Sunday or Monday I heard a woman in New Hampshire say that she had been inclining toward Obama but then she wondered whether shed be able to live with herself years from now if she had to confess that she had had an opportunity to vote for the first woman president and hadnt done so. I wouldnt be surprised if many other women did and will feel the same way. And, on the other hand, that there have been and will be many people who decide for Obama for the reason that hed be the first black president.Prescinding from these two particular candidates, of the two possibilitiesthe first woman or the first blackwhich would be of greater historic significance?

Rev. Joseph A. Komonchak, professor emeritus of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America, is a retired priest of the Archdiocese of New York.

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