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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                Chris Elliott                        Zach Lee                  Christian Palmer
                Geronimo Rodriguez       Blake Whitaker       Kristen Young

Easing into 20th century with female president

Considering the University was open Monday, many UH students probably didn't notice it was Presidents' Day. Nevertheless, it's appropriate to take a closer look at the presidency on what really should be the first day of school this week. According to a recent poll, the office might be ripe for a change. 

The Siena Research Institute conducted a poll for Hearst Newspapers that found 79 percent of participating registered voters would be willing to cast their ballots for a female president, while 64 percent said the nation is "ready" for one. The poll, released Sunday, showed 28 percent said the nation would not be ready for a female president by 2008.

It seems the question should be not "when?" but "why not now?" Women in the federal government already perform some of Washington's most serious responsibilities -- how is the highest office in the executive branch any different?

Countless other countries have elected females to their top positions. Anyone who believes a woman president would be unable to stand firm when dealing with other foreign leaders is not acknowledging women such as Margaret Thatcher and Golda Mier, former prime ministers of England and Israel, respectively. Whether you support their ideologies or not, it's impossible to deny the resolves they possessed and the impacts they had on the world. And those are only two examples of many.

Gender should not be considered an obstacle to electing a qualified candidate. If the idea of Hillary Clinton or Condoleezza Rice in the Oval Office makes you cringe, it should be because of their politics, not their chromosomes. 

It's been a relatively short period of time since women were given the right to vote, but in that time, dozens of countries have been in the hands of female leaders. It's a shame many Americans feel that prospect is still unlikely here.

At least we can watch a female president on television.