There have been very interesting responses to my query regarding whether adult literacy learners and teachers are talking to each other (whether in formal civics classes or in informal hallway conversations) about the fact that a female and an African American are top contenders in one of the party's election results. 

The intent of my question was to really focus on adult literacy learners-what are they saying, and whether the elections are being covered informally or formally in classrooms. If they are, I wonder what is being said, and if they are not being covered, I wonder why not.

I agree with the poster who stated that we have come a long way as indicated by the fact that race and gender are not being stressed. However, I don't think that we have come far enough, that we can't be excited that for the first time in history that an African American and a Woman have serious chances of being their party's presidential candidate. 

I think that people are noticing race and gender, and here are a few examples:

When it was clear that both Obama and Clinton were going to run, I heard an African American adult learner say: there is no way whites will vote for a Black person. I similarly heard a female learner say the same thing about a female candidate. Recently, I heard an adult learner say, I wish that I wasn't a pure Republican-I hope one day there is an African American running in my party. Finally (not adult learner related, but something to think about vis-a-vis our language in the classrooms), until fairly recently, I noticed that the media, and people in the community often referred to Clinton by her first name, while referring to all other candidates by their last name, or by their first and last name. Perhaps it was a way to differentiate her from Bill, or perhaps it was an unconscious/subtle way of making her different from the others. Regardless of the motive, it did set her apart.

So, I guess what I am really trying to get at, is:
Are the elections being covered/discussed in the adult learner community (either formally or informally). If yes, how and what is being said? Are people discussing gender and race issues vis-a-vis the elections? If the elections are not being talked about, why not?  Are current events typically not discussed?

Daphne