by David Neil Bain

Created on: July 05, 2008

"My friend," said my daughter, "is voting for the chick. I'm voting for the Negro. Who are you voting for?"

"What about the good ole boy?" I asked.

According to identity politics, my daughter had a choice between the woman, Hillary Clinton, and the man, Barack Obama, who, like her, was biracial. The Southerner, John Edwards, would have been the logical choice for me. Now that the Republicans have decided on John McCain, I should go for the old white guy. Fortunately we have gone beyond the stereotypes of identity politics. We voted as a family for Barack Obama in the California primary and hope to do so again in the general election.

Will Americans vote for a black man or white woman? Now that there has been a particular black man and white woman running for president, the answer keeps changing. According to the Roper poll, in 2007, 94% of voters said if their party nominated a black man they would vote for him, up from 37% in 1958. 86% said they would vote for a white woman, up from 54% in 1958 but down from 90% in 1997/98. I am not surprised by the upswing; as an optimist, I believe in moral progress as well as technological progress. I am a little surprised at the apparent increase in sexism from 1998 to 2007, possibly because of the prospect of a particular woman candidate. However, I think we have reached the point that more people want to vote for a woman or a black man that want to vote against her or him. The dilemma is that in the Democratic party we could only vote for one by voting against the other.

I am not inclined to attribute the decisions of voters to bigotry. My first assumption is that people vote for their own perceived self-interest. It is well known that certain demographic groups support certain candidates. Obama has captured ninety per cent of the black vote. Clinton did better among white voters. Exit polls in the Kentucky primary show that 21% of voters said the candidate's race was important to them. Of whites who said race was important, 88% voted for Clinton and 9% for Obama. Of those who said race was not important, 68% voted for Clinton and 28% voted for Obama. It appears that racism was a factor in the Kentucky primary but it was not the only reason for Clinton's victory.

Sexism may have even worked in Hilary's favor. Of the 16% of voters who said gender was important to them, 79% voted for Hilary. This does not mean discrimination against women in politics is a thing of the past. I interpret it to mean that the bias against women

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