How realistic is America?

Today when I was thinking of examples of realism vs. idealism in my life, the most seemingly obvious one hit me: the presidential elections. If you look at the candidates you can clearly see how are country could fall into either category. But the elections in November will end the debate.

If you look at the democratic potentials, you have the idealistic side of America. The first candidate is Barack Obama. He's a black man with a radical Muslim father. He went to school in Indonesia for several years. He is not the typical candidate. Yet, he is the front-runner in the race. The odds are against him because we have never had a non-white president. The other candidate is Hilliary Clinton. She was once the first lady of the US. She is somewhat overshadowed by her husband. The odds are against her because we have never had a female president before. Some critics have called her emotional (with her "crying" episode).

Now if you look at the Republican party, you have the realistic side of America. John McCain has ran for the presidency before. He is white. He is male. He is Christian. He served in the Vietnam war where he was a Prisoner of War. Realistically, he would be the next president.

I think the elections in November will prove whether America is currently an idealistic or realistic nation. In these elections, we have seemingly unlikely candidates very close to actually holding the presidency. Personally I am a realist, but in this case, I would like to see America as a whole be idealistic.