For the first time in our history, America faces a presidential election with two viable political minority candidates. Currently, eight Democrat candidates, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton-N.Y., Sen. Barrack Obama- Ill., and Rep. Dennis Kucinich- Ohio, have filed with the Federal Exchange Commission, while six Republicans have filed, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

It is common knowledge that for the last 230 years presidential elections have been political duels between wealthy white males. There have been many attempts by female candidates to secure the White House, but many were met with few votes, if not outright failure, as they were almost without exception third party candidates. Only Geraldine Ferraro, the Democrat vice presidential candidate for Walter Mondale in the 1984 election, had any sort of success. To date, Ferraro is the first and only woman to be nominated on a major party ticket. However, Mondale and Ferraro were defeated in a landslide victory by Ronald Reagan.

Rev.s Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, both Baptist ministers, as well as prolific civil rights activists, have run for office but with limited success and unable to gain a major party ticket.

Many political commentators are predicting a Democrat ticket with Clinton running for president and Obama as a running mate. This is a historic moment, with not only a minority vice president, but a female presidential candidate leading the way.

One must not get ahead of themselves though. All candidates must weather the normally bitterly contested and thoroughly difficult primary circuit. One must remember that such front runners as Howard Dean and Joseph Lieberman lost popularity during the primaries, paving the way for the originally unpopular John Kerry to gain the Democratic candidacy.

Clinton and Obama may begin to lose popularity as they are forced to take stands on tough and divisive issues, as well as face the negative campaigning from their rivals. Looking even beyond the primaries, if Clinton and Obama are able to gain the Democratic ticket, they must still go through the national presidential election, which has always proven to be a gauntlet of advertising, presidential debates and town hall meetings.

Of course, there are those who do or do not vote for these candidates based not on their stances on issues, or legislative history, but simply because of their gender or ethnicity.

Hopefully these people, regardless of their support or opposition to these candidates, make up only a small percentage of

constituencies.

However, no matter how treacherous the road ahead is, the simple fact that we are currently treating these two candidates as the front-runners is a watershed in and of itself.

Many have debated in the past whether a woman or black man would ever gain a major party nomination, let alone win the presidency. Now this conjecture has become a real world possibility. This is an exciting time to experience American politics, and to witness a watershed moment in our nations history.

One must admit, despite personal sentiments about Clinton and Obama, that their presence in the presidential race will define a new era of American presidential politics, one no longer solely dominated by a single race and gender group.

Staff: - 02/22/07