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Having taken a quick glance through the other articles, it worries me slightly that most of them seem to have taken this article's title quite seriously, discussing why either a black man or a white woman should be elected as the next US president. But that's not the point of this election. Election 2008 is designed so that us, the people, can have a say in which candidate will lead this country into the future. Votes should be given on the basis of the candidates' abilities and aspiration, not their age, gender, race or value of assets.

While we're living in a world where people will inevitably look at candidates using such a criteria, that does not mean we have to go with the flow. Since this article is most definitely talking about the current election and more specifically, about Senator Obama and Senator Clinton, I will look at this article from that perspective instead.

On the one hand, we have Senator Hillary Clinton who is attempting to become the first female president in the USA as well as the first former First Lady to become the president (wow, that's a long title). With a charismatic, well-liked former president as a husband as well as a support, it is inevitable that she will draw crowds which then translates to votes. For quite a long time leading up to the nominations, she was seen by the media (and the people) as the inevitable candidate for the Democratic Party. Perhaps, that was her downfall. Her surprising loss to Senator Obama (and Senator Edwards) in Iowa was her shocking wake-up call and perhaps, the race to the White House is not as smooth sailing as she had once hoped. However, she has won in New Hampshire, which goes to show that she is not giving up without a fight.

On the other side, we have Senator Obama who is hoping to bring change to the people of the USA. But right from the start, he is facing enormous opposition. As I had once read in an Australian article, even his name seems to be a problem. Barak rhymes with Iraq, Hussein needs no mention and Obama is only one letter away from the evil incarnate. Then, there's the color of his skin and his seemingly lack of experience. But does these things really matter? Absolutely not. Does the absence of these things constitute a good president? Of course not. And as we saw in Iowa, these things do not matter at the end of the day - what makes a good leader does.

Who wins the nominations and go on to win the presidential race? No one can say yet. However, the fact that these two candidates have each won a nomination ahead of other more qualified, more "suitable" (using the word rather loosely) candidates that fit the stereotypical image of a presidential candidate goes to show that Americans do not take into account whether a candidate is a black man or a white woman. It comes down, in the end, to who will be the better leader. And as of right now, nobody knows.

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