Knocking on History’s Door

The 2008 presidential race is unlike any other in the history of this great nation. There is no doubt that the epic battle between Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-Ill) for the Democratic nomination has captured everyone’s attention and dominated the headlines so far this year. Whichever one wins the nomination and goes on to win the presidency would be making history of epic proportions as either the first woman or the first African American president. Of course either one would be a monumental accomplishment.

Right now we are down to three candidates. And what’s interesting, with John McCain (R-AZ), all three are senators. As history has shown us, senators don’t usually fair well in presidential elections. Not since 1960 when John F. Kennedy squeaked out a victory over Republican nominee and two-term Vice-President, Richard M. Nixon, has a senator won the presidency. So whoever wins this election will be the first sitting senator in 48 years to become president. During that span Senators, John Kerry (D, 2004), Robert Dole (R, 1996), George McGovern (D, 1972) and Barry Goldwater (R, 1964) all came up short. Governors on the other hand have done extremely well during this span. George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter were all governors before winning the presidency.

Clinton’s or Obama’s date with history has no doubt overshadowed McCain’s. But race and gender aren’t the only “firsts” in this election. McCain’s date with history has some interesting elements too. If he wins, at age 72, he would become the oldest person and only septuagenarian elected to the presidency. His age would also put him in uncharted waters, by becoming the first president born in the 1930s. For some reason, the decade has not been able to produce a president. The only other major party nominee born in the 1930s was Michael Dukakis (D, 1988). He lost the election to George H.W. Bush making him the only governor to lose in the last 48 years. The presidency hasn’t been too kind to the generation born in the “30s. We jumped from the 1920s to the 1940s when Bush Sr. (b.1924) passed the baton to Clinton (b. 1946). It”s important to note that McCain would also be the first president to have actually served in the Vietnam War.

Of course, compared to Clinton’s or Obama’s potential accomplishments, McCain’s aren’t exactly front page news. Age has taken a backseat to race and gender and understandably so. As Dr. Marc Lamont Hill of Temple University so humorously put it on The Fox News Channel’s O’Reilly Factor; “White males are undefeated in presidential elections.” So the idea of a woman or African American ending a 219 year winning streak is certainly attention-grabbing.

With all the rhetoric of an Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama dream ticket, it would be interesting if McCain chose Condoleezza Rice as his running mate. She just might be the remedy to lower the temperature of the Obama-Clinton fever.