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Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS
If this thread was about "is America ready for a homosexual president" would it be less trivial to you?
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No it wouldn't. Because if his agenda for the country wasn't compatible with mine, I wouldn't vote for him. And vice versa.
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Oh. Because status group memberships are still a big deal for many people in this country. "We" aren't making an issue. Most people in this society are, whether they articulate it or not. 
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Hence the problem: Emphasis of a candidate's status group membership over whether or not they are qualified is myopic at best and dangerous at worst.
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Oprah Winfrey or Condoleeza Rice? 
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I was thinking of Condoleeza Rice when I typed this, but Oprah could very well be applicable to this too.
[quote]Power is as power does.
The status quo isn't challenged by having "some of them" in powerful positions throughout society. It is challenged by having "some of them" in powerful positions of the most influence. Even a president who gets her or his cues from the administration is still a "spokesperson" for this country.
(at bolded) Hence my original assertion that this whole notion of America being "ready" for a minority president is more for self-serving purposes than for the betterment of the country as a whole. OTOH, you make a strong point (albeit a qualified one) with the bolded:
The status quo is actually challenged by having a president in a powerful position that represents the will of the American people as a whole, not merely the corporate and individual elite, as we have now. If we get a president in office that can successfully do this, then believe it or not, we will, in some respects, have a minority president, not based on his/her status group characteristic(s), but based on the candidate's own mindset that s/he will not be bought and sold by the elite to do their bidding and to serve at their will over the will of the nation as a whole, as has been the case with an overwhelming majority of 20th century US Presidents (Taft being one of the notable exceptions).
Expanding the term "minority" to include this definition, I will answer the OP's question: Is America ready for a minority president? America will be ready when they are fully knowledgeable about what has been going on with this nation, especially over the past 100 years, and more importantly, when they are so sick and tired of the status quo, that they will spare no expense to put a candidate into office to do the will of the people, not the elite.
The 2008 election outcome will definately answer this question one way or the other, because we most likely won't get another chance in 2012.