Why a woman may win the White House in 2016

>>> you might have missed it, but there was a report this week that janet napolitano wants to run for president in 2016 . news raised a few eyebrows but it didn't exactly make waves which in a way is a big deal . it means the novelty of female presidential candidates is really starting to wear off. let's try to put this in perspective. before hillary clinton 's campaign in 2008 , just three women had sought the democratic presidential nomination . one of them shirley chisolm and pat schroder and carol mosley braun didn't make it to the first contest. few others contemplated running. she never took any real steps to run. diane feinstein dropped hints at a future white house bid on her mind in the late 1980s only to then lose the governors race to pete wilson in 1990 . instead of running for the top job in 1992 , feinstein was left to settle for a senate seat, a seat she has been happy to keep since then. and that is really it as far as female prospects for the democratic prospect. until 2008 when hillary clinton won 18 million votes and a bunch of primaries and caucuses. where she lost to a black man who went on to win the white house and defeated a republican ticket that included a woman. excuse me. it included a woman. in the wake of all of that, the notion that the terms presidential prospect in white guy went happened in hand to feel antiquated. the clear front runner for the democratic ticket is hillary. she has the potential to clear out the race. many would be candidates would think twice if clinton was in the race. if she passes on it, it wouldn't mean a return to all male fields. kirst kirsten gillibran and amy klobuchar . this is a trend that will only go on in the weeks to come. democrats are leaning on them more than ever. and there are now a record number of female democrats 16 in what has been a long incubator of presidential candidates . the senate. and in the senate the majority is not comprised of white males. so one way or another, there will be at least one woman running for a serious campaign for the democratic nomination in 2016 . and there'll only be more in the elections after that. expect similar if slower progress on the republican side . women have made strides there, too, but not as dramatically. only four republican women in the senate today. although the gop has the edge when it comes to female governors. this is what the future looks like. presidential fields that look a little more like