Here's A Simple Answer To All The "When Will America Elect A ____ President" Questions

[THUNDER HANDS]

America will elect a ...

female
gay
atheist
latino
asian
arab

.... president, when a leader steps up who is exemplary in every way, shows his or her knowledge of the issues, captures the imagination of the American people, and displays the requisite social/political/emotional skills needed to become POTUS.

That's when we'll have a ____ president.

Not one day before.

Last week, one such person happened to step forward and get elected. That person also happened to be black. The next non-white-male to get elected will be what I described before, and they will also just happen to be a member of one of those groups.

It'll happen, but only when that person steps forward. Obama stepped forward this year.

[Jim Lane]

1. Sorry, not so simple

Let's suppose that the junior Senator from Illinois, with Barack Obama's record, skills, etc., had been a white man with a reassuringly conventional name.

Let's also suppose that this white Senator was an atheist and that he said so whenever he was asked about religion.

Do you think he would've been elected? Do you really believe that being an atheist wouldn't cost him any votes, or would cost him less than six percent of the electorate (Obama's margin in the popular vote)?

No way.

Here's a from February 2007 for you to consider. The question was, "If your party nominated a generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be …, would you vote for that person?" When the blank was filled in with "black", 5% admitted to the pollster that they wouldn't vote for the candidate. When the blank was filled in with "atheist", though, 53% said they wouldn't vote for that candidate.

These self-reports of prejudice probably aren't completely accurate. Nevertheless, it's absolutely clear that the prejudice against atheists far exceeds that against blacks.

By the way, the second-most-disfavored group was gay men and lesbians, with 43% of the poll respondents admitting that homosexuality would be a deal-breaker for them.