John, Hillary now has the NY vote. Woman will vote for Hillary, some will not, because she did not leave Bill after the Lewinsky scandal. Hillary would be clever to choose Obama as her running mate. He doesn't have the poltical experience to be president. Everybody is excited about his decision to run, but what does he stand for??? I'm curious to find out in the upcoming months.

I am afraid that Americans will vote for these two without looking seriously into what they will do if they get into the WH. What will Hillary do for education? Will Hillary push for her national healthcare for everyone? I hope that Hillary distances herself from her husband and runs her own campaign.

Kathy, do you think the baby boomers of our country will vote for a woman or African American. I would like to hear your thoughts on that. Thanks

Chris, may be I am too cynical. Right now I think American voters are selfish. They will vote for whichever candidate offers them the "best deal." That deal will not be clear until we get closer to the election. Throw in another terrorist attack or recession, and the whole election outcome will change.

The fact that we are even talking about someone winning the white house that is not a white male shows that this couuntry may be ready for a change. We are behind the times when it comes to the diversity of our leaders.

Those of you into sports, this is the first time that a African American male has led his team to the Super Bowl and it happened twice this year. That is right, both head coaches are black. The good old boy newtork is fading away in sports and hopefully in politics as well.

Maybe I'm the lone ranger on this one, but I don't think it will be any of these candidates. Or maybe this is just my own hopeful thinking. I am always suspicious of candidates that get the media coronation this early... But "if the election were held today", I'd vote for McCain.

I am a pessimist at heart and believe the candidate with most money to spend will win. Candidates must be back by corporate America to win the smear campaign that evolved into an art form. You would think that the American people would get tired of it and reject this form of politic but the Jerry Springer for of politics is still strong.

Mosts of my students believe that a non-white person will become president before a woman would solely on the fact that many Americans don't feel confident about the abilities of a woman being president. (This was mentioned by several females in the class today.) Of course, I disagree with this. Margaret Thatcher of England was a strong Prime Minister while Ronnie Reagan was US president. Germany has a woman chancellor for the first time.

If this new Iraq strategy of sending in more troops fails, MCCain will remain a Senator from Arizona after Nov. '08. Maybe Patrick McHenry will have presidential ambitions someday. Of course, I will do my research before voting.

I agree with Jeremiah's and Chris' analysis. The Democratic primary will be exciting to watch. The power and money that is behind the Clinton's will be extremely hard to compete with while at the same time the youth, vigor, and media appeal of Obama will certainly bring a new dimension to Democratic party. It will be interesting to see how much power the voters really have. Like I said before though, I anticipate an underdog southern Democrat from the south will fly under the radar while these two fight it out and carry the primary. It may be a candidate that we have all heard of and know quite well, who has spent four years priming his pumps, and who has just enough experience to hold his own when it gets tough. The candidate I have in mind actually promotes himself as a voice for the impoverished (and he may really mean it).

I'm sorry, but Patrick McHenry had too close of ties to Tom Delay and Bob Ney. He took money from their poliitical action committees. When I wrote to him and suggested that he distance himself from these guys, he bascially told me "take a hike." McHenry is all about advancing party poliitics, not what is best for Americans. I cannot trust the man.

Would be great, but will not happen for another ten years if then. I agree with Neil, people sometimes talk out of both sides of their mouth, saying one thing and doing something totally different. I believe the Senator (regardless of his experience) would be awesome in the area of global relations.

I think Colin Powell would have made a great president, but I believe that anyone (other than a white male) who is smart enough to lead our country is also, like Powell, smart enough to know it is too soon. Until people see human kind as equals, they will not choose someone who looks different from the white male majority.

I agree that we need a change, and I would hope that every man and woman in the country could look past ethnicity and sex to choose the best candidate in the next presidential election, but I don't think we are there yet. I don't know when we will get to that point or if we will ever get to that point. We are unable to even get past the confederate flag in some of our local schools. And I know that other areas of the country have their own "confederate flags."

This morning when I was looking at Tim Russert’s “Meet the Pressâ€

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, you cannot deny that the voters of this country wanted something to change this past November. Will it change? That remains to be seen, and I think that the outcome of the 2008 Presidential race will rest heavily on whether that change has occurred. The problem may be that, as John put it, most people, at least right now, If the election were held today, I think I'd vote for the un-named candidate Heath mentioned in his earlier post; he's a fresh face who has not been in Washington for a few years, and I think he'd be a moral and ethical plus to the Executive Branch (and I think we truly need help in that category), as well as a strong leader. Of course, between now and election day, I will do my homework, and no issue is as important to me as the education of our country's future.