She’s the Next President. Wait, Did You Read That Right?

Can't wait until someone can sing "Happy Birthday Ms President, Happy Birthday to You" ....

In the event the Dems nominate Bernie, and Bernie is demolished in November 2020 by Trump as seems probable, whom would the Dems blame this time? Millions who voted for Hillary in 2026 could not possibly vote for Bernie in 2020.

If you are president, shouldn’t you get to choose your honorific? Ms. President. Maybe someday, Mx. President. Let’s start talking about it now.

I do believe speaking in a lower tone, as a woman, has made a difference in my career as a teacher. I too had theater training in college and in voice and learned about using my diaphragm and speaking using lower registers. When I talk with my mother who is now hard of hearing, if I lower my voice she can hear me; it reminded me to when she told me she could hear my brother more easily than me. When I lower my tone speaking to my students I have greater effect on them following my direction, than if I am “shrill” (not a good word to describe the higher register of the speaking voice of a woman). Of the two women candidates, both of whom would be excellent presidents—I’m not voting for either in the primary but will vote for whoever is the Democratic candidate in the general election—Warren, if elected, like Thatcher, would benefit from some speaking-voice lessons.) That said, ANY candidate, male or female, will sound better than the speaking tone of our shrill-male-voice current occupant.

"So could struggling to say or read the word “she” in the context of a president affect our willingness to vote for a woman?" The "stumbling" is driven by the statistical distribution of word combinations we have been exposed to over time. I don't believe that would cause an unwillingness to vote for a woman, but it does correlate with an unwillingness to vote for a woman - not in all people, but in some. Those people would a priori prefer a male candidate.

We've already elected a woman president, but the artifact of slavery called the Electoral College kept her out of offce.

“The word “she,” of course, does not appear anywhere in the Declaration of Independence...” If the Tyrant were a Queen, it would have appeared quite often. In the expression ““freshman congresswoman”, which occurrence of the word “man” troubles you? And what’s wrong with conflating politics and prostitution? Maybe the problem Americans have with envisioning “she” as POTUS results from the sort of “she” who has, hitherto, sought the office. Give us a Lady Thatcher, and many of us will be extremely enthusiastic about the use of that pronoun.

Why not ‘they’?

We have gentlemen and gentlelady, I quite like gentlethem. Maybe the non binary movement has it all figured out after all.

The only thing that matters to me is policies and trustworthiness. That only leaves me with Sanders.

My daughter and I were hoping to be saying this 3 years ago. Sigh.

Boomer here. I truly can’t wait for most of my cohort to Die off, including myself. It’s the only way this Country is going to Elect a Female President, get real about Climate Change and about a thousand other things we desperately need. Yes, I could be completely wrong, but I wouldn’t bet more than ten dollars on it. Is it too early for Wine ???

I would love to see a woman be our President and have voted twice in November for a woman. Warren cut her throat with me with her desperation stunt on CNN and Klobuchar is not even someone I would consider for Senator after she failed to stand up for Al Franken. It is not about gender or race or orientation- it is about being the right person for the job. I see judgement as the most important requirement for any President and neither of the women in the picture meet that standard. Neither have the fire in the belly to street brawl with Trump. And neither have shown good judgement when the chips were down. I am a college educated, veteran, white male from the south raised in an evangelical Christian church- I am supposedly the hard knot of resistance for female candidates. I have already voted for female candidates for President and would have no problem this time if there were one worth voting for. Our language is not the problem- the candidates running are. Show me a woman who does not say one thing on the stump and something completely different behind the doors of paid Wall Street speeches- like Hillary- that has been consistently right on core issues and I will happily vote for her. Show me a woman who can handle the Native American heritage thing without becoming a laughingstock - unlike Ms. Warren -even with many Democrats. Show me a women sho will stand by a fellow Senator willing to abide by the rules against a specious charge -unlike Ms Klobuchar.

There's no question that one woman in particular would make an incredible president down the line -- No, not Warren. Nor Klobuchar. Nor Kamala. Nor Hillary. While all of these current and past candidates certainly have the brains and resumes for the role, none of them truly inspire people in huge numbers. However, AOC will. She'd bring the young people out in droves. The Latino population. Progressives. And who knows who else. Hopefully, in 2020, we'll elect Senator Bernie Sanders in 2020 and again 2024 to get this country back on the right path. Then maybe, just maybe: AOC in 2028. (!) All of which makes for a future that I -- and, I suspect, many, many others -- can truly get excited about.

Words certainly do matter. I have made a concentrated effort to stop referring to grown women as "girls," something I had done for decades. It's how I was referred to as well and it never occurred to me how infantilizing that was until someone pointed it out on Twitter! My husband (bless his soul) is making a concerted effort to bring back "gal" instead of the usual "that guy" and "that girl." And since 2016, I have noticed in journalism pieces that the authors are writing things like "no matter who she or he is" when referring to elected office, including the presidency. So Hillary's candidacy did something… That's progress. More progress will be made still should we elect a woman to the highest office in the land. As the Times said not too long ago, may the best woman win!

Great Britain. Germany. Argentina. Israel. India. Pakistan even. All have or have had women leaders. So why in the longest running democracy is it so difficult to elect and accept a woman leader?

I loved Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Margaret Thatcher, and I voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. For 2020, I like Biden or Bloomberg. I couldn’t care less about the pronoun.

Nitpicking like this, particularly when combined with the shaming of identity politics is one of the reasons why progressives make so little actual progress. When there is a woman who seems like she will be a good leader pursuing policies with which we agree in comparison to her opponent, most of us Americans will vote for her. We did in 2016, for all that the electoral college thwarted the popular will. One day, with the right candidate, we will again. Small suggestion though to that woman. Try to avoid the subtly scolding tone of this article, blaming such things as commonly used pronouns for your inability to sell yourself as our leader. Just be a leader for ALL of us and we will follow.

I have no problem with the gender or race or creed of the future Democratic 2020 nominee or a newly elected President. I seriously doubt many Democrats do. This is a non-issue for me.

I can remember saying 'her' in 2016 when I though Clinton was on track to be the next president. But this time--with just a few women in crowded primary preparing to face an incumbent in a strong economy--Warren's awkward phrasings sound a bit presumptuous.

I usually stick to gender neutral pronouns (they, them, their) most of the time unless speaking about a specific person. Example 1 “I will do everything a president can do all by themselves on the first day.” Example 2 “Warren will do everything she can do by herself on the first day.”

"Their" is a gender-neutral word I have come to know and trust.

As a general matter I would prefer a woman POTUS. Women are less threateningly emotional so less likely to get us into a war . And more likely to be willing to listen to others and compromise rather than becoming a dictator. And given some of the choices we have had lately, more likely to do her homework in order to think things through. Lastly she is more likely to be empathic both for what other women face in their lives and for what people with other life experiences have lived . Thus more likely to see other's rights and craft policy accordingly That being said, it really depends upon the candidate; not the sex.

Once we elect a woman, it will be much more comfortable to use the word “she.” And just as Obama was the right man at the right time, soon we will have a woman in the same position—just not this year since the only women still running are too flawed.

Even if Ms. Warren is not the next president, her pinky promises may have great influence on the next generation’s elections. Assuming we still have free and fair elections by then.

It would probably seem less awkward if it read: “I will do everything a president can do all by him or herself on the first day.”

I just checked, every US president since George Washington, was a male! I think our language tendencies reflect that way more than unconscious biases against electing a woman. As more women are now candidates, it’s just a matter of time....and the right candidate.

Linguistically, it reflects the triumph of experience over ideology. There has never been a female president, so defaulting to "he" comes naturally. We are biased toward our ACTUAL experience. Linguistically, gender neutral terms evolved *subsequent* to women or men becoming more common in those roles. These same people would - likely - refer to some hypothetical nurse or grade school teacher as "she". And, of course, it depends on age and experience.

I'm voting for Amy Klobuchar, looking for a sign to put in my yard this weekend. Look at that picture and tell me who's going to be the tougher of the two, that toughness will translate into policy as well.

I'd love to see a woman President. I voted for one in 2016 and I'm considering Elizabeth Warren along with Bernie Sanders now. I guess the takeaway here is the problem solves itself when a woman is elected to the nation's top job, as in Britain. Good thing, considering the wholesale destruction of the environment, voting rights, and the worsening of income inequality, at least we won't have to focus a lot of energy on grammar.

This article is very important. I’m supporting Bernie for President, not because he’s a man, but because he’s the candidate I trust most to make the systemic changes necessary to help prevent climate catastrophe and reform US health care. I look forward to voting for AOC for President some day.

In the novel "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," there's a scene in which the mother and the daughter are together after a heavy conversation and the author, Ms. Smith, wrote, "Each was alone with his thoughts." We wouldn't say that today, even those of us who are conservative in linguistic matters. It just takes getting used to. "The candidates that the NY Times endorsed had a conversation. Afterwards, each was alone with her thoughts." See how easy it is?

I've been waiting along time for a smart, professional, & compassionate woman president (Palin doesn't count, Clinton does, Warren does, Klobechar does, Harris does). I am more than ready, and am proudly ready to say "She's the Next President". Sidenote: yes I will vote for any of the Ds regardless of gender to get Trump out & perhaps wake up the R leaders.