145;She146; just might be president someday

If not her, who? Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton may or may not become the first female president of the United States...

If not her, who? Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton may or may not become the first female president of the United States, but if fate and voters deny her the role, another woman will surely see if the mantle fits.

That woman will come from the South, or west of the Mississippi. She will be a Democrat who has won in a red state, or a Republican who has emerged from the private sector to run for governor. She will have executive experience, and have served in a job like attorney general, where she will have proven herself to be 8220;a fighter8221; a caring one, of course.

She will be young enough to qualify as postfeminist in the way Senator Barack Obama has come off as postracial, unencumbered by the battles of the past. She will be married with children, but not young children. She will be emphasising her experience, and wearing, yes, pantsuits.

Oh, and she may not exist.

But this composite of Madam President is suggested by political strategists and talent scouts, politicians and those who study women in politics. It is based as much on the lessons of the Clinton candidacy as on the enduring truths of politics and the number and variety of women who dot the leadership landscape.

Asked to name a potential first woman as president, though, even the shrewdest political strategists said they couldn8217;t think of anyone. Most people disqualified their prospects as soon as they identified them 8212; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, for example 8212; for one reason or another. As Susan Carroll, a professor at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said, 8220;It8217;s easier to embrace the concept than it is to talk about names.8221;

Still, this year8217;s historic campaign has revealed something about the kind of candidate who might emerge, and what strategies she might adopt. Certainly, the numbers make it possible. Women make up a quarter of state legislatures and statewide elective executive offices, and 16 percent of the House of Representatives. Eight governors and a record 16 senators are women.

And polls suggest that the country is ready to elect a woman8212;if not as ready as many people might expect. In December, a Gallup poll found that 86 per cent of Americans said they would vote for a well-qualified candidate who was a woman of course, that percentage has been in the 80s for much of the last three decades. Ninety-three percent said the same of a well-qualified candidate who was black; 93 per cent of a Catholic candidate; and 91 per cent of a Jewish one.

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But for many women, whether or not they support Clinton, the long primary campaign has left them with a question: why would any woman run? Many feel dispirited by what they see as bias against Clinton in the media. 8220;Who would dare to run?8221; said Karen O8217;Connor, the director of the Women and Politics Institute at American University. 8220;The media is set up against you, and if you have the money problem to begin with, why would anyone put their families through this, why would anyone put themselves through this?8221;

For this reason, she said, she doesn8217;t expect a serious contender anytime soon.