Jennifer Palmieri, who served as Hillary Clinton’s communication director during the 2016 presidential election, got a front row seat to see the dejection that women felt when the candidate lost.
But looking back, Palmieri sees the defeat as a triggering moment.
“It might not have been a glass ceiling...but something sure shattered and women decided to react in a very powerful way,” she told Cheddar Monday.
Since President Trump was voted in, movements such as the Women’s March and #MeToo have taken hold and inspired change.
Palmieri isn’t giving up on the idea of a female president, perhaps even as soon as 2020.
But to get there, she says, there are two big hurdles female candidates will need to overcome.
The first is ambition.
“Where I think we still struggle is thinking about women and ambition,” she explained. “It was a question of, ‘Well, why does she want the job? What’s her motivation behind it?’ That’s different from the questions people have for male candidates.
“It’s the suspicion about motivations...that’s what was underneath comments that you would hear.”
The second is that they’re in uncharted territory.
“What I’m telling women now is...you are in a new universe...you have to understand you are charting a new path and there isn’t a manual here.”
Palmieri is the author of “Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/hillary-clintons-former-director-of-communications-on-the-democrats-she-thinks-can-beat-trump-in-2020).
Israeli troops advanced toward Gaza City on Thursday, as the Palestinian death toll rose above 9,000. With no end in sight after weeks of heavy fighting, U.S. and Arab mediators intensified efforts to ease Israel's siege of the Hamas-ruled enclave and called for at least a brief halt to the hostilities in order to aid civilians.
Rep. George Santos easily survived a vote Wednesday to expel him from the House as most Republicans and 31 Democrats opted to withhold punishment while both his criminal trial and a House Ethics Committee investigation proceed.
President Joe Biden visited Minnesota on Wednesday.
Former President Donald Trump's two sons, Eric and Donald Jr., are set to take the stand in the ongoing civil fraud trial against Trump and his companies. Trump Jr. is expected to testify Wednesday.
President Biden is heading to Minnesota and will tour a family-run farm and hold a fundraiser hosting the state's top Democrats.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether a California man is able to trademark the phrase 'Trump too small.' The phrase appears to mock former President Donald Trump and suggests the GOP front-runner is 'too small' for office.
Former president Donald Trump's two sons, Eric and Don Jr., are set to take the stand in the ongoing civil fraud trial against Trump and his companies.
More than 50 local officials signed onto a letter Tuesday calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to help municipal governments cut food waste in their communities.
After more than three weeks of siege, the first Palestinians — dozens of dual passport holders and seriously injured — were allowed to leave Gaza, where Israeli airstrikes pounded a refugee camp for the second day Wednesday.
The nation's top military and diplomatic leaders urged an increasingly divided Congress on Tuesday to send immediate aid to Israel and Ukraine, arguing at a Senate hearing that broad support for the assistance would signal U.S. strength to adversaries worldwide.
