. Watts if he were running for President. It's not the skin color that matters...it's the platform.

50/50 really, im just guess but the sad truth is that there are still Americans out there who are racist. Many will vote against a colored candidate just because he's colored. Personally, I don't care what color he/she is, nor race. Only what they are willing to do for the U.S.

That got me thinking...how do you define "non-white?" For example, is Halle Berry non-white?

I mean, really -- Do you define "non-white" as anyone who has ANYTHING BUT a lilly-white heritage? Hmmm? Just asking...

With that in mind, let me make an observation: as long as we're identifying a given candidate as "non-white," by definition I think that candidate is bound to lose.

Discuss.

Corollary: by the time a "non-white" candidate has a serious shot at a major party nomination, it won't matter that's they're "non-white."

Discuss.

P.S. I wouldn't trust the polling data on this question.

I absolutely believe a member of a minority can get elected. I'd vote for the first conservative black (or green) person that came down the pike, as long as they have character and integrity. J.C. Watts is a great example; there are many others. I also believe the first woman to be elected will be conservative. I have racist relatives here in upstate NY, too -- all Democrats. In fact, at work most of the whispered racist remarks come from the Hillary fans. And don't even get me started on anti-Semitism...

Some people won't vote for a black candidate, but there would be a big increase in the black vote and enough of a shift in the moderates to compensate.

Condi would rather be president of Stanford or baseball commissioner.

JC Watts. In a heartbeat. Actually, he'd be my candidate of choice over everyone on the field.

I don't like Condi Rice (I think she's a lightweight) and I think Powell is a big fat liar (in the smarmy, Diplomat, comprising principles sort of way).

It has nothing to do with race.

However, I think Lieberman doesn't stand a chance because he's Jewish, and I think that has more to do with things than race or gender.

I would vote for Condi, honestly, The problem to be faced is not the apparent "white Man's Burden" the lefts would want us to think. The idea that blacks in general (Sorry should I have inserted a PC term there?) have fewer opprotunities and less access to success is simply part of the liberal self serving ideology that blacks are victims and unable to help themselves.
Another major problem IMHO is that the political arenas for blacks have been scandalously hijacked by mirror images of the bigots they were trying to get rid of or change in the first place. Farakan, Sharpton, Jesse Highjackson are key examples whereas Keyes and Rice are examples of were they could be and could go.
One example of this is the fact that the premier group for activism in the black community is the NAACP. Known also as The National Association for The Advancement of Colored People. 2 points I want to make about this. 1. How much more advancement is needed before they say ok we are good now? and 2 Who in this country still refers to blacks (Once again sorry I didnt use African American) as colored people?

Q. Is America even ready to vote in anyone not white as president?

A. Yes, and it will happen sooner than most people think.

Evidence: Twenty years ago no one thought an African-American would be elected governor anywhere in the south any time soon. How could he possibly win over enough of the white vote? (No southern state has even close to a black majority.)

Fourteen years ago tomorrow (I just looked it up) Douglas Wilder was inaugurated and moved into the governor's mansion in Richmond, Virginia, capital of the Confederate States of America. Florida or Texas would have been less surprising, but Virginia?

Even Republicans tend to think Wilder was a decent and competent governor, certainly no worse than the general run of white governors, and it will be no big deal when the next African-American candidate comes along. The same will happen on the national scene.

I'm holding out for a dark-skinned Asian Jew.

How about voting for an independent black fella who looks damn good in a suit and believe's in one nation under a groove? His party: The Groove Party. Slogan: We have more rhythm than you so get off the dance floor.

What say you, folks?

*crickets creakin'*

Guess that counts me out...

S-Train:

I'd vote for an independant cool black fella - if he was for kickin' terrorist ass and tax cuts...

Whatcha say? Shall I nominate you?

I'll even sing it...

...Gettin' down just for the funk of it
Good God
'bout time I got down one time
One nation and we're on the move
Nothin' can stop us now Aye aye aye aye aye
Feet don't fail me now
Give you more of what you're funkin' for
Feet don't fail me now
Do you promise to funk?
The whole funk, nothin' but the funk...

Bobby Jindal ran a decent race; I could see him in the Senate or the Governor's mansion in the near future, with a Presidential run later on.

I was mildly surprised and extremely disappointed that Jindal didn't make it this time. I pray that dipstick we elected doesn't hose things up too badly in the ONE term she'll serve. (then again, it may not even be possible to hose this state more than it already is). I don't think Jindal try for governor again, but the senate is a very real possibility after he's gone and made a few mill in the private sector. But I think that's as far as he'll go-- much as I like him, I don't think he's presidential material.

The so-called "racist southern strategy" of Republicans is a long-dead myth, something that bigoted Democrats--who have a much worse race problem as a party, and always have--cling onto for self-justification. It's one of the things that makes them so awful as a party these days.

Of course America is ready for a black President. He will either be a Republican, or a Leiberman style, fairly strongly centrist, common sense Democrat--and unfortunately, the latter type is sadly uncommon at the moment, since most of the black people in political power are still mired in the politics of envy and resentment and shrieking "racist!" at the drop of a hat that have so come to characterize the far left wing of that party.

It's going to happen one day. Odds favor a black Republican, but if Democrats finally pull their heads out of their asses and lose the giant chip on their shoulders, there may be hope for them.

Who I vote for, whether black, white, male, female, etc., depends _entirely_ on where they stand on issues that I care about (the Bill of Rights, our military defense) and on nothing else.

My money's on Harold Ford, Jr.

I have been touting Condi for President since before I started blogging! I think she could do it, and I think she should be on the 2004 ticket with Bush.

Had his wife not said she didn't want to, Powell might have run last time. I think it probable that he'd have won.

In fact, I think we'll have a black President before we have a female one, unless we get both at once.

Well, this is like arguing how many heads are on the pin of an angel.

Of course America is ready for a black President.

That's a very presumptuous statement. Do you have any data to back it up? Remember that blacks only make up 12 percent of the total population, so a sizable turnout by them might still be negated by a sizable redneck turnout.

Mind you, I think America will at some point have a black president. But I'm not sure that the country is ready right now. Different parts of the country, I suppose.

And BTW, electing a *governor* is not nearly the convoluted process that electing a *president* is, so I don't consider Wilder's experience in va. as any sort of predictor.

J.C. Watts the "epitome of integrity?"

Um....did you know his first run for office as Representative was on the platform of Government Reform and term limits?

I'm not saying that I didn't think he did good for Oklahoma; I'm saying that I don't believe a single word that comes out of any of their mouths.

how do you define "non-white?"

The classic definition (back at the turn of the 18th Century) considered someone whose ancestors were from England, France, Holland or the Scandanavian countries "white".

Norther Italians, Germans, Balts and other Caucasians from Europe were provisional whites, as long as they ACTED white, they were okay, but there was always that suspicion.

Southern Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Moors and others of the "darker" races were 'wogs", which is basically "non-white".

bryan:

Go back and read my comment about Douglas Wilder. If your argument were sound, he never could have been elected governor of Virginia, but he was. 'Rednecks' (a term you might want to reconsider) are not numerous enough, or not racist enough, even in Virginia, to keep a qualified middle-of-the-road black candidate out of office. Why should anyone think the U.S. as a whole is more racist than the former Confederate states?

Dr. Weevil,

a) Douglas Wilder was not elected president of the Confederate States of America, but one state that was formerly a member of the CFA.

b) And, yes, the entire U.S. can be more racist than one small state, because there are areas of America where they haven't dealt with race as openly as in the former CFA. Witness Boston or L.A.

c) I am not that familiar with the election system in Va., but you are telling me that it is analogous to the primary system for the U.S. presidential elections?

d) I never said rednecks were racist enough to keep a qualified middle-of-the-road black candidate out of office - *any office*. I said there were enough closet rednecks (rednecks is a state of mind, not a geographic designation, BTW) who would want to keep a black out of the *presidency.* The presidency is not your average political office.

e) I think there are a lot of overly optimistic assumptions on your part about how racist people are. You don't have to be racist on affirmative action to refuse to pull the lever for a black presidential nominee.

f) I think you will see a black vice president before you ever see a black president.

g) Recall that I said America *would* eventually have a black president. But that was not the question. The question was, is America ready *now.* I maintain that it is not.

h) You assume a lot about a "middle-of-the-road" candidate as well relating to support from black people. Your "middle-of-the-road" candidate will be charged with "acting white" by some number of blacks, especially if he doesn't bow the knee to the NAACP. You think he'd get 100 percent of the black vote? Not. Besides, basically, you're asking for a black who has a "white" political ideology. J.C. Watts is not the most respected man in black politics, precisely because he is a republican conservative.

And I think that's the finer, more important point, Bryan. JC Watts is not "the most respected man in black politics" but he is surely one of the most respected men in conservative politics. "Black Politics" is an anathema to an inclusive, color-blind society. His color is irrelevant, as it should be.

I'd vote for Condi in a heartbeat, but she has far too much sense to run.

Who in this country still refers to blacks (Once again sorry I didnt use African American) as colored people?

As Will Smith once said, it's still called 'NAACP' because if it became the The National Association for The Advancement of African Americans, it would be pronounced 'Na-a-a-ah!'

Remember that blacks only make up 12 percent of the total population

Is that true?

We haven't yet elected president a person whose name ends in a vowel, much less had a serious black American candidate. First there will have to be ethnic whites -- I think Kennedy was the most ethnic we've had, and he was Irish (ooh, exotic, huh?).

Whereas if Dean loses in 2004, we could be looking at President Hillary in 2008. There will be Bush fatigue (stop snickering, yes, you in the back ... we'll wait) and the country will be ripe for change. Hillary is the presumptive nominee. It may be a lot like 2000, when Bush won mostly on name recognition.

A lot depends on who Bush chooses for his running mate in 04, and of course lots of other variables.

One more thing: If Lieberman did joing the Republicans, he's be called a "RINO" for disagreeing on anti-homosexualism or some economic issue, and told to go back to the Democrats. If Barry Goldwater was around today, _he'd_ be called a "RINO" for opposing anti-homosexualism. I've had it with this "RINO" and "DINO" party-lining shit. (Libertarian Party party-lining, too. That party's going nowhere fast.) That's why I'm Independent.

Man, and I thought I was the only one who believed that the first black President will be a conservative! Go figure.

Condi is cool, but she hasn't had much experience. (yeah, yeah, I know, "not offically required," but it helps)

bryan raised an interesting possiblity: a black VP before a black President. Very possibly...

Hmm. Dean Esmay's dream ticket: Howard Dean and Al Sharpton. heh heh heh...

On a more serious note, we in Ohio have good possible future candidate: Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. He started out here in Cincinnati, and (hopefully) he'll make it to the governor's office soon.

Oops. P.S.

Yes, I think the voters are ready, for the right candidate, which is why I think the first black President will be a conservative.

I'm more of the opinion that the first "minority" president will be of the race known as "American Blur." Like Tiger Woods, except *not* Tiger Woods... ;

IB Bill,

You forgot James MonroE.

I think people would accept and vote for Oprah Winfrey should she choose to enter a pollitical race. People laugh at this suggestion, but she is articulate, well-liked, and powerful in her industry. Political experience is slighty overrated especially when we have "experienced" politicians making comments like "deficits don't matter. Reagan proved that."

Um, Tim, you can make exactly the same statement about Rush Limbaugh...

Whoops.

Actually a lot of folks say deficits aren't a complete crisis. I believe Good Dean is one of them. :)

And recall that most of Bill "Mister Healthy Economy" Clinton's budgets showed a deficit too. Feh. Here's an idea: how about cutting something? Like farm price subsidies, or the entire Fed "department of Education" cluster-fuck.

Casey,

Yes, but half of the population doesn't completely loath Oprah. Rush has a higher disapproval rating than genital warts.

Dunno about half.

One-third, maybe. Heh heh heh...

But recall that Rush does beat lip herpes in an independant study! :)

Not to mention both he and Oprah are both in the "one name" category of celebritism.... Heh.