“That Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were treated differently by some in the media and the public because of their gender is indisputable. Anne Kornblut looks at their campaigns, as well as other ones with happier endings, to probe just what a politician’s gender means in this ‘enlightened’ day and age. If my daughter is ever to live in a world where she will be judged professionally by the content of her character, not the shape of her skin, it will be in part because of the scholarship, reporting, and insight of reporters like Kornblut.”
Jake Tapper, ABC News senior White House correspondent
“In 'Notes from the Cracked Ceiling,' Anne Kornblut has cracked the code, brilliantly reporting the struggles women face as candidates, including never before known facts about celebrated and controversial figures like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Sarah Palin. Kornblut uses her trademark analytical skill to paint a brilliant and compelling portrait of where women have been in politics and how far they still must travel to succeed. This book will be a revelation to all women – and men – interested in politics and in great storytelling.
”
Andrea Mitchell, NBC chief foreign affairs correspondent
“Anne Kornblut offers a careful, compelling, provocative analysis of the role gender continues to play in US campaigns and elections. She synthesizes academic literature, interviews with scholars, pollsters, strategists, and pundits, and her own experiences on the campaign trail into a first-rate account of how far women have come and how far women still must go to break through the political glass ceiling. This is a must-read for everyone who cares about women, elections and representation
”
Jennifer L. Lawless, Ph.D., director, Women & Politics Institute at American University and author of "It Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office: ..."
“This lively, perceptive discussion of what it will take for women to truly crack the glass ceiling in politics is rich in anecdote, common sense, analysis, and superb old-fashioned reporting.
”
Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer prize-winning historian and author of "Team of Rivals"
Notes from the Cracked Ceiling
Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and what it will take for a woman to win
In the presidential election of 2008 America seemed ready to elevate a woman to the presidency or vice presidency and - with Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin in the running – twice appeared on the verge of actually doing so. Words like “inevitable” and “phenomenon” were in the air and the political and cultural stars seemed to be aligned. Why didn't it happen?
This new work explores the stunning twists of the last election -- with revelations about the Clinton and Palin campaigns — and the political landscape for women nationwide. It features exclusive, in-depth interviews with leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano, Senator Claire McCaskill, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
And it asks the lingering question:
What will it take to elect a woman president?
Anne Kornblut is an editor at the Washington Post. She was previously a White House correspondent, and covered the 2000, 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns. She worked in the Washington bureaus of the New York Times and the Boston Globe, where she began covering national politics in 1998.
In 2001, George W. Bush?s first year in office, Anne won the Aldo Beckman Award for distinguished White House coverage. A 1994 graduate of Columbia College in New York City, with a major in U.S. history, she started out in journalism as an intern at the New York Daily News.
