why obama should be president

It would eliminate all criticisms that we are anti-muslim if we had a post racial, African-American president in office, according to a very good article in The Atlantic by Andrew Sullivan, http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200712/obama
Hillary v Rudy would revisit the culture wars that have plagued the US since the 1960s. Ellen Goodman, columnist for the Boston Globe, thinks a polarization of politics is not such a bad thing http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/left/orl-syn-good1209,0,7865626.story
because it engenders political change such as the end of Jim Crow laws, the end of Vietnam, etc.
I have to side with A. Sullivan on this one. The U.S. is being crippled by this culture war - every time the right wing uses gays, abortion or immigration to divide our country, we lose grasp of the real issues. I'm sure the Dems do it too.
I just don't think race, gender ethnicity issues matter that much anymore in the new climate of global warming, class disparity and global politics. We need to get over the issues that have divided us as a country and start thinking how to function and compete within a global society. Obama will help us do this because he's not tied into the war, he's not already damaged by his efforts at health care reform and he doesn't incite memories of the 1990s.
This is a different era with different issues -time for a new leader who can help the nation redefine our place in the world nonmilitarily.
I still need convincing that his stance on issues is to my liking. Part of this is not having cable, other part is sheer boredom at reading the candidates platforms.
But mostly, I think it's a reluctance to get too involved too early when I don't feel I have a say in the process. The primary system gives so much power to two states - Iowa and new Hampshire. There's something pretty whacked about that. Any thoughts?