I know, I know. No votes have been cast. Heck, the date for the Iowa caucuses hasn't even been set yet. So, what's this talk of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton winning already?
I'm not speaking of them winning any actual elections, but I am talking about getting Americans to think more broadly about just who can be president. You might say that the media has talked a lot about the strong possibility of the first female president or the first black president, but I don't think we've really taken a moment to understand how important these two candidacies are. (Less has been said about certain things that women candidates and black candidates sometime have to deal with when it comes to campaigning, but that's for another diary.)
Just that H. Clinton and Obama are running is good for women candidates and black candidates everywhere in the United States.
Just by being top-tier, they're breaking down some of the barriers of entry for others like them.
Sometimes you need someone to run a top-tier campaign so that Americans get used to the idea of a black man possibly being president, or a white woman possibly being president. Folks are so used to a white man in the top spot, that they need strong candidates who aren't white men to get them to think that a woman or someone of a different race could possibly be successful at that top job.
The road to even the idea of a female president or a black president didn't start with either H. Clinton or Obama. I don't want to go too far back, since we might be here forever, but I do want to take a look at the people who whether by appointment or by being elected, helped create a pathway for more and more Americans to accept that critical roles in our nation's stewardship can be filled by someone other than a white man. Here's a short list of them:
Gov. Ella Grasso (D-CT) was the first female governor elected who was not the wife or widow of a governor.
Justice Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American to be on the Supreme Court.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was the first woman to be named Secretary of State.
Secretary of State Colin Powell was the first African-American to be named Secretary of State.
Secretary of State Condi Rice is the first African-American woman to be named Secretary of State.
Governor Douglas Wilder (D-VA) was the first African-American to be elected governor of a US state or commonwealth.
I may think that certain people on this list have done some awful things while in a position of power, but this isn't a discussion on each person's effectiveness or competence. This is about Americans getting used to the idea of people other than white men serving in these positions of power. This is about black candidates for statewide office not being dismissed. This is about American society and how it thinks. This is about changing attitudes. This is about a paradigm shift.
We haven't yet elected a female president or a black president.
But we're one step closer to it just because Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are top-tier candidates in this race. Just because the general public views them as capable, the public will be even more willing to accept even more blacks and women in top positions. Obama, especially, has been such a breakthrough for black candidates in statewide elections across the US. (See Patrick, Deval, and Davis, Artur.)
I am not trying to take away from those who have come before Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I am not trying to overlook the sexist stuff that HRC deals with and the racist threats that resulted in early Secret Service protection for Obama. I am not trying to overlook some of the difficulties that women politicians and black politicians face in getting elected (not that they can't get elected, just that there are certain considerations). However, both, by running as top-tier candidates are moving the ball significantly forward. And that should be celebrated.