This presidential election will almost definitely go down in the history books for future generations to read. For the first time ever in the United States of America, we might actually elect our first black or woman president. While the United States may be behind when it comes to electing women and people of different races, it is amazing that we are finally catching up with the rest of the world. People are starting to get excited in politics again because of this exciting development.
The candidates are Hilary Clinton and Barak Obama; they both belong to the Democratic party. Personally, as a Democrat, it is exhilarating to watch how each primary or caucus turns out, as both of these candidates are wildly popular among voters. But with this exciting process comes many disturbing realities. Although racism has mostly been kept out of the media, sexism has not. The media tends to crack down when anyone makes a slightly racist mark, which is great, but they tend to be very sexist when it comes to Hilary. The media referenced a time when she was a bit misty eyed, which I believe was due to how much support she had and she got a bit emotional, and made fun of her for it, although it really was not that big of a deal. I am proud that our nation no longer tolerates racism, but am mystified at why sexism is socially acceptable. Another stunning realization that is stemming from this election is how outdated our system of voting is. Having been in different political-based classes, I am surprised at how I failed to notice this before. I believe that caucuses should be abolished because they completely exclude most of the working class because they take place during specific hours of the day. Whether or not this has actually affected the race (some people say that Hillary loses all the caucuses because her turnout voters are mostly working class) is for anyone to say, but it is wrong that any part of the electoral process excludes voters. Another bad aspect of our voting system is the Electoral College. An electoral college is a set of electors who are authorized to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these electors represent a different organization with each organization represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way. Many times, though, the electors are simply important persons whose wisdom, it is hoped, would provide a better choice than a larger body. The system can ignore the wishes of a general membership, whose thinking need not be considered. When applied on a national scale, such as the election of our country's leader, the popular vote can on occasion, as shown in the 2000 race between Bush and Gore, run counter to the electoral college's vote, and for this reason, I feel that the system is a distortion of true democracy. While the Electoral College was useful when it was first created because there were many uneducated people, it is completely obsolete now when a huge majority of our country is educated because it is mandated by the federal government.
But despite the problems in our system, this race promises to change the history of our country and open up a lot of doors for our nation. The best part is that both Hilary and Obama are very strong candidates, they both have very good chances of winning the 2008 Presidential Election, and they both would make very good presidents. So, with history in the making, I’m sure our entire nation is looking to a future that holds a lot of possibilities.