Did you think it would happen in your lifetime?

[Drunken Irishman]

Be honest, if someone would have asked you the day after the 2004 election whether or not we would see a black president, what would your answer be?

Me? I think I could have said yes, but not a guy named Barack Hussein Obama and not four years after the 2004 election.

[jobycom]

1. yes, but not in four years, and not someone named Barack or Obama

much less Hussein.

[Captain Hilts]

2. Yes. Powell could have gotten the job had he wanted it. Or his wife let him go for it.

Blame Alma for discouraging him from running.

I guess she's the "Yoko" of this story...

[blondeatlast]

4. If he can't make his own decisions I'm glad he didn't bother.

Geez--I give Powell WAY more credit than that.

[Captain Hilts]

6. My firm was involved in exploratory polling for him. nt

[HereSince1628]

3. If you had asked me ten years ago I would have said yes, probably Colin Powell

Wrong as wrong could be.

[MarianJack]

5. I thought that I'd live to see a woman president,...

...but not a black president. I expected my son to see a black president, maybe him!

He's 8, I'm 53. I hope I live to see a woman, but NOT Palin(comparison).

[bdamomma]

11. me too, not Palin either.

[blondeatlast]

7. I'd like to see this poll broken up by age of the participants.

I think that would be VERY revealing; which is not to say I want to stir up the generational crap that circed around here recently.

I just bet there'd be a very interesting divide.

[CitizenLeft]

8. I voted no, but...

...in the spring of 2004, when Obama was just about to win the primary for his Senate seat, I went to his website to see what all the fuss was about - he was getting noticed, and there was an article about him posted here on DU. I took one look at that famous photo of Barack and Michelle sitting in the grass with their girls around them, and I knew he'd run for president some day. I even printed that photo out and took it out into the living room for my Mom to see. She didn't live to see this day, but I told her, Mom, some day this man will run for president. She did get to see him at the 2004 convention, and of course, he blew us away.

Back then, I didn't think he'd run so soon - I thought maybe 2016 - and I didn't think he'd win. But I wanted him to try. :)

[On the Road]

9. I Thought It Very Well Might Have Happened in the Next 40 Years

as long as the right candidate came along. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were not the right candidates. Colin Powell might have been. Obama was.

[CrispyQ]

10. Yes.

Racisim is never going to go away completely, but I just don't think it's a prevalent with the younger generation. They are friends with Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, gays & every other type. Familiarity with something goes a long way toward erasing fears of it.

Now, if you had asked if I think I will ever see pot legalized in my life, I don't think so. Most of the people my age that I know, ones who used to smoke pot everyday when they were young, don't think it should be legalized. I hope I'm wrong!

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. C) Wasn't sure. I am actually less hopeful of a progressive getting elected in my lifetime.

[Captain Hilts]

13. I agree!!!!!

Obama isn't a progressive. Neither's Clinton.

Feingold is.

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. Yeah. Obama's victory is bittersweet for me. We spanked the GOP and

broke a racial barrier that should have come down forever ago... but I still would have loved to have a progressive in the WH.

Ah, well. Who knows what the future will bring?