IN THE PAST YEAR, there has been a virtual coup in the realm of global women’s leadership. Chile elected its first female president, Michelle Bachelet; Liberia swore in its first female president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; and Angela Merkel is head of state in Germany. These elections serve as a wake-up call to the United States and may hold the most important lessons for us about when and why a woman may be president here soon.
These women, with no political coattails on which to ride, have broken through the ultimate glass ceiling and are deemed effective leaders by demonstrating toughness and competence without losing their appeal—the traditional barrier to women’s political leadership at the highest levels. Bachelet and Johnson-Sirleaf endured painful experiences, such as imprisonment and exile, and transformed them into a passion to unify and bring their countries to a new era of peace and prosperity. And Merkel, born behind the Iron Curtain in Communist East Germany, has already surprised people with her toughness by saying that Germany will not be intimidated by Iran’s refusal to disarm its nuclear program.
Marie Wilson is president and co-founder of The White House Project ( www.thewhitehouseproject.org).
According to a Roper Public Affairs poll, nearly 80 percent of Americans are ready for a female commander in chief. The poll also revealed that more than half thought a woman would do as well as a man in foreign policy, homeland security and the economy. This last new mark of acceptance probably owes a great deal to the visible female national security leaders of the Clinton and Bush administrations, with both Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright serving as secretaries of state.
Perhaps we have reached a turning point. First lady Laura Bush has called on Rice to run, and there is a widespread expectation that Senator Hillary Clinton will as well. We may soon have an opportunity to see what happens when two women—who have proved their ability and authority—compete for the presidency. Their simultaneous candidacies would begin to normalize females in the race and would allow us to choose a leader based strictly on her ability, not gender.
Unfortunately, the closest we have come to seeing a female commander in chief is on TV. Yet the possibility is far from fictional. If the elections of Bachelet, Johnson-Sirleaf and Merkel serve as real examples, the international acceptance of women leaders winning national races is clearly gaining momentum.
MARCH
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Taegan D. Goddard is the publisher of Political Wire ( www.politicalwire.com), one of the most widely read political blogs on the Internet. He's also the author of You Won, Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book.
IF THERE’S ONE POLITICAL TREND that’s been fairly consistent across
the globe, it’s that women are winning public office at an unprecedented
rate. In Ireland, Latvia, New Zealand, Finland, the Philippines, Bangladesh
and Norway, voters elected women leaders. More recently, voters have
done the same in Germany, Liberia and Chile. As Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria points out, this is
reflective of an ongoing trend: More than 30 women have been elected to lead their respective
countries since the 1990s, as opposed to just one in the 1950s.
Nonetheless, America still doesn’t seem ready. Lingering prejudices and gender stereotypes are still too strong to overcome. Though several prominent women have made bids for the White House—for example, Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine) in 1964, Representative Shirley Chisholm (D-N. Y.) in 1972 and Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) in 2000—none have even come close to winning their party’s nomination.
Looking ahead to 2008, a recent Marist College survey found that even though two-thirds of Americans think Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N. Y.) will run, just one-third think she can actually win. The leading Republican woman, Condoleeza Rice, fares even worse, with nearly 80 percent saying she can’t win.
Some could argue that Clinton and Rice are too polarizing, but that ignores even more troubling polling data. A recent WNBC-TV poll found that an astonishing 27 percent of Americans wouldn’t vote for a woman for president under any circumstance. Of those opposed, almost one-third said they wouldn’t back a female candidate because “women are not up to the job,” while 10 percent said it was because the presidency is “a man’s job.”
A recent Siena College poll found similar results, with more than 20 percent saying a woman would do a worse job than a man.
Those are stunning statistics. In a closely divided nation, no serious candidate for president can afford to give up that much of the vote before a single ballot is cast.
Opinions expressed are those of the individuals or organizations represented and are presented to foster discussion. Costco and The Costco Connection take no position on any Debate topic.
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