As the Democratic Presidential primaries end, Senator Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) historic presidential run has established a strong legacy for women in politics. Senator Obama (D-IL) obtained enough delegates following Tuesday’s primaries in South Dakota and Montana to clinch the Democratic nomination, but Senator Clinton may still go into the convention with hundreds of delegates and remains a major player in the Democratic Party and the Senate. She drew women to the polls in huge majorities.
Her run also exposed sexism and misogyny in the political media. By holding commentators like Chris Matthews and David Shuster accountable for their remarks, Senator Clinton’s campaign, along with many feminist leaders, rallied women to take a stand against sexist coverage of the election.
The impact of Senator Clinton’s run extends beyond politics, showing “more women and girls that anything is possible, and that they can shoot for whatever they like, including the presidency,” Toby Graff, a spokesperson for Lifetime Television, a women’s cable station that is co-sponsoring a project to increase female political participation, told Women’s eNews.
“The true legacy of Senator Clinton’s run is the number of women she has inspired to run for office. She has cracked the marble ceiling of politics,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority.
