Depends. I don't think it should be completely dismissed, given the surge of energy and HOPE that his election inspired (however generalized and unfocused), but really what we're talking about is skin color, and what that has meant in the US. I wonder if people would have the same reaction if, say, J.C. Watts was the first prez of color, or better, Condi Rice. I mean, it would be just as historic, but would the Nation still do their Sgt. Pepper cover like they did with Obama, including such ghosts as Malcolm X looking on with approval? Somehow I doubt it. And I also doubt that LOBsters overall would see a Rice presidency as a "sea-change." But who knows.
Dennis