A woman will be elected president “pretty soon” anyway, a Clinton supporter’s 19-year-old daughter said, regardless of what happens in 2016. Why does that woman have to be Mrs. Clinton?

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I’m curious about the attitude expressed in this quote from an article I just read. Is this true? Why do we assume that another woman candidate as good as Hillary will come around anytime soon? Why has it taken this long for a woman to be the frontrunner for the nomination of a party, much less the odds on favorite for the general election? I mean, come on. The first woman was elected to the Senate 84 years ago. The first woman became Secretary of State 19 years ago. The first woman won the Oscar for Best Director 7 whole years ago. In that time, how many credible women candidates has our country produced?

The reason a woman president has seemed so inevitable recently is BECAUSE of Hillary. Love her or hate her, you know she has a chance. How many other women can you say that of in US electoral history?

Probably the most credible woman presidential candidate before Carli Fiorina’s flame out (and Hillary herself) was Elizabeth Dole. Talk about qualified. Duke University and Harvard Law School. Secretary of Transportation. Secretary of Labor. Head of the American Red Cross. North Carolina’s first female Senator. You know where all that got her? 231 write in votes in New Hampshire (at least it was 228 more votes than Lyndon LaRouche).

Don’t expect women candidates to just materialize out of nowhere. Nancy Pelosi is a woman in a top political leadership position, but there’s no way she’s running for president. No other female Secretaries of State seem to be interested in running. Sure, there’s Elizabeth Warren, but who knows if she even wants to go through the indignity of running, much less if she would be a heavy favorite to win. We can cross our fingers for Michelle Obama, but she has given no indication she is interested. Nikki Haley might be the best bet, and I’m not sure I’d put much money on that.

Where are these qualified candidates going to come from? I just named all the women in government now with the chance to make the leap to candidate. There aren’t enough women in the launching pad positions like governor and congressperson, and just by happenstance none of the few women that are in those positions seem particularly fit to win a presidential nomination anytime soon (my apologies to Barbara Mikulski)

Hillary only has a chance because she’s ridiculously qualified. Working in the White House for eight years, Senator, Secretary of State, I mean, come on. Male candidates don’t usually need to accumulate such a diversity of qualifications, just being senator or governor is enough. For women, you’d better have the college application of freakin Tracy Flick or you have no chance (and it still wasn’t enough for Elizabeth Dole).

How long before another woman like Hillary comes along? Is Hillary as much of a once-in-a-lifetime candidate as Obama or Bernie?

Is any of this particularly relevant to who you should vote for? No. Not really. But I just wanted to take a closer look at the assumption that another woman candidate as good as Hillary Clinton will just come along any day now. Maybe one will come along in four years. It could just as easily take four decades.