Will a minority candidate need to be conservative to be elected President?

[mac56]

The cliche I've always heard, over and over, goes like this:

"The first (woman, African-American, Latino-American...you fill in the blank) to be elected President will have to be a conservative. Not a liberal: the voters won't be ready to accept that much change at one time."

I've heard this so many times I've lost count. I hope to God it's not true.

On the other hand, JFK was elected as the first Catholic President, and he was a liberal Democrat. Then again, that was 46 years ago.

Help me out here. Izitso? Must it be so?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I think the conservatives have acted so badly

that we should be able to elect a liberal woman/or minority to the Presidency without a problem.

[antiimperialist]

2. Not conservative, but not too liberal

because the media will scare voters into believing that very liberal=bad.

[sharp_stick]

3. No, I don't think so

The rednecks that usually support conservatives would never vote for a minority. I don't care if they were a Reagan clone you will never see a black or minority get the redneck vote IMO

[HappyWeasel]

4. lol.

Its just not going to happen. Evan Bayh won against a black conservative by a vote of 64-36...WHEN BUSH won by 40-59 (Indiana is like Utah of the Midwest- the deep south of a centrist reigon)

In Maryland, Steele, a black W clone (maybe even more socially conservative) won no more of the vote than W did in 04.

In Ohio, Ken Blackwell lost by over 20 points in a centrist state which will vote exactly how the the national popular vote voted (if not a few hundred or thousand votes to the left unless the GOP can get its revolution back on track).

In Tennessee, a black centrist was able to win the same amount of votes as a white centrist in the senate.

I personally think the first minority president will be a Mexican Democrat(I am a real Richardson supporter) or a centrist Black Republican (Powell or Rice, who, though is the bane of liberals supports the notion that all children should be wanted).

[valerief]

5. No, just have to promise to become a white Protestant married male.

[HappyWeasel]

6. But we see what happens then.

The opposition will call him Jacko.

[demosincebirth]

7. Moderate

[Kelly Rupert]

8. Anyone who wouldn't vote for someone because of their skin

wasn't giving the Dems their vote anyway. A strong Democrat will win, black or white. All this BS meme is implying is that Americans are all conservative, and that liberalism is alien and strange.