According to a poll released by CNN in 2006, 60% of 1207 people questioned in the US said that they thought the US was ready for a female president.
Clearly, as discussed, women are gaining ground in the political arena. Furthermore, in 2007 Andrew Kohut, President of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press cited a February Gallup poll carried out earlier that year which showed that 88% of respondents said they would vote for a well-qualified woman for president.
Tony Blair also expressed his positive opinion in 2007 when he visited a Women’s Conference, with 14,000 women present. He reportedly said that ‘it should be the best person for the job, irrespective of race, gender or anything else.’
It would not be that unusual if a female president was elected, in 2007, a record 13 countries had currently serving, elected female Presidents or Prime Ministers; Ireland, New Zealand, Latvia, Finland, The Philippines, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Iberia, Chile, Jamaica, South Korea, Switzerland, and a Chancellor in Germany.
The closest that the US have got was the presidential campaign of Hilary Clinton in 2008. A former First Lady and a Senate, she was a popular choice. She was in fact in the lead in some early polls in 2007, with Barack Obama and John Edwards close behind. However, a poor debate performance later in the year saw her being overtook in many polls by Obama and Edwards. She was also financially unprepared, she did not have enough money to hold a long campaign. She ended up having to borrow a large amount of money and found herself in debt at the end of the campaign.
When it looked likely that Barack Obama would win she ended her campaign and pledged her support to Obama. The early signs were very promising in her campaign, and it illustrated that the US was supportive of a female candidate for presidency. It would suggest that should a well-qualified, suitable female candidate run for the presidency again, and should that campaign be well funded and organised, the American public would back her, regardless of her gender.