If you had spoken to the average man on the street a century ago and asked him if he thought that the United States would ever see an election that would have an African-American man competing hotly against a woman for the role of President of the USA, he would have been shocked, incredulous and would have probably have responded by either laughing at you for making a good joke or else tried to have you locked up as a lunatic for even considering such a thing.

But that's exactly what we are seeing now as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fight it out in the polls for the keys to the front door of the White House.

In some ways, the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton contest just shows you how far we've come over the last one hundred years. Discrimination on the ground of race and sex, with white males ruling the roost are long gone. Hillary Clinton would never have got higher than being First Lady; Barack Obama would have... well, it's hard to say exactly where he would be under the old conditions prior to the civil rights movement. Head janitor of the White House, maybe?

But, as the old tag line says, you've come a long way, baby. And it's going to be interesting to see who wins this presidential race. Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?

Barack Obama could easily be described as multiculturalism personified. Born in Hawaii to a Kenyan father and a white American mother and being raised for a significant part of his childhood in Southeast Asia by an Indonesian stepfather, Barack Obama had to struggle to terms with who he was and what his heritage was. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Barack Obama's work as a lawyer handling discrimination cases (among others) gave him more of a picture of what the dark side of life was like in a multi-racial society.

Barack Obama entered the political arena in 1996, being elected to the Illinois State Senate. Barack Obama's political views would be labelled as 'liberal' by some, as he opposes the death penalty but is pro-choice in the abortion debate. Barack Obama pushes for welfare reform and health care reform, among other things. And his calls for national unity and to bridge the divides between different people that put him well and truly into the spotlight.

Hillary Clinton is, of course, the wife of former president Bill Clinton. In the past, women who wished to wield political power were often happy enough to be an eminence gris who exercised influence over society through marriage to a powerful man. But now, "sisters are doing it for themselves." Even when Bill Clinton stood for the presidency, Hillary Clinton made it quite clear that "a vote for him's a vote for me" and was open about her political ambitions.

Not surprisingly, Hillary Clinton has been active in the past in the areas of women's rights internationally, and she is well-known for her great interest and work in the area of health care. Hillary Clinton was the person who introduced the proverb "It takes a village to raise a child" to the western world. She opposes the free-market economic model and also takes an interest in sustainable/alternative energy.

It will be interesting to see what happens as a result of the 2008 presidential election. Will Barack Obama be the first black president of the USA, or will Hillary Clinton be the first woman president? Whatever the outcome, we will have an unprecedented president.

About the Author

frank j vanderlugt owns and operates http://www.hillary-clinton-now.com Hillary Clinton