By Brigitte L. Nacos
America’s
women have taken a large leap forward by revealing positive attitudes about a
female politician whose presidential ambitions were well known before she
officially declared
her candidacy the other day via a polished video release on her web site.
As the the Washington Post's Lois Romano reports today, “After some rocky moments with
female voters over the past 15 years, Clinton begins her historic race viewed favorably by 59 percent of women nationally,
according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll completed Friday night. She is
viewed favorably among women of all age groups and educational backgrounds, and
has especially large advantages among core pockets of Democratic women,
including non-whites and lower-income women, and among Northeasterners.”
A whole year before the Iowa caucuses and nearly two years before the presidential election of 2008, the field of candidates and likely candidates for the nominations of the two major parties grows by the day. In the run-up to the 2000 election, Elizabeth Dole never looked like a serious contender for the nomination on the Republican side. She did not even survive the pre-primary season. She was unable to match the financial resources of George Bush and some other male contenders and never had an effective campaign operation. Democrat Hillary Clinton now, unlike Elizabeth Dole then, is a formidable candidate with enormous fund-raising capabilities and a first-rate staff in her back.
Hillary Clinton is a political pro with extraordinary knowledge of domestic and foreign policy. She has walked the political middle-ground that most Americans seem to prefer but thereby risked losing the support of her own party's left. As U.S. Senator of New York she impressed her constituents by listening to and working for them; she won reelection last fall with the support of many Republican voters—even in traditionally Republican areas. When she embarked on her senatorial campaign more than six years ago, she laid the groundwork for broad support by conducting extensive listening tours. If she is equally successful with such listening sessions across the country, Senator Clinton has a good chance to become the first female presidential candidate of one of the major parties. And if she achieves that goal, she has a good chance of becoming America's first female president--after 200 years of male chief-executives only.
Asked about her views on the possibility of a female president, an enthusiastic young woman said the other day that such an officeholder would be a role model for her and other girls and women. Moreover, she said, it would be good for America to set an example for the rest of the world by electing a female president. The truth is, of course, that the United States would not be a trailblazer but rather follow belatedly the example of other western and non-western countries. Think of Golda Meir in Israel and Indira Gandhi in India and Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom and, more recently, Angela Merkel in Germany, and many more.
Quite a change in gender politics in America: After Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House recently, the idea of a female president is no longer an impossible dream but a real prospect.
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