Exit Polls Say State Race is Too Close to Predict

Today the US moves one step closer to finding out who will be competing with McCain for the next presidency of the US.
And let's be fully honest with ourselves. This is a demographics race. Will it be a woman or a black man?
The male WASP hegemony on US politics may be coming to a close. The democratic candidate will either be female or non-white. Either represents a powerful breakthrough for US society. A society that throughout its history has shown a lack of willingness to trust the "other." The status quo shall persevere. A woman in power would represent the culmination of the woman's suffrage movement which only achieved the power to vote for woman in 1920. From no vote to winning the vote in under one hundred. Fairly impressive.
The history of the vote for American blacks is a little harder to accurately trace. The 15th Amendment, which was ratified on February 3, 1870 officially sanctioned voting rights on Americans of colour. "Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. " Of course with many states under the bigoted Jim Crow laws, various and nefarious ways and means were produced to keep blacks from voting. The 1965 Voting Rights Act put some of that to right, expressly forbidding states from implementing restrictive voting laws that worked to keep blacks away from the polls.

Of course, I am a Canadian, so why am I wasting cyberspace on the electoral history and present of an "other" country?
Let's examine the bigger picture. I truly believe that Barack Obama, were he to win the Presidential race (not just the party, but the whole country), would have a far profounder impact on our global structure than any other candidate, actual or fictional, alive or dead, possibly could.
Why?
Because he is Black.
A female president would be great for women, but it wouldn't be new. The world has seen great nations sport female leaders. Canada had the Kim Campbell experiment. The UK had Maggie Thatcher, the Iron Lady. India was led by Indira Gandhi, parts of Pakistan yet mourn Benazir Bhutto. Golda Meir personified the post-holocaust new tough Jew while leading a strengthening Israel. There were other female world leaders, but the preceding names should have served to give a sense of what the women of the world have already accomplished in the political spectrum.

Now name a few Black world leaders....Leaders from Africa/Caribbean may not be considered, but think for a few minutes how long it took them to be able to rule in their own lands.........


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The answer is that there were none. Please correct me if I am wrong, but outside of Africa and some Caribbean Islands, there has not been a single black leader of any major Western World nation.

Now imagine what kind of effect a Black President of the US would have on the world image of that nation. How would that effect Africa? I've always been an optimist, but it could be glorious. That amazing continent, which is still recovering from its colonial past, might finally move forward with a target for what an educated and integrated Black person can do in the world.

So yes, I am hoping those Pennsylvanians Baracked the vote.