What race are movie presidents going to be now? I dare say this conundrum was the most overlooked issue of the 2008 Presidential campaign.

I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot more Hispanic and/or female presidents in the movies. If Hollywood uses a white guy for a president, then the movie might look like a period piece. If they use a black guy, then they’re going to need an Obama look-alike, and either name his character “Obama” or be content with audiences drawing direct parallels to the actual president. But I think that unless the move is based on real events (say, the upcoming Clinton coup or the major first-term financial scandal), they’re going to opt for someone as visually distinct from Obama as possible.

I guess a 250-pound black guy with a beard would work, but it would be much easier to use a black woman. The point is, in the past, the “white guy” was either Joe President or Joe “Subtle Allusion to the Current President” President. No black actor might be Bill Clinton. (Incidentally, actors with towels on their heads still won’t get much work playing U.S. politicians. I guess that’s a good sign.)

My prediction is that conservative-looking presidential types in the Screen Actors Guild will have a big work shortage in the next four or eight years, at least when it comes to movies taking place in the present. Sure, there will still be a place for them as evil, conservative Senators trying to derail the president’s benevolent socialist motives in favor of their diabolical brand of Big Tobacco and Big Oil-loving fascism. But when it comes to being a big-screen commander-in-chief of American troops in the Middle East, there’s going to be a major opportunity for other races.

President José González, here you come.