A Black Guy or a Woman?

This post is similar to Noelle's in that it has to deal with the issue of not only race but prejudice in general. In this article, reporters went out to the surrounding cities of Detroit and got the opinions of those regarding who'd they vote for. One man stated "What kind of choice do guys like me have? A black guy or a woman, it's a lesser of two evils." To him it was basically voting for an old white man (who he thought would soon die and have the presidency given to a woman) who he coulnd't relate to or a black man who portrayed most of his ideals. In reading that, I got so annoyed at how ignorant people can be. I'm Hispanic and get rather upset when I speak to someone and they assume I'm some bleeding heart Liberal just because of my ethinicity. In the same respect, I don't think it's fair for Obama (or the country for that matter) to believe in him as a candidate because of all of his ideals and policies but not to be able to see past his color. I believe in Democracy and if the country wants what Obama stands for as something to run the country, then that should be the deciding factor, not the fact that he's black. At the same time, let's say McCain wins the presidency, who's to say that he won not because people believed in what he stood for, but because he was the only other option to a black man. It's not fair, but it's also not reasonable. Why on Earth would you vote for somebody who you think is going to tear your means of living apart when there is a perfectly good candidate that emphasizes your goals?

At the same time, many say McCain picked Palin because she is a woman. How is that fair to her to say that it's not the fact that she's done this or that for the country, just that fact that she's female is what is going to give her the ticket. It undermines her as a candidate and demeans her as a woman. When Clinton was running, the remarks made towards her dealt with gender identity politics so when she was called a "bitch," it wasn't about not liking her, but not liking her because she was a woman. And of course the only reason she got so far was because she received all the female votes. But in reality, when she ran, 35% of woman voted for Obama as opposed to the 30% that voted for her. Why is it so hard for people to believe that women can hold powerful positions because of their ability not because of some external factors that ultimately degrade their accomplishments?

I might be generalizing, but I think people focus entirely too much on the candidate and not on their platform. Of course, I understand that it is the candidate who is running, but they are running to represent a nation, not a gender and not a particular race.