Did Clinton Damage "Glass Ceiling"?

Sen. Hillary Clinton officially suspended her presidential campaign over the weekend, endorsing Sen. Barack Obama and giving a rousing speech as she did.

"When we first started, people everywhere asked the same questions: Could a woman really serve as commander in chief? Well, I think we answered that one!" Clinton said.

" ... To those who are disappointed that we couldn't go all the way -- especially the young people who put so much into this campaign -- it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And when you stumble, keep faith. And when you're knocked down, get right back up. And never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on.

" ... Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it."

Clinton was referring to the approximate number of votes she got in the course of the primary campaign.

So, how much damage did Clinton's campaign truly inflict on the "glass ceiling"?

For some perspective, Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith spoke with two women prominent in progressive political circles, Pat Schroeder, the former Colorado congresswoman and presidential hopeful, who's now president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, and Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor in chief of The Huffington Post.

Schroeder said Clinton's campaign showed, "There's a tremendous amount of sexism still out there," and society simply doesn't deal with sexism as it does, say, with racism and anti-Semitism, and the campaign showed we still have "a lot of ground to cover" combating sexism.

But Huffington said she's sure a woman will be in the Oval Office one day -- and Hillary is now her own person and "the keeper of the Clinton brand," which is much more populist than it had been.

Schroeder said Hillary is now her own person and Bill is "the tail of the kite!"

To see the interview, click on the arrow in the image below: