# Will there ever be a woman USA President or Vice President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 2, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214 "2010-11-02T15:06:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/21 "2010-11-02T19:03:30Z")
2000 joke: I’d vote for a Clinton/Dole ticket. Hillary Clinton& Elizabeth Dole. It only took women sixty years to get the vote after African-Americans (1920 vs. 1860). So maybe in 2068. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/22 "2010-11-02T19:29:24Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > I’m wondering when there will be a Jewish, Muslim, or Asian (eastern or southern) president. I don’t think the nation would balk at the idea of a Jewish or Asian presidential candidate now, but a Muslim president; probably not before 2050. I think someone who is not outwardly religious (as opposed to a foaming SDMB/Dawkins-type atheist) would be acceptable on the ballot in the next 10 to 20 years. An Asian will happen before a Jew, Muslim or open atheist. I saw a poll that said that something like 85% of Americans would never vote for an atheist. As for a Muslim, look at how many people didn’t vote for Obama because they incorrectly thought that he was a Muslim. Imagine a real one. As a Jew, I hope that there isn’t a Jewish President in my lifetime. There are way too many ignorant shitheads who blame the rest of us for anything that he or she did wrong. Antisemitism is a persistent stink on society. Seemingly reasonable people, like the OP of this very thread, say things like [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12980777&#post12980777). ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/23 "2010-11-02T19:35:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Some of those are still fair questions – in particular, a non-Christian or an openly gay person. Times change, people change, public attitudes change. At the moment, non-Christians and gays are somewhat ostracised, but that hasn’t always been the case. The “gay thing” has really only been an issue since about 1950, when the right-wing nuts and the religious fundamentalists got together and figgered out they could get a lot of mileage by demonizing it. History strongly suggests that we had a homosexual president from 1867-71. His "proclevities (if such they were) were hardly unknown at the time, they just weren’t much of an issue. Similarly, several presidents (Jefferson & Lincoln come to mind) have been essentially non-christian, or at best, only nominally Christian. It’s really only in the last 50-60 years that these have become wedge issues, and I don’t think that attitude will last forever Or maybe only until the baby boomers start to kick off in large numbers. I don’t think there are really any obstacles left to having a “Madame President”, except that the one with the right combination of attributes hasn’t come along yet. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/24 "2010-11-02T20:34:02Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > History strongly suggests that we had a homosexual president from 1867-71. His "proclevities (if such they were) were hardly unknown at the time, they just weren’t much of an issue. I’m guessing you mean Buchanan. His term was 1857-1861. Ten years later would’ve been Grant. It’s all a matter of time. Al Smith faced a lot of bitter anti-Catholic bigotry in 1928. By 1960 enough of it had disappeared for Kennedy to win. There wasn’t any serious anti-Semitic backlash when Joe Liebermann ran. Bobby Jindal, another dark-skinned guy with a funny name, won 52% of the vote in a four-way race in Louisiana. Barney Frank represents not Boston, but a mostly suburban district in Massachusetts. I’d wager that Sarah Palin was no worse a vice presidential candidate than Dan Quayle, and that more people hated Hillary because her last name was Clinton than because she was a woman. By 2016 there will be enough turnover in the list of leading Democrats and Republicans that we’ll have a wide ethnic variety of serious contenders. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/25 "2010-11-02T20:43:42Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Is she the one who thinks that _Pinky and the Brain_ is a documentary? I believe it was Christine O’Donnell (R-Non-Witch) who was talking about mice with human brains. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/26 "2010-11-02T20:44:54Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > So it could be Palin in 2012 . . . Wash off your typing fingers. Now. With hydrochloric acid. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/27 "2010-11-02T20:45:14Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m guessing you mean Buchanan. His term was 1857-1861. Ten years later would’ve been Grant. :smack: Doh! Yes, I meant Buchanan. Thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/28 "2010-11-02T21:20:34Z")
A female president is inevitable. An _openly_ homosexual one isn’t out of the question completely though it won’t be any time soon, and certainly not one of the flaming variety. Despite polls I think an atheist Potus isn’t that unlikely either provided he or she is merely indifferent about the topic rather than making anti religious speeches. I think a Jew is probably not in the cards, nor a Muslim. Wrong though it may be, neither groups are particularly trusted by the majority of the country. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/29 "2010-11-02T21:35:19Z")
You are looking long into the future. We have probably had agnostic presidents in the past, but a person could not be openly agnostic and get elected in present day America. They would have to lie and go to church. A woman president is in the near future. The Palin/O’Donnell ticket is coming soon. It is a force that can not be stopped. An openly gay presidential candidate would get shot. Too much hate in America for that. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/30 "2010-11-02T22:09:38Z")
Og forbid either Caribou Barbie or CO’D get the nom, but I agree that the first woman POTUS will be a Republican, and likely a hard-right one. As I said, she’ll have to be stereotypically masculine in her rhetoric. Conservatives _own_ the rhetoric of masculinity, and I can’t see that changing until a liberal president not only wins a war, but _starts_ one. Although **SeldomSeen** is right that “Times change, people change, attitudes change,” the attitudes at work here are far older and far more pervasive in our society than blackness or gayness or whateverness. Man. Woman. Choose. about covers it; the only question is who is more man. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/31 "2010-11-02T22:32:44Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > You are looking long into the future. We have probably had agnostic presidents in the past, but a person could not be openly agnostic and get elected in present day America. They would have to lie and go to church. > A woman president is in the near future. The Palin/O’Donnell ticket is coming soon. It is a force that can not be stopped. > An openly gay presidential candidate would get shot. Too much hate in America for that. Well, I’m only 30. I’ve got time. I think that we will see some significant social upheaval in the next decade as the last of the oldest generation kicks off. In 20 years this country will be radically different, and I hope it’s for the better. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/32 "2010-11-02T22:42:03Z")
Don’t blame me - I voted for Chastity Bono! A Jew on the ticket has already been done, and without any fuss (that I can recall) - Joe Lieberman, 2004. Chuck Shumer could become Senate Majority Leader if Harry Reid loses (and the Dems hold the Senate, and Shumer holds his seat), and from there I could see him running in 2016 or 2020. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/33 "2010-11-02T22:48:16Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > An _openly_ homosexual one isn’t out of the question completely though it won’t be any time soon, and certainly not one of the flaming variety. Oh, I don’t know. Americans appreciate the badass, and what could be more badass than demanding ultimate power while being on fire? Well, OK, they could demand power while being on fire and wearing spiky armor. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/34 "2010-11-02T22:50:05Z")
And riding a tiger. Which is also on fire. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/35 "2010-11-02T22:51:49Z")
Quoth **Anduril** : > [@](#): > > I’m not seeing anyone in your future that could match the pull that Hillary had. 20 years ago, whenever anyone talked about a hypothetical black president, everyone was thinking of Jesse Jackson. Only the very most politically in-the-know had even heard of Obama before, say, 2005. I see no reason that there might not be a similarly politically skilled woman waiting somewhere in the background right now, that nobody’s heard of yet. It’ll probably be longer before we have a Jewish president, but that’s just a matter of demographics: There just aren’t all that many Jews in America, and one would expect that Christian political candidates would outnumber Jewish political candidates by about the same proportion as in the population as a whole. But we did have a Jewish VP candidate in recent memory, and while he didn’t win, I don’t really recall a big deal being made of it. An openly gay candidate would be impossible right now, but the trends are changing rapidly there. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if, in 20 years, it’ll be enough of a nonissue for such a candidate to be viable. It won’t be a complete nonissue, but then, there were still folks who voted against Obama strictly because of his race, too. It’ll probably take longer than 20 years before we actually have an openly gay President, but again, that’s just demographic: There are more straights than gays. An open nontheist or a Muslim, though, I’m not sure we’ll see again in my lifetime. That pendulum takes a while to swing. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/36 "2010-11-02T23:04:14Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > And riding a tiger. > Which is also on fire. My Name is Acid Lamp and I endorse this Candidate for president. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/37 "2010-11-02T23:07:33Z")
The flaming tiger can be Vice President! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/38 "2010-11-02T23:09:38Z")
I dunno… can tigers live 35 years? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/39 "2010-11-02T23:15:47Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I dunno… can tigers live 35 years? Not normally, but then flaming riding-tigers haven’t had any studies performed on their lifespans yet. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214/40 "2010-11-02T23:24:26Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > An openly gay presidential candidate would get shot. Too much hate in America for that. I don’t know. I think a lesbian candidate would have a better shot than a gay man, though. There’s less of an “ick factor”, a stereotype that lesbians are somehow more serious than other groups, and a perception of being tougher and more masculine compared to gay men. Consider all the relatively well-respected high-profile openly lesbian talk show hosts like Ellen Degeneres, Suze Orman, Rachel Maddow and so on; I can’t think of gay male equivalents. What’s easier to imagine in the oval office, [President Maddow](http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/TVNews/MSNBC%20TV/Maddow/Blog/2010/06/fakepotus.jpg) or President Ru-Paul? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-a-woman-usa-president-or-vice-president/559214.md?page=3)