The 2008 presidential election may well prove to be the tipping point for women in presidential politics -- that was the consensus of participants in an alumni program held in Washington, D.C., Oct. 30.

Almost 100 Cornell alumni, students and guests were on hand for an off-the-record discussion by political insiders on "All (Wo)men Are Created Equal: The Role of Women in the Presidential Election -- Is 2008 a Tipping Point?" The event was sponsored by the President's Council of Cornell Women and the Cornell Middle Atlantic Regional Office of Alumni Affairs.

The panelists noted that the visible and vigorous campaigns of both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Palin have inspired countless young women to aspire to positions that previously may have seemed unattainable. They also predicted that women as presidential and vice presidential candidates will become more commonplace in the United States in the future given the events of 2008.

Panelists were Judy Bachrach, Vanity Fair contributing editor; Deborah Fine '91, general counsel for the Center for American Progress and former White House special assistant for the Clinton/Gore campaign; Juleanna Glover, lobbyist for the Ashcroft Group and former spokeswoman for Vice President Dick Cheney; Frances Hardin '75, former CNN White House correspondent and now deputy press secretary for the Project on National Security Reform; and Ruth Marcus, editorial writer for The Washington Post.