Electable: Why America Hasn't Put a Woman in the White House . . . Yet

by Ali Vitali

Overview

A fearless deep dive into the 2020 election from former MSNBC “Road Warrior” and now NBC Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitali, who covered the campaign trail every step of the way—investigating the gendered double standards placed on women presidential candidates of that cycle and those who came before, and what it will take for a woman to finally break the glass ceiling and win the White House.

Opening with the moment when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were finally declared the winners of the 2020 race—the long, drawn-out journey towards who would next inhabit the White House, and the resulting and disputed defeat of Donald Trump, Electable is a sweeping look at a lingering question from that Presidential race. Why, when we saw more women run for President of the United States than ever before in our history, did we still not cross that final hurdle?

Following the 2020 race minute by minute as the reporter embedded with Elizabeth Warren, Ali Vitali witnessed up-close the way that our most recent election was unique—not simply for the way in which the incumbent conducted himself, but for the ways in which the field, rich with Democrats from all kinds of backgrounds, was both modern but also more of the same. With more female candidates than ever before, this was a history-making race, and yet these women—most of them incredibly qualified with decades of public service on their resumes—dealt once again with a different level of scrutiny than their male counterparts. Woven throughout is close examination of the treatment of Hillary Clinton, Geraldine Ferraro, Shirley Chisholm, and those on the right as well. Grappling with ideas around the “likeability” and “electability” issues, as well as fundraising hurdles many female candidates face, Vitali asks the same questions she and so many have been grappling with for decades, but especially since Hillary Clinton’s devastating defeat in 2016: Why is it so hard for a woman to be taken seriously as a presidential contender? What will it take for men and women to be held to the same standard? What happens next?

Electable tackles these questions, with specific, behind-the-scenes, play-by-play detail.

Gabbard, Harris, Williamson, Gillibrand, Warren, Klobuchar…and then there were none.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063058637
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/23/2022
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	433,821
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

ALI VITALI is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for NBC News. She covered the 2016 and 2020 presidential contests from primary to inauguration—on the ground and with the candidates—as well as the 2018 and 2022 midterms, from across the country and in the nation's capital. 

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Assignment 1

1 The "Audacity" of Joe Biden: Chosen, but Not Elected (November 2020) 17

2 Kamala Harris and the Sparkly Jacket: Authenticity (February 2019) 35

3 Memorial Day Weekend: Campaigning While Female (May 2019) 49

4 Kamala Harris: The Rules of Engagement (June 2019) 69

5 One Night in Washington Square Park: Using History to Make Herstory (September 2019) 93

6 Who We Take Seriously: The Qualification Question (November 2019) 119

7 Can a Woman Win? The Electability Question (January 2020) 145

8 New Hampshire: Reckoning with the Inevitable (February 2020) 167

9 Nevada: Going Down Swinging (February 2020) 183

10 And Then There Were None: Opportunity, Lost. Again. (March 2020) 207

11 "It's Just Time": Female VP Candidates and the Mystical Gender Gap (Spring 2020) 231

12 "Just Not That Woman": What Hillary Learned (September 2020) 263

13 Madam Vice President: How Kamala Navigates Being First (January 2021) 287

14 "I'd Love to See It in My Lifetime" (March 2022) 303

Acknowledgments 319

Notes 323

Editorial Reviews

06/20/2022

NBC News correspondent Vitali debuts with a nuts-and-bolts rehash of the 2020 presidential campaign focused on the barriers faced by female candidates. She recounts the highs-and-lows of campaigns run by Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren, details accusations of opportunism that Kamala Harris overcame to become Joe Biden’s running mate, and analyzes how Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss to Donald Trump affected the 2020 race. Throughout, Vitali identifies biases against women candidates, including allegations that they aren’t qualified and won’t be as “tough” as necessary when it comes to foreign policy and economic matters, concerns about their “likability,” and assumptions that male candidates are more “electable” than women. The latter issue caused friction between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Vitali notes, when Warren accused Sanders of claiming that a woman couldn’t beat Donald Trump and Sanders denied it. Vitali stuffs the account with insider details and definitions of political jargon like “negative on the doors” (when volunteers criticize a rival candidate while campaigning door-to-door). Though the anecdotal details sometimes distract from Vitali’s larger point, this is an insightful and well-informed look at the progress women in politics have made, and where they still need to go. Agent: Pilar Queen, United Talent Agency (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Electable should be required reading for, well, pretty much everyone." — Daily Beast

“In this hopeful and well-documented study, Vitali clearly shows the importance of a truly level playing field. ‘It’s the job of the candidates to run,’ she writes, ‘but it’s on us to ensure the track is uniformly flat for all of them’ ... Intelligent and engaging political analysis.” — Kirkus Reviews

“An insightful and well-informed look at the progress women in politics have made, and where they still need to go." — Publisher’s Weekly

“Electable, Ali Vitali's ironically titled new book, is a smart, fresh look at why women candidates have not been able to break that final electoral glass ceiling, as well as a fascinating insider's account of life for a woman reporter on the campaign trail. Vitali's sharply wrought portraits of the key players in the 2020 campaign and thoughtful analysis of the pitfalls of gender politics make this a must read for anyone seeking answers to why our politics fail to deliver.”
— Andrea Mitchell, NBC Chief Washington Correspondent, Anchor Andrea Mitchell Reports

“Is America ready for a woman to be president? A resounding ‘yes’ according to polls and yet it still hasn’t happened. What gives? Ali Vitali confronts the possibilities we may not want to consider and explains in this sharp and often poignant book what it’s going to take to break the single dumbest losing streak in politics.”
— Katy Tur, MSNBC Anchor and New York Times bestselling author of Unbelievable

From the Publisher

2022-06-21
A Capitol Hill correspondent for NBC News examines why the U.S. still has not elected a woman president.

As Vitali, who followed the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns across the country, points out, 2020 produced the most female presidential candidates—all Democrats—in American history. The six women who ran were “qualified, competent lawmakers with heavy policy portfolios,” and they all “attracted top staff and notched key endorsements.” Yet no woman was selected to face incumbent Donald Trump. The author argues that women—even those like then-Sen. Kamala Harris—did not have the name recognition of male candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden. They also had to work far harder than male candidates to build a “national campaign infrastructure and a national donor base to pay for it.” Vitali suggests that because the experiences of women are not discussed enough, or dismissed as irrelevant, voters who fail to do the proper research (a discouragingly large section of eligible voters) may feel like women are agenda-driven unknowns unable to take on important issues. In turn, this makes them appear unable to offer the same “reassurance” that a (White) man could. This was especially significant at a time when fear levels—largely stoked by Trump and his enablers and followers, abetted by Fox News—caused voters to avoid anything remotely uncertain. On the positive side, Vitali shows that because Joe Biden has made it a priority to elevate women like Kamala Harris to high-level government posts, he has helped bring much-needed visibility to women leaders in a way that even Hilary Clinton could not. This will help women continue to build voter credibility, making them not just viable, but electable candidates. In this hopeful and well-documented study, Vitali clearly shows the importance of a truly level playing field. “It’s the job of the candidates to run,” she writes, “but it’s on us to ensure the track is uniformly flat for all of them.”

Intelligent and engaging political analysis.

Kirkus Reviews