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Interestingly, it is often the reasons people give for their support of a certain political candidate over another that reveals more about them than which candidate they support. My dad likes to tell the story about when he was discussing politics with someone before the 1980 election and he asked the man who he liked for president. The guy said that he planned to vote for Ronald Reagan because "he just looks more presidential". There may have been many good reasons one might have had to vote for Ronald Reagan, but that is certainly a poor one.

Consider this election. Based on polling results I have heard throughout this election season, it seems that a number of women out there have decided to vote for Hillary Clinton because they want to destroy the so called "glass ceiling", or inspire their daughters to believe that a woman can achieve anything she sets her mind to. Often, feminists who support Clinton's bid for the White House go so far as to strongly criticize women who do not support her, and claim that they are traitors to the cause. Similarly, a number of African Americans seem to be supporting Barack Obama because electing a black man would be such a historic event, and would do so much to advance more equitable race relations in America. Perhaps most remarkably, polling of younger white males reveal that many of them would like to support either Clinton or Obama to prove that they are not male chauvinists or racists. Some claim that with one vote for Clinton or Obama they can erase 400 years of unfair treatment. As if one vote really could erase 400 years, and as if that particular voter is responsible for making up for the past 400 years. It shows much more effectively an insecure person trying to overcompensate and prove to others that he is not racist or sexist than anything else.

In fact, all of the reasons above are really quite poor ones to vote for a candidate. There is no real difference between any of them and voting for Reagan because he looks more presidential. Our votes should not be based upon superficial qualities like a candidate's race or gender. In fact, I thought that was the whole point of the feminist and civil rights movements, but perhaps I am mistaken, as it looks as though others have a different view of what "equal" is supposed to mean. Just think how people would react if I, as a white male, said that I was voting for John McCain because I really wanted to see a white male serving as President. I would be called a racist

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