A woman's place is in the White House: why we still need a female president

[SecularMotion]

At his election night celebration in 2008, Barack Obama stood in front of 240,000 people, and told them a story about a 106-year-old woman called Ann Nixon Cooper who had voted that day. “She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky,” he told the euphoric crowd, “when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin.”

When Obama won the American presidency, it was rightly hailed as an historic moment. For generations of children growing up in a country moulded by slavery and still scarred by racial inequality, the sight of an African-American family in the White House carried a powerful message: the colour of your skin doesn’t determine your destiny.

Now, eight years later, the person Obama beat to secure the Democratic nomination that year is a whisker away from the White House. If elected as the 45th president of the United States, Hillary Clinton would be the first female commander-in-chief. A country whose founding fathers declared that “all men are created equal” might finally be able to say all women are, too.

Having a woman in the White House would represent an incredible breakthrough in the global political world, which has long been dominated by men. By 2014, 79 out of 142 countries studied by the World Economic Forum had still never had a female leader. In Britain today, just seven of the 22 people in the Cabinet are female. Yet the evidence supporting the ripple effect of a female president – indeed any woman in a position of power – is obvious. As Caroline Heldman, associate professor of politics at Occidental College in LA revealed in the 2011 documentary Miss Representation, at seven years old, boys and girls are equally likely to say they want to be president when they grow up. But by the age of 15, a yawning gap has opened up, with far fewer girls than boys aspiring to the top job.

http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/president-hillary-clinton-ultimate-female-role-model-usa-election-2016-donald-trump-vote-politics-america

[pugetres]

1. "a woman in the White House would represent an incredible breakthrough in the global political world

Chancellor Angela Merkel
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed
President Dalia Grybauskaite
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar
President Dilma Rousseff
President Atifete Jahjaga
Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller
President Park Geun-hye
Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek
Prime Minister Erna Solberg
Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma
President Michelle Bachelet
President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca
Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz
President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic

All women. All democratically elected.

[monmouth4]

2. A woman in the WH would be great, Hillary is not that woman...n/t

[area51]

6. +1 n/t

[Chan790]

8. Exactly. +1 n/t

[LiberalElite]

13. Agree -

I've been around for a while - I can wait a while longer.

[djean111]

3. Yes - it would be wonderful to have Elizabeth Warren in the White House.

Being president, IMO, is not some ceremonial award, like being Prom Queen or Senior Class president.

[Travis_0004]

4. I agree. A woman president would be nice.

Maybe in 4 years we will have a woman I can support.

[earthshine]

5. This quoted from a fashion and beauty magazine. I think they have a bias.

The Republicans and conservatives hate Hillary more than you can love her. They have about 25 years of practice.

Despite her accomplishments, she does not inspire people, in particular, the young voters and staunch progressives.

She cannot build a coalition of voters large enough to overcome the organized, nationwide, right-wing block with members that will come out of the woodwork just to vote against her.

Just my opinion. Hope I'm wrong. But, I think we're looking at total Republican control of all branches of government because somebody thinks it's her turn.

[yurbud]

10. her "accomplishments" are what inspire me to not support her

she is a neocon, neoliberal, DLC/New Democrat who never met a war or Wall Street banker she didn't like.

[Chan790]

7. We still need a lot of Presidents.

A Native American's place is in the White House: why we still need a Native American President.
A Latino's place is in the White House: why we still need a Latino President.
An Atheist's place is in the White House: why we still need a Godless President.
An LGBTQQI... person's place is in the White House: why we still need a radically-queer President.
An Indian's place is in the White House: why we still need a South Asian President.
And so on and on and on....

We still need a lot of Presidents...but filling the Presidency should not be about fulfilling a quota or checking demographics off a checklist. It is and needs to be about electing the right person with the right values and right positions for the best interests of the nation.

That person is almost 100%-certainly not Hillary Clinton.

[yurbud]

11. We need a little person in the White House

[Chan790]

12. I've got just the person for the job.

Tyrion Lannister for President!

[Katashi_itto]

9. Hopefully in four years we will have one worth voting for.