Americans Are Ready for a Female President. Finally.
by Eleanor Clift May 4, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
A new poll from Emily’s List shows an overwhelming number of voters now support the idea. It’s a movement the group hopes someone in the sisterhood is about to inherit.
With polls showing Hillary Clinton holding a formidable lead over all other potential candidates for president in 2016, a press conference to promote the idea of a woman president seems a little behind the news, a treasured dream catching up with a new reality, or perhaps a stalking horse for Clinton.
Stephanie Schriock, president of Emily’s List, which raises money and works to elect pro-choice Democratic women, said she has no inside knowledge of what Clinton is likely to do, but there is widespread acceptance of a woman as president, and 72 percent of voters surveyed think it’s likely to happen in 2016. While Clinton gets mentioned most, there’s no guarantee she will run, which is why Emily’s List wants to “ignite the conversation” around an idea whose time has come, and build a movement that Clinton or another in the sisterhood can inherit.
Ellen Malcolm, who founded Emily’s List in her basement 28 years ago, looked on like a proud parent as pollsters unveiled the latest numbers showing overwhelming support among voters across gender and party lines for a “generally well-qualified woman.” Those numbers were always strong, says Malcolm, but when voters were asked about their friends and neighbors supporting a woman, they weren’t so sure. These days, there’s no hesitation, the country is ready. “What a waltz!” Malcolm exclaims. Twenty years ago, no pollster would have predicted the dramatic shift in attitudes toward a woman president, or marriage equality, or even immigration, that we see today among the general public, says pollster Lisa Grove, who adds one caveat: voters still think it’s harder for a woman than a man to get elected president.
Malcolm recalled the days when women’s groups had to look outside of the political arena for role models that could be taken seriously as presidential candidates. “Remember Sally Ride for president?” she asked. The first American woman in space, Ride, who died last year, was periodically courted to run, but valued her private life too much to get into politics. The paucity of women on the front lines of politics was evident when Emily’s List was founded in 1985. The previous year, women’s groups had pressured Walter Mondale, the Democratic nominee, to name a female vice-presidential candidate. When he chose New York congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running-mate, critics skewered him as weak for bowing to a special-interest group, namely women.
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This is a dance that’s been going on with the American people for some time, and what’s made the difference is Hillary Clinton. “These last four years have sealed the deal,” says Wilson. There’s credit to go around, more women on the Supreme Court, more women in top jobs, three female secretaries of State before John Kerry was sworn in this year. Still, it’s the visual image that sticks of Clinton meeting with presidents and prime ministers all around the world, and looking like she belongs. “This is mostly embodied in the person of Hillary Clinton. She frames the discussion,” says Wilson.
We are more than 50% of the population. It's more than time that one was elected president.
Although I doubt that any of those four could win the nomination in 2016, even if Hillary doesn't run. If Hillary runs, I doubt that these ladies would even seek it. Ditto for Biden.
They were ready for him. The problem is that the first time around they voted more for the idea of having an AA in the WH than for the actual man. The second time around, they had a better knowledge of the real person, but the thought of voting for the extremists that now populate the Republican party was unthinkable to the majority of the country.
love Mrs. Clinton but we can't afford to place all our eggs into one basket. 2016 is far away, wish Mrs. Clinton would jump aboard for 2014. That would really shake up republicans in a huge way.
Hillary hasn't even said whether she wants to run or not. It's the media and their pundits who are pushing this meme. I fervently want Hillary to run. I think that she would be a great president. For one, because I think that she would kick some Tea Party ass in Congress (just as she did during the Benghazi hearings); but this early push to try to force her to make a decision before she's ready may backfire and it makes me nervous. Bill has already said that she won't talk about it until after the 2014 mid term election. I wish that they would stop pressuring her. The pundits keep looking for any little sign that she may run, from a new hair cut, from her speeches, etc. Let the woman breath, for crying out loud!!!
Besides, I don't trust the media. The last time around they kept pushing the inevitable meme and then they dropped her once a new shining object caught their attention. After the IA caucus, they dropped her like a hot potato for Obama. Some in the leadership of the party who backstabbed her are now literally "praying" for her to run. As Pelosi put it. The same Pelosi who backed Obama in 2008 and kept telling reporters that it would be a bad mistake if Obama chose Hillary as his VP. So now Hillary supporters are supposed to trust the media and political hacks? No, we don't trust them.
It's equivalent to a woman becoming CEO of a Fortune 500. Yes, there are women near the top of many corporations, but there are only a handful of women CEOs. The same applies in politics. They may be more women governors and senators than in the past, but we are more than half of the population of the USA and we still haven't had a woman president. In my opinion, it should have happened in 2008 and Obama in 2016. But, I guess late is better than never.
After electing a black president, electing the first female president doesn't seem like such a big deal now.
Let's just make sure that first female president is a moderately-progressive Democrat and not someone from the likes of Kelly Ayotte, Nikki Haley, Deb Fischer, and--(let's stretch it)--Sarah Palin, or Michelle Bachmann.
