The general elections are 11 months away, but political fervor is already at fever pitch.

The issue that has captured the attention of pundits, pollsters and Joe and Jane Public is whether America will select a white woman or a black man as the next Democratic nominee for president.

The Democratic front-runners, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have opened up meaningful debates about race and gender issues in today’s America.

Gone are the days when women or black candidates for their parties’ presidential nominations were considered long shots.

So far in America, though, the issue has been tackled only in fiction. We’ve watched Geena Davis as President Mackenzie Allen in the short-lived ABC drama, “Commander In Chief,â€? and Dennis Haysbert’s President David Palmer in FOX’s “24.â€?

Only time will tell if life will imitate art.

In other parts of the world, women have served as presidents, premiers and prime ministers.

Recently in this country, Carol Mosley Braun and Elizabeth Dole both sought their parties’ nomination for president, but Clinton, a senator from New York, is seen as savvy enough and politically powerful enough to actually get it.

Jesse Jackson has run for president, but Obama is widely seen as the first truly viable black potential presidential candidate.

Obama’s biracial heritage also is fueling some interesting questions about racial identity. With his white American mother and black Kenyan father, many Americans wonder how to view him. The Illinois senator has always self-identified as African-American.

If you have thoughts on this, readers, please feel free to share.