When will the first woman be elected president? Experts say a good way to make that happen soon is to elect more female governors and members of Congress. On October 25 former New Hampshire senate majority leader Maggie Hassan www.MaggieHassan.com announced she is running for governor. She is a Democrat and a lawyer. The election is about a year from now.

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photo of Maggie Hassan from www.MaggieHassan.com

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Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, also known as the Indigo Girls, won a Grammy award and sold more than two million records. Earlier this month they performed at the Beacon Theater in New York City. The Indigo Girls have taken part in numerous protests against war, nuclear power, and other issues.Their web site www.IndigoGirls.com has a link to Women's Action for New Directions www.wand.org a group whose mission is to "empower women to act politically to reduce violence and militarism and redirect excessive military resources toward unmet human and environmental needs."

The Valley Post asked Saliers why there has never been a female president of the United States. "Because we live in a sexist society, and a largely sexist world, that doubts the power and effectiveness of women in leadership roles," she said. "There are many men who want to keep the power structure the way it is."

Canada, India (current population: 1.2 billion), Israel, Great Britain, the Philippines, Germany, Chile, Liberia and Pakistan are among the dozens of nations that have had a woman as president or prime minister in recent decades.

As of 2007, the United States (current population: 313 million) was 68th among the world's nations in terms of ratio of female representatives in the national legislature, i.e., Congress. "That places us far behind top-ranked Rwanda, where roughly half of the legislative seats are held by women, and behind every country in Scandinavia as well as China (current population: 1.3 billion), Iraq and Afghanistan," according to Vicki Haddock. She's a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle and co-author of the new book Never in My Wildest Dreams.

The White House Project www.TheWhiteHouseProject.org works to elect a woman president.