Is America Ready for an African-American First Family

Senator Barack Obama has been hitting the campaign trail for the presidential race in 2008. Senator Obama and Senator Clinton are the two candidates for which if chosen for presidency it will be a first for America. This will be an interesting race, is America ready for an African-American president or even more, has America progressed enough to have a woman for president?

In order to lead this election, both candidates need to have an action plan as to what is going to happen with the war in Iraq. Senator Clinton has been ridiculed for voting for military action in Iraq. Her inability to gracefully bounce back from voting for the action may hurt her in this race. Even though she is now attempting to retreat from her previous backing of the war, it looks as a feeble attempt to win the American public. It may seem as if she is jumping on a bandwagon that her running mates were already riding. Her advisors were ill prepared for handling questions such as her previous voting record as a Senator. They may need to revisit the Bill Clinton strategy on becoming president. If she would be more aggressive on her Iraq stance it would do her great justice.

Is America mature enough to handle having the first family being African-American? This question really is posed after new cells of the Ku Klux Klan have been discovered. In a time where affirmative action has been ripped out of universities, it seems that America is digressing to a time where African-Americans were only able to work in certain occupations. The Obama family certainly is one made up of prestige and integrity. Senator Obama's track record in the Illinois State Senate has proven his integrity with passing laws on police interrogations in capital murder cases. Obama's devotion to his wife and family is refreshing for America. He is putting a new spin on family in a time where the family unit is breaking down. Compared to the Bush sisters on their drinking binges and the "President Clinton" scandal with interns, this is refreshing. This would be like having the "Huxtables" as the first family. Imagine that!

Or imagine having a woman as president. Senator Clinton has already had the experience of running the country and also has made the contacts from being the "first family". This may be her advantage, if she uses it correctly it could take her right back into the White House.