The Quest To Become Ms. President

Female Politicians Discuss The Prospects Of A Woman Leader

(CBS) 
"So I was secure. I didn't have a problem with how I would deal with the Soviet Union. But, the press did. Ted Koppel did. I mean I was taking a test every time I went in for an interview," Ferraro recalls.

However, the perceptions of women are changing. Madeline Albright was Bill Clinton's Secretary of State and Condoleezza Rice has served as both the National Security Advisor and Secretary of State for George W. Bush.

Senator Lincoln scoffs at the idea that women are somehow "softer" than men.

"It's unfair to women, I think, when you're talking about fighting wars and defending freedoms, defending home and family. Let me tell you, you can't find anybody stronger or more determined than the mother and her children," Lincoln says boldly.

So will Americans really vote for a woman president? The 1964 movie "Kisses For My President" treated the idea as a comedy, though the issue of the "first man" still hits home.

However, a just released CBS News/New York Times poll finds that 92 percent of all Americans say they would vote for a woman if she were qualified, up from just about half in the 1950s.

But only 55 percent think America is now ready for a woman president. And guess what? Women are actually more pessimistic than men.

Wilson says women are harsher on other women because "whoever she is, she looks like us. What we want from the first woman is somebody who represents us purely, wonderfully. I mean, that is a hard thing. We demand more of women."

Yet women are being elected to all sorts of offices in record numbers and chances are that a woman will occupy the White House simply because there are more in public life: eight governors, 67 House members and 14 senators.

"I've been a senator for 13 years. I do not think if you ask a Texan about their "woman" senator, they would relate to that. They think of me as their senator," says Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.

Hutchison is one of the Republican leaders in the Senate. Hutchison herself is often mentioned as a Republican vice presidential candidate. She says that in 2008, quality and qualifications will be more important than gender.

"It's just the right woman, who wants the job, who will run for the job, with the right credentials. I really think we're there," Hutchison says.

And Ferraro is already planning to attend a very special presidential inauguration in the not too distant future.

"When that woman is sworn in -- whether it's for president or vice president, I sure wish they invite me to the inauguration," Ferraro says. "I want to be right up there watching."