Madam President

A recent national poll showed that more than 6/10 voters believe the United States is ready for a woman president in 2008 and 53% of them think Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton should be the woman to do it. The poll, conducted by the Siena College Research Institute and sponsored by the Hearst Newspapers, found that 81% of voters surveyed would vote for a woman for president; 62% said the country is ready for a woman president; and 67% said a female president would be better than a male chief executive in handling domestic issues.
Dr. Douglas Lonnstrom, director of the Siena Research Institute and professor of statistics, stated: “The results are fascinating and very encouraging for women – and all Americans who want the nation’s highest office held by the best people, regardless of their gender”…. “There was very little difference between men (64%) and women (60%) on whether or not the country was ready for a woman president in 2008 and whether or not respondents were prepared to vote for a woman – 80% of men and 82% of women said ‘yes.’
Now, I’ll believe it when I see it. But this is always nice to hear.
For those of you near Albany (or for anyone who’s interested), Sienna College is hosting a ‘First Woman President’ Symposium on March 4-5 to talk about this issue and to launch Women’s History Month. The sessions are open to anyone who registers. (To register, visit http://www.siena.edu/sri/FirstWomanPresConf.asp). They have some pretty serious panelists, including Eleanor Clift and Marie Wilson. Check it out.