LOL!! I was thinking the same thing, and it actually hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday morning. We are about to have a black man or white woman president!! - Provided the electoral college does not cheat and pick the unpopular white male democrat (forgot his name??) despite who the people actually vote for.

Thought I possibly wouldn't see it in my lifetime.

George Dubya jacked this one up for his cronies for real this time!! hehe America has spoken. This is multicultural society and it is time for it to be represented like that. My mother said, and she has lived through many presidents, that George W. is the worst one, by far.

I was like Ma, what about Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan??, etc., she said, none of them - George is the worst. He is the worst (in terms of his competency, not his unscrupulous behavior towards black folks, like Reagan and crack/cocaine hit in the 80's - don't get it twisted). But what is so bad with George W. is that he sent innocent young men over to die just to finish his fathers business with Saddam, all in the name of the "war on terror". He lied to the people to do it. Straight up bullshittin folks.

Georgy boy just tied a blind fold around his eyes and through the dart. It may have landed on Iraq (maybe Iran, Syria, who knows) and now Saddam is dead, and he and his Iraqi peoples had NOTHING to do with 9/11 attacks.

Georgy boy had to pick some middle easterner to punish though, oh hell it might as well be Saddam, my father told me to do it, and not the one ACTUALLY RESPONSIBLE for killing amerians, bin laden.

Bin laden still running around in the weeds. Chilling, playing video games.

I was gonna vote for ol' Hilary gal. She even got a myspace site. But Barack showed up. And he is my favorite now. hehe.

I am afraid for brother Obama,tho....

I just DO NOT trust most the political machine(esp the Repub's) to treat him 'fairly', I keep having waking nitemares about the kind of mudslinging and image assination that he and his wife are gonna have to go thru.... I am glad to see that so many folks are so hopeful about his chances..., but i just don't have that kinda faith in this fracture, out for self country of ours....


I think deep down inside, even the more 'moderate' non-melanin Americans just cain't deal with the idea of a colored runnin' things....


And which ever 1 of DOES end up in the White House, will be the BIGGEST sacrificial lamb EVER.......

As people and as public servants, I like both of them. But as someone who has thought long and hard about what America and the world needs in the body of the next President I can't endorse either of them. Now if we get to a choice of either of them or someone like John McCain or Jeb Bush, I will actively campaign for either. But this early in the process, I think that we need to "cast a wider net".

It is only because of the "common wisdom" that we look to those persons already in office to find the next president. I think that we are in such a dire condition, wherein every decision made by the 44th President of the US will have unprecidented impact for generations yet to come. I think that we, the electorate, need to "draft" someone outside the halls of power. We should look at the areas of needed expertise and acumen; and from those identify charactersitics and then go about finding the candidate most likely to fill the bill.

In that examination of characteristics, I feel that the first and most crucial is character. We need someone who is there to serve the public good as opposed to exercising power. We need someone more like Jimmy Carter in that respect. Barak is leading on character points with me, but Hillary isn't too far behind. The second characteristic we need is intellect. We need someone who is a globalist in their outlook and a synthesist in their thinking. We need someone who can analyze and learn rapidly, who most importantly is unafraid of new information. Bill Clinton and once again Jimmy Carter have been the closest to the mark in that respect. Howard Dean (whom I campaigned for) was another by virtue of his accomplishment of becoming a medical doctor before becoming an elected official. Al Gore would have probably been the "one", but we will never know.

Next vital feature is pragmatism. We must have someone to lead us who is attached to reality, as opposed to an ideology or religion, like GWB. We need someone who sees the world as it is and looks for ways to work with the tools at hand to create the world that should be. I think of Bobby Kennedy as the exemplar of that modus. Then there is charisma. In order to lead he is going to have to be likeable and appealing. This disqualifies Dennis Kuchinich; who otherwise fits the bill completely. He has to be able to make the people of this country who feel rather than think be willing to give him a chance to do his job.

Next come life experience. I was appalled when George H.W. Bush was running for President and was asked by an interviewer, what was the current price of a loaf of bread. He didn't have a clue. Unless he (or she) has had a bigger need than a budget to work with, and has had to make tough choices for the benefit of his family, that person is disqualified. We can no longer afford as a society to have another member of Skull and Bones, or its equivalent to sit in the Oval Office. It is also vital that this person have life experience in common with the rest of us, so that he can identify with us and be in alignment with us.

Military experience is a good thing but not nearly as crucial as the realization that war is a no win situation. There are no victors in wars, only a hierarchy of loss; with one side being on top, usually only temporarilly. We need a leader who will exhaust the full range of diplomatic options before ordering the Aircraft Carriers to deploy. He must also, listen to the Generals and Admirals; who disagree with him, even if he has been a General or Admiral himself. We have the power to annihilate the world, but not the power to restore it afterwards. Our leader must know this in his heart.

This person must also be a skilled executive. She must be able to recruit, motivate, manage and take advice from a wide array of experts in diverse fields, and be able to combine their input to formulate policy, and then bring her entire instrumentality to bear on the problems of the day. And she must in the selection process find individuals to work with who will be able to forsee the crisises of the future, as opposed to being vested in a world view that is passe, and based in the illusions of the past.

Finally this worthy leader must have a faith. I don't care what that faith is. I only demand that this individual truly believe in a higher power. An athiest would be as destructive as a phony Christian like GWB. I would prefer someone who considers their faith to be none of your or my business, and refuse to submit to the litmus test of any Religious Leader or Guru. Such an individual will recognize that although they have faith, they may have gotten it all wrong. That person with faith and awareness of their human imperfection will defend to the death anyone else's faith; whatever it may be. I want a Christian (or Jewish, Mormon, or Bahai, or Agnostic, or Deist) who has no problem saying, "'ašhadu 'an ā ilāha illā-llāh, wa 'ašhadu 'anna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh", and mean it and not feel that it takes away from his or her faith.

These are the major catergories that we must examine the candidate for President within. I don't think that Hillary or Barak are that person. In truth I don't know who is. I certainly am not. Of course we may have to make some compromises in selecting this new leader, but the fewer compromises we make the better. I hereby open the floor to nominations. I would love to see one of us in that role. The closest to it I can think of would be Andrew Young, but he's getting on in years and is frankly not interested in the job.

Awesome posting guys, thanks :)...as much as I wanted to hear your opinions I am also learning what the feeling among Americans are.

Question (sorry if it is stupid)...With King's ideals and school of thought strong among black Americans, you think Barack Obama will run the Oval Office with a soft hand or will he adopt a more aggressive approach like Malcom X?

Looks like it might come to pass. I did not think I'd see this in my lifetime. I'm concerned for Obama, I have much respect for him and wish him the best. He's speeches are full of passion and I believe he wlll do a wonderful job. Right now this country needs someone who will talk straight. I pray for his safety and along with his family.