After President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Democrats all across the country rushed to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for president to face former President Donald Trump this November.
But some voters and media outlets are already questioning whether America is ready to actually elect a woman as president. UMass Boston professor Erin O’Brien has taught classes about women in politics for two decades, and she said those questions are to be expected.
“I would say that Harris needs to make America ready,” O’Brien said. “We know that male independent voters, when there’s equally qualified male and female candidates, tend to give the male the advantage by about 3%. So that’s why individuals are worried about Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, those Rust Belt swing states.”
But some of the same questions came up when former President Barack Obama first ran to become the nation’s first Black president, she said.
“I think it’s not whether America is ready. It’s whether this campaign can turn out voters who are ready,” O’Brien said.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley acknowledged the importance of Harris, as a woman of color, running for president. She hopes that translates to enthusiasm among voters.
“I think she will appeal to women from every walk of life, in every racial and ethnic background,” she said on Boston Public Radio Monday.
Nancy, a voter from Jamaica Plain, was one of more than 40,000 people who joined a Zoom call Sunday night hosted by “Win With Black Women” to discuss the future of the race and fundraise for the current vice president.
“I truly believe VP Harris is beyond capable of taking on Trump,” Nancy told Boston Public Radio. “I cannot wait.”
