Is there an -ism we are forced to pick?

Sorry for the lull in this blog.

With the selection of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate, it opens up this election to a few interesting narratives.

The interesting part: Do you vote for someone because of race or because of gender? Of course, the acknowledged is that you don't vote because of race or gender or religion or sexual orientation or anything of the identity sort. You vote because of issues and policies and positions.

Yeah, right.

As much as we want to say it, we really don't vote on issues. The reason is simple: what is the issue during the election most likely won't be the issue during the crux of the presidency. For example, does anyone remember what the major issues were in 2000? Bush ran as a compassionate conservative, but what was his main policy planks? Same with Clinton, with Reagan, with anyone else? If anything, you might have to go back to Lincoln to find a presidency that was squarely dealt with the issues raised in a campaign. As the adage goes, presidents don't make history, but rather, history makes presidents.

Plus, while the president has power, presidents don't have all the power. Truthfully, Congress is the strongest branch in government. It's the most representative and democratic in nature and most of the legislative nexus has to originate and flow through both House and Senate. As much as we want universal health care and private social security or this or that, it's starts with laws. Honestly, Congress could enact universal health care, it's the "Medicare for All" act that Rep. Kucinich introduced a while back. It's still pending...

Therefore, what are we looking for in presidents? It depends solely on the times. Some times call for a Kennedy or a Lincoln, leaders that don't have the experience but have the leadership. Other times call for a Truman or an Eisenhower, who climbed the ladder and showed their grit. And, some times call for a forgotten president and sadly, some times call for a Bush.

So, this time is a time for change. The reality is that it's a generational change. Unless past times and past generations, this change is much more profound. Because of the striking difference on how life is viewed and lived and because of how wacky the Baby Boomers are, this difference comes with a completely different way at approaching life and politics. That's why Obama made it this far and honestly, why Gov. Palin just gave McCain his best shot at the Presidency. New age, new time, newer ways of thinking.

But back to the original question: Do you vote on race or gender? In America, racism is the original sin. In humanity, sexism is the ORIGINAL sin. As hokey as this sounds, racism is presented as a more pressing matter in the public consciousness than sexism. That's why the ERA never passed and why we didn't get a woman as the presidential candidate this time around.

However, there will be no racial majority in about 40 years in America. Most people are multi-cultural and multi-racial and there is no doubt we will have our first Latino and Asian president within 25 years. No doubt.

On the other hand, civilization is shifting back to a matriarchal society. There are more women being born than men and that simple fact alone will radically alter society in about five generations, tops. There is a growing crisis among boys in development and education (I think the latest numbers is that 60-65% of college graduates are women and that's increasing) and the blurring of the boundaries of manhood compels more women to fill the gap.

That's somewhat far off, but since Obama has proven himself to be perceived as presidential, his candidacy has open the flood gates. And if the governor can show herself as capable without the necessity to desexualize herself (that's a whole other issue that I'm surely not qualified to talk about), then that is a major, major victory. Maybe even more important than a McCain win.