The Trailblazers

S1 E7: It has to happen eventually--a ceiling-smashing moment in campaign history. The selection of Geraldine Ferraro as the first woman on a major party U.S. presidential ticket catapulted Walter Mondale's campaign from dull to dazzling. The jolt provided by the former prosecutor and Congresswoman from Queens, New York helped the ticket pull even with Ronald Reagan and George Bush in the polls. Her entrance onto the world's stage at the Democratic National Convention in 1984 was an important moment in women's history, made all the more captivating by the fact that the audience that day was 80 to 90% women. 2008 saw another important moment take place on the other side of the aisle--the world's introduction to Sarah Palin. Brought onto John McCain's campaign to add energy and excitement in the face of the history-making Obama campaign, Palin was able to give Republican voters the feeling that their party could also be groundbreaking and provocative as well. And like Ferraro two decades earlier, she raised the interest level in the vice presidential slot beyond anything that had come before. The most consequential number two picks in history, both women dealt with attacks that were not just political but highly personal. Not just their competence, but their looks, dress sizes, marriages, and finances were also raked over the coals as they fought to break the glass ceiling.