Electable

Why America Hasn't Put a Woman in the White House . . . Yet

Ali Vitali

• Publisher: Dey Street Books
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9780063058637
• eBook ISBN: 9780063058651
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The political landscape was shaken to its core when President Joe Biden announced he would be stepping down from re-election. Not only was the announcement unprecedented, it thrust Vice President Kamala Harris into the spotlight as the presumptive Democratic nominee, marking the second time Republican candidate Donald Trump will face off against a female candidate. The road to the Election Day is long, but this time can a woman finally break the glass ceiling and win the White House?

Opening with the moment when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were finally declared the winners of the 2020 race—the long, drawn-out journey towards who would next inhabit the White House from former MSNBC “Road Warrior” and now NBC Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitali, Electable is a sweeping look at a lingering question from that Presidential race. Why, when we saw more women run for President of the United States than ever before in our history, did we still not cross that final hurdle?

Following the 2020 race minute by minute as the reporter embedded with Elizabeth Warren, Ali Vitali witnessed up-close the way that our most recent election was unique—not simply for the way in which the incumbent conducted himself, but for the ways in which the field, rich with Democrats from all kinds of backgrounds, was both modern but also more of the same. With more female candidates than ever before, this was a history-making race, and yet these women—most of them incredibly qualified with decades of public service on their resumes—dealt once again with a different level of scrutiny than their male counterparts. Woven throughout is close examination of the treatment of Hillary Clinton, Geraldine Ferraro, Shirley Chisholm, and those on the right as well. Grappling with ideas around the “likeability” and “electability” issues, as well as fundraising hurdles many female candidates face, Vitali asks the same questions she and so many have been grappling with for decades, but especially since Hillary Clinton’s devastating defeat in 2016: Why is it so hard for a woman to be taken seriously as a presidential contender? What will it take for men and women to be held to the same standard? What happens next?

Electable tackles these questions, with specific, behind-the-scenes, play-by-play detail.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• The Trail Map
• Introduction: The Assignment
• 1 The “Audacity” of Joe Biden: Chosen, but Not Elected (November 2020)
• 2 Kamala Harris and the Sparkly Jacket: Authenticity (February 2019)
• 3 Memorial Day Weekend: Campaigning While Female (May 2019)
• 4 Kamala Harris: The Rules of Engagement ( June 2019)
• 5 One Night in Washington Square Park: Using History to Make Herstory (September 2019
• 6 Who We Take Seriously: The Qualification Question (November 2019)
• 7 Can a Woman Win? The Electability Question ( January 2020)
• 8 New Hampshire: Reckoning with the Inevitable (February 2020)
• 9 Nevada: Going Down Swinging (February 2020)
• 10 And Then There Were None: Opportunity, Lost. Again. (March 2020)
• 11 “It’s Just Time”: Female VP Candidates and the Mystical Gender Gap (Spring 2020)
• 12 “Just Not That Woman”: What Hillary Learned (September 2020)
• 13 Madam Vice President: How Kamala Navigates Being First ( January 2021)
• 14 “I’d Love to See It in My Lifetime” (March 2022)
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• About the Author
• Copyright
• About the Publisher