Barack Obama is going to be the democratic nominee for president. It's an interesting time for me, because I never thought I would see a black man as a viable candidate in my lifetime, and yet, here he is.

Senator Obama is already gearing up for what he's expecting will be a tough fight. He's also saying he's ready for things to become racially charged, which has been an interesting dynamic already in the primaries, and is really expected to heat up in the general election. And, it seems, he's not alone in believing it's coming.

A CBS News poll showed 30% of Americans harbor some feelings of racial prejudice. For those folks, who say race is a factor in their presidential choice, Senator McCain leads Obama by nearly 20 points, 56 percent to 37 percent, while, at the present time, Obama is ahead of McCain in general by 15 percentage points.

There are some columnists who believe this race, or at least what we've had to date, has already been about race, so it makes sense for it to continue. In the challenge against Senator Clinton, Obama clearly lead in the black vote, whereas Clinton not only lead with women, but she led with hispanics also. This has led some of the columnists to say that there's a double standard against white voters who say they will vote for McCain because he's white.

I don't like that argument, but it's a tough one to debate against because it's most likely true for the most part. The true is that people will most likely vote for or against someone who's like them or not like them in some fashion, whether it's race, sex, religious preference, wealth status, etc. Some people base their candidates qualifications on physical presence or demeanor instead of qualifications. Let's face the fact that there are more people watching American Idol than watch the political news shows on Sunday mornings put together.

At the same time, it's an interesting dynamic that age is working against McCain, where 50% of the American public feels that the age of 71 is too old to elect a first time president. I'll be watching to see how that will play as the political ad season begins in earnest.

Race versus age; are we ready for this election year?