Women Candidates Surge In Polls As They Confront Relentless Questions Over Electability; Women Candidates Confront Relentless Questions On Electability
BOLDUAN: Tonight, the fight for 2020. As some of the women running for president are surging in recent polls, The New York Times is out today with a story headline this, "It's a Question No One Says They Want to Ask. But the Women Running for President Keep Hearing It." Like question, of course, being, "Do you really think a woman could be elected president?" With a historic field that includes six female candidates, could one become the first female president? Out front now Amy Chozick of the New York Times who is out with a big profile of the women running in Vogue right now. April Ryan is White House Correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks. And Alexandra Rojas, Executive Director of Justice Democrats. Amy, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry when I see this, if we talk about this one more time. But you have been writing about this for a very long time. Why are folks still asking this question?</s>AMY CHOZICK, WRITER AT LARGE, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, it's understandable since we've never had a female president that people would ask that question. The concern is that it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Every time you ask is the country ready to elect a woman, there's a chance that people will say, "Oh, maybe the answer is no."</s>BOLDUAN: Yes. And it's interesting, I sort of thought when I went into reporting this piece that it was just something you and I discuss on cable. But actually all of the candidates have heard this on the rope line. Heard donors ask this. I mean, this is a concern that has seeped into the electorate and people are have to wonder about. But the flipside is that as Kirsten Gillibrand told me in the "Vogue" piece, a woman did win. I think Hillary Clinton complicates things she won three million more votes what does that say whether the country is ready. Maybe they need a better strategic campaign and the country is ready.</s>KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: The question is, can a female win the Electoral College? Maybe you need to get more specific. April, to Amy's point, the fact the question is being asked doesn't mean the answer is no?</s>APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Women are now leading in the board room. They're leading Fortune 500 companies, international companies. They are leading in the home. In the black community alone, we have more women now who are head of household. That number is rising. So, women are equipped. The issue is the mindset. There is still a certain I guess genderism against women. And we have to get past that as we are leading in every place but in the White House.</s>BOLDUAN: Yes, Alexandra, women Democrats helped -- they were the reason the Democrats were able to deliver the House majority back to the Democrats in the mid-terms. To me, that's evidence that the country is ready or is there something different about the presidency?</s>ALEXANDRA ROJAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JUSTICE DEMOCRATS: No, I think that electability, that term, right, is used to marginalize and keep people out, especially women. We can see that borne out throughout the history of U.S. politics. But I think like you just pointed to what's so exciting about the moment is that the most exciting I think new sort of generation of leadership in the Democratic Party is by diverse progressive women like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, like Ilhan Omar, Rashid Tlaib. And you are totally right as well that we are seeing a historic amount of women dominate the presidential field as well, and you see candidates like Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren surging in the polls. But I also feel like we also have to point out, it's deeper than just the gender problem, right? It's about we have not provided solutions as a Democratic Party or as a country, we have not provided solutions that are matching the scale, scope and urgency to the problems that we're facing right now. And I think voters are really concerned about our -- are concerned about that as well.</s>BOLDUAN: Amy, in your piece, in speaking with the women running for president in "Vogue", many quotes stick out but here is one bit you wrote. The candidates I speak to agree that to 2020 is less about the symbolism of a woman president though that would be nice than it is about substance. How her life experience would influence policy and decision making? And I hear you, sister. I hear you but, again, the flipside Donald Trump did not win talking about any policy. Donald Trump won because of a brand. What is it -- how do you square those two things?</s>CHOZICK: I disagree. Donald Trump did win on policies. His policies were build a wall, ban the Muslims. Mexicans are rapists. These were so-called policies fitting on a bumper sticker.</s>BOLDUAN: It wasn't a white paper.</s>CHOZICK: Build the wall and ban Muslims are the policies. I think Elizabeth Warren has done a good job of creating policy that can go on a bumper sticker free college, you know? That's a very evocative thing. I think it's about communicating policies in a way that is evocative to voters. But I love singled in on the line, because I think it's a real difference. If you think about someone in the top office of the presidency who has been pregnant or pregnant and not wanted to be pregnant or struggled with child care, they're going to come to all these issues with a different set of life experiences. The set of life experiences that more than half the country has. And so I think these women you see it in a lot of Elizabeth Warren's policies in particular, their world view is very much shaped even though they're not talking about shattering the glass ceiling at every top. The world view is shaped by being women and you can't change it.</s>BOLDUAN: So interesting. April, if you do allow the thought that in 2016 the country wasn't ready for a would woman to be president and that was part of why Donald Trump won, what has changed in four years that will make Donald Trump less successful, using what we can assume will be the same playbook?</s>RYAN: What has changed? We had Hillary Clinton run. And we in Donald Trump become president who, you know, people still remember the moment on that debate stage that Hillary Clinton had to actually restrain herself from going to Donald Trump saying please don't stalk me. She had to grin and bear it and keep going. We have seen how the nation and even the world has come to terms with some of the things this president said about women. You know, we have seen presidents have meetings on health care without women at the table. And they're talking about issues of women. And not only that, I want to go back a couple of administrations ago to the Bush administration, George W. Bush administration and to the Obama administration. Women are in the forefront. When you talk about the diplomacy at times of tension and peril with other nations, women have been there -- Madeline Albright, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton. Those women were walking into places that were not necessarily woman-friendly or looked at women as subservient. So, it is now time for women to be at the table. And I'm going to say this to you, Kate. I've been at the White House 22 years, and I'll be happy to say, ask a question to begin with, madam president.</s>BOLDUAN: Amy, we had Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson she was not included in the photo spread for "Vogue". She is upset about it. And let me play you for the viewers what she said.</s>MARIANNE WILLIAMSON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The framers of the constitution were very career about whose is qualified to run for president and did not make any media certainly not "Vogue" magazine the gatekeeper here. The framers of the Constitution said that in order to run for president, in order to be qualified to be president you have to have been born here. You had to have lived here 14 years and you have to be 35 years or older. Now, if they had wanted to say you had to have been an elected official, they would have.</s>BOLDUAN: "Vogue" put out a statement responding to it saying that it was not intended as a snub, that she was not in the photo shoot, that they wanted to highlight the five elected women who are running for president. Does -- do you think Williamson has a reason to be upset?</s>CHOZICK: Of course. And her criticism -- the criticism of her supporters is also legitimate. I mean, absolutely in no way did "Vogue" intend this to diminish her career or her candidacy. You know, the magazine stories have a long lead time. I think she started discussing the photo in March and they took it in April. At that time the field is so big that we -- they decided that we should focus on the women in elected office. I, of course, mentioned Williamson in the piece.</s>BOLDUAN: You do.</s>CHOZICK: Right. But I think especially since talking about women running and all of these women have 40 years combined experience in Congress. So, they've almost all of them won elections in in which they were told there was no way to a women with would many do win the election. So, they came with the experiences that we were focusing on, but absolutely it was not a way to diminish Williamson and I do sympathize with her supporters and her complaints about this.</s>BOLDUAN: Thank you for being here. It's great to see you. Thank you for the piece. Alexandra, April, thanks, guys.</s>ROJAS: Thank you.</s>BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT next, Elizabeth Warren taking the message that helped launch her political career to the epicenter of the housing crisis.</s>ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We all know what happened. We sure know it who here in Las Vegas, right?</s>BOLDUAN: But is her message resonating? Plus, children held at the border drawing themselves in cages. The doctor who received the photos and visited two detention centers is OUTFRONT next.