First woman President: With Clinton defeated, who could finally shatter the ‘highest, hardest’ glass ceiling?

Four Democratic women won seats in the US Senate on Tuesday, including three women of colour

Many on the left of the Democratic Party originally wanted Elizabeth Warren to be their standard bearer in 2016

Hillary Clinton’s choice of venue for her victory party on Tuesday night was none-too-subtly symbolic: the convention hall at New York’s Jacob K Javits Centre is capped by a vast, glass ceiling. On Wednesday morning, the defeated Democratic nominee wisely chose to deliver her concession speech elsewhere.

“We have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling,” she told her tearful supporters. “But some day, someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think right now.”

Among the many disappointing numbers to emerge from this presidential election, this one’s a real bummer: just 54 per cent of women backed Clinton, compared to 42 per cent for Donald Trump – a margin roughly identical to the one Barack Obama achieved over Mitt Romney in 2012. Given the chance to elect their first female president over a man accused of multiple sexual assaults, American women appear to have been all but unmoved.

Yet even amid the catastrophe of 2016 there are glimmers of progress. Clinton won the popular vote, which suggests a majority of Americans are prepared to elect a woman President, despite the electoral college delivering them the p****-grabber instead. Meanwhile, four Democratic women claimed Senate seats, three of whom are women of colour. Clinton’s “someone” might already be in Washington – or headed there soon.

Kamala Harris?

California's Attorney General will be the first ever Indian-American in the US Senate (AP)

California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris, is probably the most prominent of the four women elected to the US Senate on Tuesday. Harris, 52, is a personal friend of Barack Obama, and the pair share a cool demeanour and several autobiographical similarities. The daughter of an Indian-born cancer researcher and a Jamaican economist who met at Berkeley and divorced when she was a girl, she made her career in the law before rising to her current position. Harris will be only the second black woman to enter the Senate, and the first Indian-American.

Elizabeth Warren?

Buzz is already building for an Elizabeth Warren presidential run in 2020 - on Twitter, at least (AP)

Before they felt the Bern, the progressive left of the Democratic party believed Elizabeth Warren should be their standard bearer at the 2016 primaries. A Harvard academic who came to politics late, she helped create the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the wake of the economic crisis and is widely thought of as the scourge of Wall Street. An aggressive Clinton campaign surrogate who often got under Trump’s skin, Warren would be 71 by the time of the 2020 election. But that hasn’t stopped the buzz building on her behalf already.

Michelle Obama?

Michelle 2020 is a comforting fantasy for Clinton voters to cling to in the aftermath of defeat. But there’s no doubt the departing FLOTUS will play a vital part in public life over the years to come. For many, her speech at the Democratic Convention was the finest of the election. For others, it was surpassed by her October speech on Trump’s treatment of women. No less an authority than Glenn Beck called that “the most effective political speech since Ronald Reagan.” Obama’s capacity to uplift and inspire, shared with her husband, is more essential now than ever.

Kirsten Gillibrand?

Gillibrand, who occupies Clinton's old seat in the Senate, addresses the Democratic convention in July ((Getty Images))

As the junior Senator from New York, 49-year-old Kirsten Gillibrand holds the seat vacated by Clinton when she became Secretary of State in 2009. Like Warren, the talkshow-friendly former lawyer came up often in conversations about the 2016 Democratic presidential race, at a time when it remained unclear whether Clinton would throw her hat in the ring. Gillibrand’s 2014 memoir, Off the Sidelines, doubled as a call for a renewed women’s political movement. Clinton wrote the introduction.

Susana Martinez?

America's first Latina governor was considered an top pick for the GOP nominee's running mate - until Trump became the nominee ((Getty Images))

A woman, let alone a Latina, would be an odd presidential pick for the party of Trump. But last year, New Mexico’s Governor Susana Martinez was talked of as an ideal vice-presidential running mate for whomever claimed the GOP nomination. The chairwoman of the Republican Governors Association, she endorsed Marco Rubio – to which Trump responded by slamming her at a rally in her own state. In the end, Martinez smiled as she delivered New Mexico’s primary delegates to Trump at the RNC. So perhaps she has a future in his party, after all.

Carly Fiorina?

The only woman in the Republican primary race, Fiorina dealt with Donald Trump more skilfully than his male rivals (Getty)

Fiorina, the former Chief Executive of Hewlett-Packard and the only woman in the crowded 2016 Republican primary field, would not attract the same swathe of voters as Clinton. But she did manage to ding Trump in a debate where his male rivals failed. She was one of the first women to be insulted by Mr Trump on the campaign trail, and responded with aplomb. She was even a notional VP candidate for the five minutes after Ted Cruz named her as his running mate and before he dropped out of the race. Would she run again? Stranger things have happened.