A Persian Jew is Mayor of Beverly Hills?

One of my favorite edgy Jewish magazines, Jewcy, today has an interview with the new mayor of Beverly Hills, who is, as unlikely as it may sound, a Persian Jew!

You can read this piece by following the link, which is embedded as a link in the title of this post. Just click the headline and read!

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The reason I started with this story tonight is that I've long felt that the greatest thing about America, the nation, is our emerging diversity. There really are not all that many societies in the world as freely diverse as ours is becoming.

The outcome of the critical Presidential primaries in California (Feb. 5) may hinge on the huge bloc of Independent voters here (3 million), at least on the Democratic side. Nationally, among the young especially, party affiliation seems to be dying, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

If you go back and study the demographics of the 2004 election, George Bush won with the support of only one group -- white people. Kerry won with African-, Asian-, and Latino-Americans, and with virtually all the other significant minority groups. As our country grows its rainbow-like spectrum of racial, linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity, we can expect many more leaders to emerge that, on paper at least, challenge many of our out-dated assumptions.

A Mayor who is both Iranian and Jewish? Yep, that's right.

A President whose father was Kenyan and whose mother was a white Midwesterner, who grew up in Hawaii (the center of mixed-race families) and Indonesia, and who is a Christian, a professor, and an intellectual in touch with the hopes of poor, working, and middle class people?

Yep, that's a real possibility, too.

A man who, most importantly, seems to be a natural conciliator with the ability to inspire us all?

Check him out; he's the real deal.

The national polls indicate Obama has pulled into a virtual tie with Clinton, but after the New Hampshire polling debacle, caution is indicated. The polls may over-estimate Obama's support.

For Republicans, McCain is polling ahead of the pack. He should do very well in California, except for the fact that, unlike the Democratic primary, Independents cannot vote in the GOP primary.

Stay tuned...

p.s. According to Blogger, this is my 800th post to this blog. A milestone of sorts. Thank you to all of my visitors. I'll keep going as long as you keep coming!

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