Dr. Lester K. Spence

Jesse Jackson's winning presidential primaries in states like West Virginia during the 80s signaled to me Whites were ready then to vote for an African-American as chief executive. There wasn't nearly the same level of partisanship back then, but the political machines maintained by both parties represented a virtual ceiling for Black candidates in statewide and nat'l elections. So the first symbol of Obama's victory is the way in which technology -- in this case, the Internet -- was (again) harnessed to build a new and different political machine.

Politically, I believe Obama's victory represents the voters' disenchantment with ideologues. He may in fact be the first conspicuously non-ideological candidate for the Presidency we've seen, which likely explains how so many seemingly disparate groups of people identified with him. The trillion dollar question is whether Whites now see Blacks, Latinos, Asians, etc., as partners rather than rivals.

Not anymore foreign than a corporation founded in Delaware and doing business in New York, if you know what I mean.