What Was The Deciding Factor?

The American Presidential Election

Since when should the appearance of the President be the most important deciding factor in an election? A friend of mine made a very valid point, “White people will vote for Obama because they don’t want to come across as racist.” The idea of having the first black American President eclipsed many other issues of the election. Personally, I would not have cared who won the election. Though Canada’s relations with the United States does lie heavily on the relation between both nations’ leaders, I felt that either candidate was a suitable choice for president. However, like many other uninformed people who watched the election, I was hoping for Obama to win the Presidency – the main reason being to see the first black American president in office. However, should it not be the policies and the ideas the candidates represent that is the main deciding factor?

Few people were actually aware of either candidate’s position on issues such as the Iraq war and the troubled housing market. Even now that Barack Obama is the President Elect, I am still asking myself, “What does he plan to do while in office?” The truth of the matter is people were so focused on the change that a black president would represent that many of the main issues were, for the majority, ignored.

While it’s a ground-breaking time – seeing the first black American president in history – it’s hard to be completely happy, knowing that Obama was voted into office, not for his ideas, but largely for the colour of his skin.