What Woman May be Next?
After Hillary Clinton lost the battle for the nomination of the Democratic Party for president, many hoped that she would become Barack Obama’s running mate. After all, those who supported Clinton said, she received the votes of 18 million Democrats; an incredibly large amount of votes for anyone, let alone a loser.
Furthermore, many of her supporters said, she may very well be the most competent female politician in Washington and outside it. If women wanted to break through the glass ceiling of the White House, Clinton was their gal.
But Obama did not ask his main rival to become his running mate. Instead, he asked Senator Joe Biden – a WASP if ever there was one. By doing so, Obama destroyed all chances of a woman breaking through the glass ceiling this year.
Or so it seemed.
Suddenly John McCain surprised the political world by picking Sarah Palin as his running mate. Palin, the governor of Alaska, was mostly unknown in the rest of the country, let alone in the rest of the world. At the moment she joined the Republican ticket, however, Republican fundraising tripled. She instantly appealed to white women, who recognized themselves in Palin and who, it seemed, were excited about a mother of five possibly destroying the glass ceiling.
But then the tide turned. The MSM and the Obama campaign launched a major offensive against Palin decrying her as radically social conservative, having questionable religious beliefs, being less than a real woman, unintelligent, and not informed enough to be vice president. They even used sexism against Palin and, said to say, it worked. Palin lost support, and the Republican ticket plunged in the polls.
The two are now some 6% behind in nationwide polls, and state polls are increasingly in Obama and Biden’s favor as well. It seems that it will be difficult if not virtually impossible for the Republican ticket to stage a comeback and, by doing so, destroy the glass ceiling for all women in America.
Which leads us to the question: who’s next? What woman could possibly enter the White House, either as president or vice president? Is there any female politician competent enough to break the glass ceiling? Is there any female politician willing to try it, after having seen how sexism was employed frequently against both Clinton and Palin?
My guess is that, from the perspective of women’s emancipation, 2008 will come to be known as a terrible year, a black page in the history of women’s emancipation in the United States, and perhaps even worldwide. It will undoubtedly take perhaps as long as eight years, perhaps more, for another capable woman may try to beat the odds, and enter the White House in an official position.
From the perspective of women’s emancipation, it’s a sad prediction but, I think, more than likely.
Here’s how I see it:
The information that surfaced about Sarah Palin wasn’t the result of a major offensive by the Obama campaign. In fact, the Obama campaign was careful in talking about her at all: they chose instead to focus their statements on the economy, or on John McCain’s policies (with the usual twist of tying him to Bush).
The fact that Sarah Palin didn’t carry the country’s female vote based on her gender alone is, I think, a major victory that cannot be overlooked. What better way to show that women care about more than their gender? If they are willing to vote against a team with a female on it – and many have indicated they will – then they don’t need anyone to shatter the glass ceiling. They finished the job themselves.
Or they will, if events turn out a certain way.
For that thought to carry any water at all, you’d have to demonstrate no significant part of HRC’s votes came because she has a set of ovaries. And that you’d be hard pressed to do.