8 for ’08 ™: THE WHITE HOUSE PROJECT AND PARADE ANNOUNCE EIGHT FEMALE CANDIDATES FOR 2008 PRESIDENCY
Month-long online voting campaign solicits America's top pick; Sen. Hillary Clinton, Secretary Condoleeza Rice are on the list. 92% of Americans Would Vote for a Female Commander in Chief, According to a Recent Poll
New York, February 16, 2006— Today, The White House Project, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that advances women’s leadership in all sectors, up to and including the presidency, announced its eight candidates for the 2008 presidential election. The top choices are featured in a special “Intelligence Report” column in this Sunday’s PARADE magazine to coincide with Presidents’ Day. The contenders are Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Mayor Shirley Franklin (D-Atlanta), Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Governor Janet Napolitano (D-AZ), Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (R), Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS), and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME).
People may log on to www.thewhitehouseproject.org from February 16 th through March 18 th to learn more about the candidates and vote for their top pick. Results of the month-long online campaign will be announced in PARADE in April.
The White House Project’s 8 for ’08 ™ campaign comes at a time when women’s leadership is clearly gaining momentum. Germany, Liberia and Chile recently elected their first female heads of state and Peru is on the cusp of doing the same. While the closest America has come to seeing a female head of state is Geena Davis on ABC’s Commander in Chief, recent poll numbers show the idea is far from fiction. According to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll, nearly 92 % would vote for a woman for president from their party if she were qualified for the job.
“We’ve been dedicated to changing the climate of American politics and opening up leadership for women at every level and every sector of our nation since we began in 1998,” said Marie Wilson, president of The White House Project and co-founder of Take Our Daughters to Work ™ Day. “We’ve chosen eight credible women who could be president in 2008. As governors, senators and a mayor of a major city, these women show an extraordinary ability to lead, and a deep understanding of the complicated issues that affect everyday Americans.”
“We firmly believe in the mission of The White House Project and have supported their initiatives since the group was founded,” says PARADE Editor-in-Chief Lee Kravitz. “Each of the women on the 8 for ‘08 ballot has the skills and experience to become the next leader of our nation, and we are proud to present them as such to our 80 million readers.”
The White House Project will officially launch their 8 for '08 campaign on President’s Day in Charlottesville, VA at the University of Virginia Center for Politics’ 2006 National Symposium on Women and Politics kick-off. Wilson will be joined by political analyst Larry Sabato, Democratic and Republican strategists Dee Dee Myers and Bob Carpenter, NBC correspondent Rosiland Jordan, and Campaigns and Elections Magazine Managing Editor Morgan Felchner to discuss women and the presidency.
The Center for Politics’ Youth Leadership Initiative will hold the 8 for '08 Youth Poll, which asks K-12 students across the country to select the woman leader for whom they would vote in a 2008 presidential race. The poll will open Sunday, February 19, 2006, just in time for President’s Day. Interested teachers can learn more at www.youthleadership.net.
In 1998, The White House Project launched with PARADE the very first “Ballot Box Initiative,” a straw poll that led to the naming of five women who had the potential to become President in 2008. More than 100,000 Americans chose First Lady Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Lt. General Claudia Kennedy and Governor Christine Todd Whitman. A year after 9/11, The White House Project and PARADE featured women who were leading on the issues of foreign policy, economics and homeland security- all non-traditional areas.
About The White House Project :
The White House Project, a national, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization, works to advance a richly diverse, critical mass of women into leadership positions, up to and including the U.S. Presidency. www.thewhitehouseproject.org.
About PARADE magazine:
Each Sunday, PARADE, the largest circulation magazine in the world, has a conversation with America—educating, entertaining and empowering its 80 million readers. For more than 60 years, PARADE’s columns, in-depth articles and inspiring stories have helped people to affect change in their lives, their communities and the world. PARADE is distributed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia through more than 340 newspapers, or on the Web at www.parade.com.
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