In his analysis for the LA TImes, James Rainey explains much better than I can why an Obama win really matters to some people. Having a president who looks like you is symbolic in many ways:
Rainey, talking to voters in South Carolina, found that: "On Saturday, black schoolteachers talked about how an Obama in the White House would motivate students who complain that the deck is stacked against them. Parents hoped it would help them keep distracted sons on the straight and narrow. One woman said she felt it might even push those Confederate flags, occasional dots on the piney landscape, a little farther into the shadows."
It's the potential result of having a black president that excites people. And I don't disagree. For my students, and my friends, this is a big deal. I think I have the same reaction in wanting Hillary Clinton to win. If she wins and does well, it has the potential to shatter the last myths about what women can't do - which impacts me personally.
Rainey noted that: "Most of the Obama voters expressed no animosity for Clinton. "If she can win, that would be big, too," Chandler said." That's how I feel about Obama.
Either way, America wins.
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