Ali Vitali asks the question of why America still hasn’t had a woman in the White House? She uses her experiences as a campaign reporter to share insights, as well as her access to speak directly to former candidates and staffers.
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This book is a mix of memoir and reportage. It starts really strong and brings up a lot of super interesting questions. Unfortunately Vitali doesn’t have answers so the reader has to settle for anecdotes which can be frustrating. For fans of politics and behind the scenes stories you’ll find much to enjoy in this book. I listened to the audiobook and really felt like Vitali was a part of this story, like I got to know her.

Ali Vitali (you’ve seen her reporting on NBC and MSNBC) draws on her experience covering the 2020 Democratic primary elections to write this examination of a crucial question: why the US hasn’t elected a woman to the highest office in the land. As she and the reader learn, there is no easy answer, and complexities abound. In a diverse primary field that included six women, Vitali describes the sequence of promising campaigns that eventually folded. While we all know the outcome, seeing the events from the perspective of someone on the scene is instructive. We see women walking a fine line, needing to be emphatic but not wanting to be seen as bitchy, always looking for the happy medium, aware that they are held to a different standard than their male counterparts. The author suggests changes that she hopes to see in the coming years that will change the process and break that last glass ceiling. Thanks to #NetGalley for the arc!