Patti Davis on What Hillary Should Say Now | Newsweek Politics: Conventions

WOMEN & LEADERSHIP
Sister, Sister
Susanna Schrobsdorff 10/9/2008 12:00:00 AM
Heels on, gloves off. Pitbulls with lipstick. Cleavage controversies and baby dramas. For more than a year, we've been talking about women in politics, and, still, we're not tired of it yet. Get any group of women together, of any political stripe, and Sarah Palin, with all her complexities and contradictions, becomes topic No. 1. And once you mention Palin, someone will bring up Hillary Clinton. And feminism. And whether mothers should work. And whether there will ever be a day when we don't talk about a female candidate's hair.
CAPITAL SOURCES
Gender on the Trail
Pat Wingert 9/15/2008 12:00:00 AM
Republican nominee John McCain's poll numbers have soared and his crowd sizes have surged since he announced he was adding Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to his ticket. But Geraldine Ferraro, the nation's first female candidate for vice president, says all the post-convention hoopla over Palin sounds very familiar. NEWSWEEK's Pat Wingert, who covered Ferraro for a Chicago newspaper when the New York congresswoman made her historic run in 1984, spoke with Ferraro late Friday. Excerpts:
CAMPAIGN 2008
From Seneca Falls to … Sarah Palin?
Julia Baird 9/13/2008 12:00:00 AM
When Walter Mondale chose New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate in 1984, he set off the briefest of crazes. The sheer newness of the first female vice presidential candidate for a major party delighted the media and—initially—the public. She drew large crowds wherever she went; schoolgirls were brought along to witness her speeches. Her supporters chanted, "Run with a woman, win with a woman." Much of the media response was predictable—she was described as "feisty" and "pushy but not threatening," and was asked if she knew how to bake blueberry muffins. She was also questioned, in a debate with Vice President George H.W. Bush, about whether the "Soviets might be tempted to take advantage of you simply because you are a woman." When she stood before the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, anchor Tom Brokaw announced: "Geraldine Ferraro … The first woman to be nominated for vice president … Size 6!"
Can You Say ‘Sexist’?
Anna Quindlen 9/6/2008 12:00:00 AM
I never thought I would live long enough to see the day when the Republican presidential candidate would cite membership in the PTA as evidence of executive experience, when the far right would laud the full-time working mothers of newborns, when social conservatives would stare down teenage pregnancy and replace their pursed-lip accusations of promiscuity with hosannas about choosing life.
CAMPAIGN 2008
Just Like a "Lifetime" Movie!
Kurt Soller 9/3/2008 12:00:00 AM
If you really want to know what's going through the mind of Sarah Palin, you could talk to psychologists about the effects of being suddenly thrust into the limelight. Or you could ring up parenting specialists on how she should talk to 17-year-old daughter Bristol about sex, pregnancy and parenting. Perhaps female politicians--established greats like Madeleine Albright, Hillary Clinton, or Nancy Pelosi--have the best viewpoint.
CAPITOL LETTER | Eleanor Clift
Nagging Doubts
Eleanor Clift 8/29/2008 12:00:00 AM
Democrats leave Denver exhilarated but nervous. Their candidate can win and should win, but in conversation after conversation, there are doubts. It's hard for Democrats to get elected nationally even though President Bush has screwed up and the playing field is in their favor. Republicans have been amazingly successful in turning Barack Obama into a direct descendant of Al Gore and John Kerry, another card-carrying member of the cultural elite out-of-touch with ordinary Americans.