Bob O’Leary

The day after the election, an African-American co-worker gave me an Obama fan, thanking me for voting for Obama. I thanked her and told her how relieved I was that he won.
While I appreciate how excited African-Americans are about Obama, his race was not really a factor in my vote. OK, it was a little factor, but not much of one. He was just the best candidate for the job.

Yes, the fact that Obama will be the first African-American President is important, but it’s more important that plenty of citizens like me did not let his race be a deciding point. It matters that race didn’t matter. I can’t speak for the rest of the voters, but I would not let a little thing like skin color determine my choice in someone I hire, let alone the President of the United States.

Some people have not moved past that point. Like Rush Limbaugh, who insisted a few years ago that Donovan McNabb was overrated because of his race, they refused to vote for Obama because of his race.

Sorry, but in sports, the “black quarterback” issue went away with Doug Williams’ second quarter in the 1988 Super Bowl. Williams’ five TD passes cam before McNabb. If Obama succeeds, the black president issue is going away too.