In 2008, voters made history electing the nation’s first African-American president, and now there is a chance of history being made again.
Regardless of politics, that is a fact voters are recognizing with this election, Franklin College political science professor Randall Smith said.
And if voters make history again by electing the country’s first woman president in Hillary Clinton, it could change the face of political leaders across the nation for years to come, he said.
Women serving in key political offices is rare, from Congress down to local offices, Smith said. Less than 20 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress are women, along with about 24 percent of state governors and 20 percent or less of state and local offices, he said.
In Johnson County, few women hold an elected office.
But that also shows that having a woman be one of the top two candidates for president has been a long time coming, said Margaret McGovern, who served as Greenwood’s mayor and a city council member.
In fact, the United States is behind other countries, such as Germany, who have already had a female leader, she said.
McGovern has thought for a long time that she would one day see a woman elected as president, but she thought the chance would have come sooner in her lifetime, she said.
“The barrier has been broken a long time in down the line races. It was bound to happen,” she said.
“We are kind of late to the game.”
Kathy Stolz, secretary for the Johnson County Democratic Party, remembers growing up during the women’s movement and the decades women have spent fighting for a place in the room with men, she said.
Electing a woman as president would send a significant message to today’s youth who have only known a time where the nation had a black president, she said.
“They are going to have a mind that says the world is open to possibilities,” Stolz said.
“You’ve just got to get excited about that.”
The president is the nation’s most visible office and gets lots of media coverage. If a woman is elected, that is a constant reminder to young women of their potential in life, Smith said.
“It is an opportunity for young women to see themselves as an elected official. There are not many role models, so this provides a clear role model,” he said.
But the message goes beyond politics into women’s rights and fight for equality, he said.
“Is the glass ceiling broken? Not necessarily, but there is certainly a hole in it,” Smith said.
McGovern and Stolz hope that if a woman is elected, it will be further proof of the ability of women to serve in high political offices and make important decisions for their communities, state and nation.
“It is more evidence that women can handle responsibility, make good decisions, manage state affairs and national affairs. We’ve known that for a long time as women,” McGovern said.
She thinks that is a message all women — regardless of their political party — would support.
“The first president, that is a milestone that I think most women will celebrate, no matter what party you are,” McGovern said.
