So Much For That “Historical” Presidential Mythology
The first female presidential nominee was Victoria Claflin Woodhull of New York. Victoria, an active campaigner for women’s rights, was nominated to run for president on the third-party Equal Rights ticket in 1872.
Her running mate was another first, Fredrick Douglas of Massachusetts, the first African American nominated for vice president. Douglass was a well known antislavery orator and writer before the Civil War, and was appointed U.S. minister to Haiti after the war.
Though the Woodhull-Douglass ticket broke new ground, they couldn’t win the uphill battle they faced. Aside from the difficulties of being a third party, they weren’t helped by the fact that no woman anywhere in America could vote in a national election at that time (women didn’t get the right to vote until 1920) and many African Americans were inhibited from voting in some states because of various local laws that eventually were found to be unconstitutional.
Republican Ulysses Grant won the election.
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120 years ago this year. Too bad they didn’t celebrate it for Obama, but I guess that original feminist co-ticket would have looked a bit awkward in the modern event.
And just to be pedantic, but the man did name himself…It’s Douglass, which gets problematic (at least for me) when writing it as a possessive.
Let’s also not forget Winona LaDuke, who ran as Ralph Nader’s Vice-Presidential Candidate in ‘96 and 2000.
Mondale/Ferraro?
The difference is McCain/Palin are winning.
Actually, as of today, they aren’t winning. Saw 3 polls today that show Obama/Biden ahead.
Also, after today (already being called McCain’s worst day of the campaign, by far!) I don’t think McCain/Palin are going to even be running a close race.
Also, would like to point out that almost every big poll done in the states is of “likely voters” – meaning people who have voted in the past 2 elections. Obama is bringing millions of new voters in.
McCain is winning in the electoral college votes.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
It’s virtually a dead heat right now in the Popular vote. It’s too close to call.
I’m pretty sure the claim the election is “historic” is based on the candidates of “major” parties, ie parties that actually have a shot.
But I could be wrong, since I haven’t paid much attention to this angle. As a white male resident of NYC, I long ago started using the strategy of trying to judge every local candidate as if he/she was a white male.