Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed says Hillary Rodham Clinton proves that women can “compete at the highest level of politics.” The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

If Hillary Rodham Clinton is not to be the first female American president, the woman who wins that title will follow the path pioneered by the New York senator this year, said a number of women in Rhode Island politics.

“Her candidacy absolutely changes the landscape for women, even if she isn’t the nominee,” said Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, the highest-ranking woman in elected office in the state.

Clinton has proven, said Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed, “that women, through their intellect and tenacity and hard work, can in fact compete at the highest level of politics.”

After a nominating fight that went through every caucus and primary, Sen. Barack Obama was poised last night to claim enough delegates to become the first African-American presidential nominee from a major party.

If not this year, Paiva Weed said she still expects to see a female president in her lifetime. “I certainly hope so, as someone who watched Geraldine Ferraro in those early days. That was a first step. This was a second.”

Ferraro was the Democratic vice president nominee in 1984.

Some Clinton backers seemed heartbroken at the apparent end of Clinton’s candidacy. Sen. Rhoda Perry, D-Providence, was near tears as she reflected on the campaign yesterday. “Right now I feel almost bereft,” she admitted. “As a longtime woman legislator who has served in a General Assembly that has such a low percentage of women elected into it, I was so excited and so optimistic about a person of my gender reaching the pinnacle of elective office.

“Hillary Clinton would not have been my best friend, but she would have been an excellent president … maybe it will happen this time around, and, if not this time around, maybe another time around.”

Rhode Islanders have never elected a female governor or U.S. senator. No woman has ever been Rhode Island House speaker. Few have served in high office.

Yet, as Roberts pointed out, voters in the state’s Democratic primary in March gave Clinton one of her biggest wins of the campaign, suggesting that Rhode Island is ready and willing to elect women to high-profile jobs, she said.

Arlene Violet, who won the Rhode Island attorney general’s office in 1984 as a Republican, called Clinton’s campaign “a boon for women,” but warned that more need to run. She lamented that after Ferraro appeared on a major party ticket, more than 20 years passed before another woman made a credible run for the White House. “With such a long hiatus, there was no momentum,” said Violet. “It was like starting from scratch.”

Rep. Charlene Lima, D-Cranston, yesterday equated the “the first woman who had a legitimate chance” to be president with “Rosa Parks refusing to get off the bus and demanding to be treated equally.” Clinton “brought all women right up to the top of the glass ceiling, and obviously has made it so much easier for women in the future.”

Rep. Elaine Coderre, D-Pawtucket, said the fact that Clinton “stuck to it, did what she needed to do going into the primaries and has had decent showing … kind of takes away some of the myth a woman cannot run for president.”

Clinton’s candidacy also showed the difficulties women face in running for high-profile office, she said. “It’s the kind of thing that if you’re strong you are seen sometimes are being too strong; if you try to temperate it down you are seen as weak, so it’s a dilemma….for any woman in public office, it’s a fine line.”

Violet said female candidates “tend to have higher negatives” and are more easily tagged with labels such as “liberal” or “insider,” even when running against men with similar political views.

Even if falling short, Paiva Weed called Clinton’s run an inspiration. “I certainly think that a woman running for president sets the example that every little girl can have the dream they can be president one day and it’s not simply a dream reserved for little boys.”

“It’s an exciting time,” said Roberts, “to be a woman in elected office.”

cneedham@projo.com