Published: June 8, 2016

Audio Script

Whether you like her or not Clinton is having an impact
June 9, 2016ΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύΜύ Celeste Montoya
For Celeste Montoya, a political science professor who teaches gender politics at CU-ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ, the impact of Hillary Clinton becoming the first woman in U.S. history to be the presumptive nominee for a major political party was immediately played out Tuesday night as she watched her daughter wave an American flag and proclaim she, too, will one day run for president.
CUT 1 β€œI was getting my daughter ready for bed and Hillary came on and said, β€˜You have to watch this.’ She’s only 7. She was pretty funny. She actually grabbed our American flag and started waiving it. She was super excited. She’s like, β€˜Really? There’s never been a woman before that’s done this?’ I said, β€˜Yes. This is the very first time.’ (:17) And she’s just like, β€˜Wow, I’m going to run for president and my best friend is going to run for president but we won’t run at the same time.’ ΜύAnd so for someone who has studied gender politics for a very long time, and as a mother of a daughter, it was a really exciting moment.” (:30)
Montoya says watching her daughter react to Hillary Clinton on TV is what political scientists call β€˜symbolic politics in action.’
CUT 2 β€œIn political science there have been these findings in kindergarten if you ask boys and girls if they want to run for president you’ll usual get equal numbers but by middle school that’s changed dramatically and it drops off even more in high school. (:13) Young girls just don’t see themselves running for that office. And this thing of symbolic politics - if you don’t see somebody in a position that looks like you then it becomes harder to imagine yourself being in that position.” (:27)
In her opinion whether they support Clinton or not women in America have taken notice of what the former First Lady has accomlished.
CUT 3 β€œIt resonated with a lot of women. Even women who aren’t Hillary supporters. Even women who are Sander supporters. I was listening to some of the news stories that there was just something emotional – like an emotional reaction to that. To actually see a woman in that position. (:14) There were similar stories when Barack Obama, when he got the nomination, and then when he became president what that meant for African-Americans. That there’s this symbolic importance whether or not you agree with the policies.” (:25)
If Clinton does become president of the United States it will come 96 years after the 19th Amendment, providing full voting rights for women nationally, was ratified in 1920.
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