On the opening night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Hillary Clinton took the stage to reflect on her 2016 presidential bid, where she shattered one of America’s toughest glass ceilings by becoming the first woman to win a major party nomination for president.
“When a barrier falls for one of us, it clears the way for all of us,” she declared, echoing her words from eight years ago.
Despite her historic achievement, Clinton’s campaign ended in a loss to Donald Trump. Now, as the Democratic Party gears up for another attempt to elect the first female president, Clinton urged the crowd of thousands to embrace the next phase of this journey.
“Together, we’ve put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” she said. “On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th President of the United States.”
Clinton’s speech highlighted how much has changed since her run. Back then, her gender was a central theme of the campaign—a strategy that Vice President Harris appears to be avoiding. According to several female delegates and politicians at the 2024 DNC, the political landscape has evolved, but the question remains whether it has shifted enough for Harris to reach the nation’s highest office.
“Hillary Clinton shattered a lot of glass for many people,” said Minyon Moore, chair of the Democratic National Convention Committee. However, she added, “It’s not easy. We’re trying to shift the mindset of people.”
Women in politics still face significant barriers. Mallory McMorrow, a state senator from Michigan, recalled being asked whether she planned to have children when she first ran for office in 2018. “She told me to my face, this is not a job for a mom,” McMorrow said. She went on to become the second senator in Michigan history to give birth while in office.
Judy Mount, the first African-American female chair of the Florida Democrats, noted that it took years for women to serve as chairs of their state political parties. “People just do not want to see a woman in charge of anything,” she said.
Clinton’s 2016 campaign was fraught with personal attacks, many of which focused on her appearance, voice, and relationship with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Deloris Hudson, an Ohio delegate, believes that many women judged Clinton for staying with her husband after his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016 sparked women’s marches across the country and motivated a record number of female candidates to run for office in 2018. The number of women in the House of Representatives has since risen to 28.5%, compared to 19.1% in 2017, according to the Pew Research Centre.
Over the past decade, the percentage of Americans who believe men are better suited for politics than women has steadily declined, according to the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Centre.
Today, Harris doesn’t face the same pressure to be “everything to every woman,” as McMorrow put it. “Since then, we’ve seen more women running and winning at every single level, allowing us more freedom and flexibility to be ourselves,” she said.
While Harris’s allies have acknowledged the sexism she has faced, she has largely focused on her record rather than her gender identity. Unlike Clinton’s 2016 campaign slogan, “I’m with Her,” Harris has steered clear of centering gender in her campaign. This approach, according to McMorrow, may be both intentional and a reflection of progress: “There are so many more of us [women politicians] that I don’t think you have to mention it anymore.”
Instead, the conversation around gender has been championed by Harris’s supporters, particularly women and voters of colour who have helped raise millions for her campaign. They frame Harris as a younger, fresh alternative to the 78-year-old Trump, one who brings much-needed momentum to the Democratic ticket just two and a half months before the election.
For some, like U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan, Harris’s rise to the top of the ticket symbolises the strides women have made in politics. But Dingell cautions that there is still more to achieve. “We need to make sure that we include everybody, that no demographic feels left behind because someone else succeeds,” she said. “As a country, I think that’s something we’ve got to continue to work at.”
+ There are no comments
Add yours