During the primary race, many of my friends were surprised when I supported Barack Obama. I was a female not supporting the first major female candidate for president. Didn't I relate to her better though? Didn't I, as a woman, feel a responsibility to support Hillary Clinton?

As a woman I was glad to see America take a female candidate seriously, but as a citizen, I was concerned about the notion that women needed to vote for Hillary, black people for Obama and working white men for John Edwards. Yes the primaries had potentially historic implications, but neither Barack nor Hillary ran because of those implications; they ran to be president, to lead our government. I didn't vote based on what the candidates represented symbolically or whom I could relate to better, but what they represented as potential executives of the nation.

We see similar issues arising now with Gov. Sarah Palin. She is being portrayed by the McCain campaign as a hockey mom who happened to fall into politics, hoping that this identity appeals to the key voting bloc of "Wal-Mart moms." In her address at the Republican National Convention, she referred to herself as "average" and "one of many," emphasizing that her family "has the same ups and downs as any other family." If we can relate to her, the assumption is that we will vote for her.

These assumptions are only exacerbated by the media. Polls in the Democratic primary were always divided by race and gender. Everyone assumed areas with large black populations would prefer Obama. If they can relate to him based on the color of his skin, they would feel an obligation to support him.

The media is currently constantly debating whether or not McCain chose Palin simply to attract the Hillary supporters who really wanted a woman in office. Hillary's 18 million supporters now face a dilemma. Do they support Obama, whose political ideas Hillary has endorsed and is now campaigning for? Or do they choose Palin, who symbolically represents their goal, but has a very different political philosophy?

Most Hillary supporters will respect Hillary's endorsement of Barack Obama. Issues that affect all women, Roe v. Wade, birth control and equal rights show major differences between what Palin and Hillary believe. For these rights, women will still tend to lean towards the Democratic ticket. And for many, the advancement and protection of these universal women's rights come far before getting one woman a symbolic job.

And they should. People all have different issues that are closest to their heart, be them women's rights, equal rights, the economy or the war. Voters should evaluate candidates based on their opinions and goals within these issues. Your ability to relate to a candidate or the fact that you share the same gender or race does not guarantee that you share the same views on these issues or any others. And it is their views and policies that will shape our lives for the next four years.

We must look at experience, policy recommendations and their view of the world. We should vote based on our perception of candidates' abilities to be president. Their race and gender do play a part; they relate to experiences that help form candidates as people. But in the end, we must evaluate them based on who they are as politicians.

This election is going to have a historic result. But to see voting as a decision between two history-making opportunities is to eliminate what makes Obama and Palin's accomplishments so great. All four members of the major-party tickets should be evaluated based on their talents and goals. Otherwise, their election won't mean that we are past sexism or racism. It will prove they still exist.

Aishlinn O'Connor is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Tuesday.