Hillary Clinton might become the first female President of the United States, but who will be the second? Where are the female politicians with the national stature and appeal to run in 2012 or 2016? Few other potential candidates have had the luck of being married to a President, so they'll have to make their way the old-fashioned way, through their own careers 1.
Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, and Dianne Feinstein will all be too old, not to mention they're probably too liberal; Elizabeth Dole and Kay Bailey Hutchison will also be too old. Barbara Mikulski is too old and too obscure. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine are too moderate to get the Republican nod. Also in the Senate are Lisa Murkowski, Blanche Lincoln, Mary Landrieu, Debbie Stabenow, Amy Klobuchar, and Maria Cantwell, but none of them has attained any kind of national recognition.
There may be better candidates among the state governors. Republican Sarah Palin of Alaska is already rumored to be a desirable vice presidential candidate 2. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan was born in Canada, so she's out. In our shallow media culture, Janet Napolitano of Arizona won't get anywhere. M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut will likely be too old, and Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware definitely will be. Linda Lingle of Hawaii is Jewish, not to mention being from Hawaii, a freak state. Christine Gregoire of Washington barely won the first time, so who knows where she'll be in 4 or 8 years.
Personally, my money is on Kathleen Sibelius. She's a blue governor of red Kansas, and generally well-respected for her ability. She attained office by being directly elected, rather than falling into office as Lieutenant Governor. She also won a convincing re-election in 2006, with 57.8% of the vote to her opponent's 40.5%. She's already been rumored to be a potential VP candidate, is chair emeritus of the Democratic Governor's Association, and is a supporter of Barack Obama 3. Furthermore, Kansas has term limits, so she'll be looking for a new job in 2 years anyway. Watch out for her in the future.