"As First Lady, she successfully balanced the tensions between activism and traditionalism that challenged many First Ladies in the twentieth century. She is outspoken and passionate about her projects, such as military families and childhood obesity, but they stay within a conventional female sphere of interest...Despite the significant successes of women in politics, the nation's top offices, the presidency and vice presidency, remained elusive.In her campaign for the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nomination, New York Senator Hillary Clinton dramatically challenged the political "glass ceiling." Throughout the primary season, Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama were locked in a tight and contentious race for the Democratic presidential nomination. The contest between Clinton and Obama raised troubling questions. Their campaigns traded charges of sexism and racism, in a conflict reminiscent of the Stanton/Douglass disagreements over the Fourteenth Amendment. Despite Clinton's Senate experience, the active role she took in the presidency of husband Bill Clinton, and her forceful campaign style, pundits talked about her clothing and speculated about how she responded to key events-charging her with lack of emotion in some cases and too many tears in others. For both candidates, the issues were at times subsumed by questioning about whether the American people were ready to elect either a woman or an African American to the presidency."