Consider This from NPR - Women Candidates and the Race for Big Money

Episode Date: December 7, 2023

A woman has never been president. Hillary Clinton has come the closest, but that highest, hardest glass ceiling is still intact. Now Republican Nikki Haley wants to succeed where her predecessors have not.The list of reasons a woman hasn't won is long — sexism, lack of representation in circles of power, and lack of representation in circles of money. But Nikki Haley has just scored an endorsement from the Koch Network that could change that.NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks to Political Scientist Kira Sonbonmatsu about the inequities between men and women when it comes to fundraising and what the Koch Network endorsement could mean for Haley.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When Hillary Clinton ended her first campaign for the presidency in June 2008, her speech nodded to what her win would have meant, a historic first that's still out of reach. 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. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. After a long, tough primary fight with Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, Clinton bowed out and supported her opponent.

Let's declare together in one voice, right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president. Clinton tried again eight years later. That time she became her party's nominee, but ultimately lost. Now, I know, I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think right now. Women have been trying to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling since before they had the right to vote. Suffragist Victoria Woodhull challenged Ulysses S. Grant in 1872,

and there was Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in 1972. I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I'm equally proud of that. And now, looking to 2024, there is another woman running for the highest office in the land. I don't put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you're wearing heels. I'm Nikki Haley, and I'm running for president. Haley, though, rejects the idea of a glass ceiling.

This is not about identity politics. I don't believe in that. And I don't believe in glass ceilings either. Glass ceiling or no, there's a long list of reasons why women have repeatedly failed to win the presidency. Sexism, lack of representation in circles of power, lack of representation in circles of money. It's not enough that women step forward to run. They need to run campaigns. They need to get their message out. They've got to hire staff.

They've got to go on the campaign trail. They have to go on the airwaves. They have to buy ads. And even making it onto the ballot takes resources. That is Kira Sanbanmatsu, a political scientist at Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics. Nikki Haley will face many of the same challenges as her predecessors, but she just got a big assist. The political network founded by the billionaire Koch family has endorsed Nikki Haley. Americans for Prosperity Action, the political arm of Koch's network, are out with a new ad in support of the former U.N. ambassador. Americans for Prosperity made the endorsement,

calling Haley the best Republican candidate to, quote, turn the page on the current political era. Consider this. Women running for political office face a never-ending series of obstacles. Nikki Haley may have just crossed a big one off her list. From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly. It's Thursday, December 7th. the public support it. Everything you hear from the NPR network really does depend on your contributions. And for anyone listening who is not a supporter yet, right now is a great time to get actively involved in creating a more informed public. That is our whole mission

here at NPR. That is why we're here. Consider This brings you the context behind the big stories of the day through insightful conversations and rich storytelling, please give today at donate.npr.org slash consider this and thank you. It's Consider This from NPR. Nikki Haley has been the first throughout her political career, the first Indian American to hold office in South Carolina, the first female governor of South Carolina. Now she wants to be the first woman elected president of the United States. To do that, she needs money. To give you an idea how much we are talking about, in this presidential election cycle, spending on political ads, just ads, is expected to top $10 billion.

It's a lot of money for any candidate to raise, and female candidates lag behind men. Rutgers political scientist Kira Sanbonmatsu has spent a lot of time studying the gap in political fundraising between women and men. Financial support is so important. It helps put you on the map as a candidate. Historically, we know that it's been harder for women to raise money. They didn't always have the financial backing. They weren't the incumbents. People know that men can win office. They're automatically seen as viable. Sometimes this can be harder for women to establish their viability for that reason. We haven't had a woman president. We didn't have a lot of women in Congress or serving as governors.

And it took women forming their own organizations and donor networks, such as Emily's List, ViewPack, Higher Heights for America, to establish networks, funding streams, and women's political action committees. And those efforts have been successful, powering a record number of women in Congress today. What kind of disparity are we talking? Can we put numbers on this? One thing that we're seeing at the state level, we just released a report called the donor gap. And what we're seeing there is that although women can raise as much as men for their races, women are still underrepresented as donors. Men are out giving women two to one when you look at the money raised for state elections. So women's voices aren't heard to the same extent

as men's in terms of political contributions. And then at the candidate level, if you're not an incumbent, it's harder to raise money and women are less likely to be the incumbents. You nodded to some of the groups that are dedicated to changing this, to lifting up female candidates, groups like Emily's List leading the charge. Are we able to measure how much of a difference they make in trying to level the playing field or at least start to. Those organizations have been really critical to helping fuel women's campaigns. And what they figured out is women need early money because to be seen as a credible candidate, you need to raise money. And then once you're able to raise money, you're seen as a credible candidate. And so

there's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy there. And so these funding streams have been really significant. And how much has it changed? I'm thinking back to 1992. I was in college. It was the alleged year of the woman. 30 years on, God help us, 30 years on since I was in college. How much has the landscape shifted? Oh, it's shifted a lot. These organizations have been really important, and women candidates can be really successful financially. You know, we can think of races where women are out raising men, and we are seeing a record number of women in Congress. And I think that the presidential space is tougher. They're more expensive races, and we have yet to elect a woman president.

Yeah. So let's focus on Nikki Haley, the female candidate who has just pulled in the funding from the Koch network. What kind of impact do you imagine that having on her profile, on her message, on her ability to win votes? This endorsement is already having an impact. You see that it's attracting additional financial support. We know that she's gaining in terms of the polls. And what it does is it shows that she's a credible candidate, that she's worthy of further investment. And this has been hard for Republican women. We see many more Democratic women holding office. It was Hillary Clinton who came close to winning the presidential election. We have yet to see the Republican Party nominate

a woman for president. So what this signals is that she's a serious candidate, that she should attract more resources. So it's an important development. To the importance of timing. We are five, six weeks out from the Iowa caucus, the first GOP presidential primary for 2024. To what extent is the timing of this endorsement important to Nikki Haley's campaign? It's an important endorsement. It's late in the game. But on the other hand, no one has voted yet. And so as the Republican field winnows, if she can emerge here in one of these early states, it'll be significant for her.

What about some of the other people starting to work on Nikki Haley's behalf? I'm thinking of Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, just gave $250,000 to Nikki Haley's Super PAC. Now, he is a Democratic mega donor. He supports Biden. He's open about that. How unusual is this? Well, I think we are in some unusual political times. Donald Trump is not a usual candidate, and there is a pro-democracy movement afoot. And so I think that Nikki Haley will take, as she has said, support from all corners. People like to get involved for a number of reasons. They want to win, but they also care who's in office. They want to express their views.

And sometimes you get involved because you are opposed to another candidate. So that's what our elections are about. So there can be a variety of motivations. What are you going to be watching for as you try to gauge whether it may in fact be possible for Haley? Yeah, I think it's important to see whether this endorsement and how much of an effect this endorsement has in attracting additional money. It's this kind of early endorsement that women haven't typically had access to early in presidential campaigns. And so it'll be interesting to watch whether more money follows and more support follows. Kira Sanbunmatsu of Rutgers University and the Center for American Women and Politics.

Thank you. Thanks for having me. It's Consider This. From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly.