The 2008 Candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin: Cracking the “Highest, Hardest Glass Ceiling”

Abstract

On June 7, 2008, Hillary Clinton spoke for about thirty minutes to a large crowd of supporters at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., announcing the official suspension of her campaign and ending her bid to become president of the United States. This was hardly the speech she had envisioned giving when she posted the simple words “I'm in” on her Web site on January 20, 2007, declaring her candidacy for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Clinton had won more votes and more delegates than any unsuccessful presidential primary candidate in history, and for several months, she had been viewed as the front-runner to win her party's nomination. As she bowed out of the race, Clinton, who had downplayed her gender throughout most of the campaign, explained, “When I was asked what it means to be a woman running for president, I always gave the same answer, that I was proud to be running as a woman, but I was running because I thought I'd be the best president.” Acknowledging that gender “barriers and biases” remain, Clinton pointed to the fact that, as she spoke, the fiftieth woman astronaut was orbiting the earth. To a roar of approval from her supporters, she proclaimed: If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House. Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time.