Dem
51
GOP
49
"Could a woman break through that last glass ceiling?" is a question that seems to come up from time to time. In dozens of countries, including Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Tunisia, Ukraine, and the U.K., the answer is "been there, done that." So far, not the U.S. though. Could it happen now? Hillary Clinton got 3 million more votes than Donald Trump in 2016, but they weren't distributed the right way. Still, a lot has changed since 2016. For example, the work force now has more college-educated women than college-educated men. That wasn't true in 2016. The #MeToo movement happened. The Dobbs decision resulted in making abortion unavailable in half the states.
Also, Kamala Harris is not Hillary Clinton. Clinton had a lot of baggage and many people strongly disliked her as a person and thought she was arrogant. Harris has far less of that, although there are probably more people who hate Black women than hate white women. The other candidate is the same person, but has changed. Donald Trump is far more misogynistic now than he was in 2016 and voters are more sensitive to that now than they were then.
Certain attitudes have also changed. Back in 2016 you were either a man or a woman. For some young voters now, gender is more fluid, with many possibilities. For these voters, which of the many genders someone is doesn't count for much.
Also, people are now more used to seeing women in high elective office. Currently, 25 senators, 128 House members and 12 governors are women. When a woman runs for high office, in most cases, the fact that she is a woman doesn't play an especially large role in the campaign. More important is whether she is a Democrat or a Republican. (V)