Kamala and Kirsten and Elizabeth, oh my!

By Emily Peck

So many women are running!

Who run the world? Um, women, maybe? In 2020, possibly. There are so many women running for president, dear readers. My heart is full. Even today when there's so much to feel not so great about.

On Monday, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) kicked off her 2020 campaign, bringing the number of women in contention for the Oval Office to four. The women officially in the running are all Democrats: Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii. At the moment, there are more Democratic women who've announced 2020 campaigns than men, although that will change as more men announce bids.

There's plenty to say about these women and over the coming weeks and months we can pick up apart their campaigns, policy proposals and the inevitable sexist backlash they'll face. But for a quick second, why not luxuriate in this moment?

Once upon a time, Hillary Clinton was *the* woman. With her campaigns in '08 and '16, it often felt like she had become synonymous with "female presidential candidate." And of course, when Warren kicked off her presidential campaign she was pretty quickly compared to Clinton in at least one widely-read article.

Those Clinton comparisons are going to be harder to pull off when you have to compare the former Secretary of State to four different women with four different campaigns.

We now have examples of multiple ways a female candidate can handle her campaign. Harris so far seems to be emphasizing her experience as a prosecutor. Warren, her economic policy bonafides. And Gillibrand is doubling down on her efforts around women's issues.

"Real progress is not just being able to vote for a woman, but being able to vote for the best woman," writes Michelle Goldberg in the Times this week.

Amen.