Yes, Ms. President?

Abstract

Last year, during the battle for the Democratic Party nomination, the rivals tried to keep both race and gender out of the campaign. After the conventions, with the entrance of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin into the mix, the conversation was bound to change. At this writing in early fall, we couldn't know how American voters would feel about an African American president, but we had a little more information about their response to a woman candidate for the executive branch. Palin touched a chord across the country. She's a "hockey Mom," a pit bull with lipstick, a "regular gal," and a woman with a family scene familiar to many Americans. A lot of voters identified with her: her political brashness and success, her right-wing views, and her domestic story. But how do Americans feel about a woman in the top job? Barack Obama's contest with Hillary Clinton was a battle for the presidential nomination in one party, and the more liberal one at that. And even in that party there was plenty of anti-feminism during the primary contest. Maybe Americans can only make an exception for a female candidate who stands on the reactionary edge of our politics. But we still may not know what America thinks about a woman as president.