NATION CHOOSES HILLARY CLINTON AS ITS TOP PICK AMONG EIGHT FEMALE “CONTENDERS” FOR COMMANDER IN CHIEF
Clinton Defeats Rice in All-Important Swing States; Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin Ties for Third with Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius
NEW YORK (April 27, 2006) – Less than a year before the 2008 Presidential Campaign begins in earnest, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) bested Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (R) and six other leading women contenders for the top job in a poll conducted by The White House Project, in conjunction with PARADE Magazine. The results, part of The White House Project’s 8 for ’08™ campaign, will be officially released in this week’s issue of PARADE.
Senator Clinton, with 43 percent of the vote, beat Rice (at 29 percent) by 14 points nationally. Among the 14 swing states represented in the poll, Clinton beat Rice in 11, including six won by President George W. Bush in the 2004 election. Mayor Shirley Franklin (D-Atlanta) tied Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) for third nationally with six percent of the vote, followed closely by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) with five percent, Governor Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) with four percent, and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) with three percent.
“Recent polls show that Americans are hungry for a new kind of leadership and are now more than ever ready for a female President,” says Marie Wilson, head of The White House Project. “We’ve seen real progress in the realm of women’s leadership with a majority of Americans trusting women on foreign policy, security, and the economy. The 8 for ’08 initiative has created a dialogue about women who are all proven leaders with expertise in these key areas.”
PARADE has supported The White House Project’s efforts since the group began in 1998. “It’s our mission to engage Americans in a dialogue about important issues--issues that will affect their lives and their families,” says PARADE Editor Lee Kravitz. “The likelihood of a woman being elected President of the U.S. is greater than ever. We want to make sure that our 79 million readers are as involved as possible in the process.” In addition to publishing the “8 for ‘08” poll results, PARADE interviewed a number of the country’s top political commentators and consultants on the subject for this Sunday’s issue.
The White House Project’s 8 for ’08™ campaign comes at a time when women’s leadership is clearly gaining momentum. Germany, Liberia and Chile recently elected their first female heads of state and Peru is on the cusp of doing the same. While the closest America has come to seeing a female head of state is Geena Davis on ABC’s Commander in Chief, recent poll numbers show the idea is far from fiction. According to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll, nearly 92 % would vote for a woman for president from their party if she were qualified for the job.
In 1998, The White House Project launched with PARADE the very first “Ballot Box Initiative,” a straw poll that led to the naming of five women who had the potential to become President in 2008. More than 100,000 Americans chose First Lady Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Lt. General Claudia Kennedy and Governor Christine Todd Whitman. A year after 9/11, The White House Project and PARADE featured women who were leading on the issues of foreign policy, economics and homeland security- all non-traditional areas.
About The White House Project:
The White House Project, a national, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization, works to advance a richly diverse, critical mass of women into leadership positions, up to and including the U.S. Presidency. www.thewhitehouseproject.org.
About PARADE magazine:
Each Sunday, PARADE, the largest circulation magazine in the world, has a conversation with America—educating, entertaining and empowering its 79 million readers. For 65 years, PARADE’s weekly columns and articles have inspired people to affect change in their lives, their communities and the world. PARADE is distributed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia through 370 newspapers and on the Web at www.parade.com.
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