Editor's Letter
Exoticism is in the beholder’s eye.
The Kenyan father. The anthropologist mother. First, middle, and last names that seem to give little hint of which goes where. The childhood spent on islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. One early question about Barack Obama’s candidacy was whether he would prove too exotic a taste for the American electoral palate. After more than two centuries of white men from white places occupying the White House, could Americans make a president of a biracial, globalized man with a lilting African name?
Exoticism, however, is in the beholder’s eye. In many suburbs where this presidential election will be decided, immigration has altered the population and globalization has increased the neighborhood’s engagement with the world. Which brings us to Sarah Palin. The Republican vice presidential candidate is often depicted as a pure American archetype, the pistol-packin’ frontier gal who can fell a moose, butcher it, and have steaks ready by supper time. It’s a powerful image. Yet in more than a few electoral precincts, Palin’s frontier mystique must seem a bit, well, exotic. After all, who more likely shows up at a suburban block party: an African-American lawyer or a moose-hunting female chief executive with five kids? Of course, given the rapid ascension of women to top political offices, and demographic shifts likely to render whites a minority by 2050, “exotic” is not just a relative concept, it’s a fast-changing one. For now, politicians like Joe Biden and John McCain are still the standard by which others are deemed a deviation. But the 21st century’s increasingly polyglot electorate promises to produce leaders in its own varied, multiethnic image. By century’s end, it may be difficult to find anyone who qualifies as exotic.
Francis Wilkinson
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Brazil has a scorpion problem
Under The Radar Venomous arachnids are infesting country's fast-growing cities
-
Why Rikers Island will no longer be under New York City's control
The Explainer A 'remediation manager' has been appointed to run the infamous jail
-
California may pull health care from eligible undocumented migrants
IN THE SPOTLIGHT After pushing for universal health care for all Californians regardless of immigration status, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal backs away from a key campaign promise
-
Editor's letter
feature
-
Editor's letter: Are college athletes employees?
feature The National Labor Relations Board's decision deeming scholarship players “employees” of Northwestern University has many worrying that college sports itself will soon be history.
-
Editor's letter
feature
-
Editor's letter: When a bot takes your job
feature Now that computers can write news stories, drive cars, and play chess, we’re all in trouble.
-
Editor's letter: Electronic cocoons
feature Smartphones have their upside, but city streets are now full of people walking with their heads down.
-
Editor's letter: The real cause of income inequality
feature When management and stockholders pocket all the profits, the middle class falls further behind.
-
Editor's letter: The real reason you’re so forgetful
feature When you consider how much junk we’ve stored in our brains, it’s no surprise we can’t remember our PINs.
-
Editor's letter: Ostentatious politicians
feature The McDonnells’ indictment for corruption speaks volumes about the company elected officials now keep.