8 Badass TV Women Setting The Stage For Hillary

Hollywood has been an unlikely contributor to the 2016 presidential race. In an interview published Monday with The Des Moines Register, Hillary Clinton said that strong female leaders in television have helped the public accept the idea of a woman in charge of the country. Today's influx of powerful female characters, especially those in Washington, provide context that was not as readily available when Clinton ran for the Democratic bid in 2008.

"A lot of different cultural references, which I find both fascinating and kind of reinforcing, because it does take a leap of faith of imagination for people to envision a woman in the Oval Office, and oftentimes culture, entertainment is ahead of the political system in lots of ways," Clinton said.

Clinton's gender is often the first point on the tongues of critics who do not want to see a woman in the White House. They often condemn her simply for being a woman. "I also carried the very big question which research and polling and just common sense said was out there: Could a woman be president and could a woman be commander in chief? And so I felt like I did have an extra burden," she said.

Some of these fictional female heroines could be helping the Clinton campaign without their creators even intending it. Here are 8 fierce female leaders who graced airwaves after 2008 and might have helped some Americans imagine a woman running their country:

Selina Meyer

Vice President (and later President) Selina Meyer from HBO's Veep is one of the examples Clinton mentioned in her interview. Julia Louis-Dreyfus helped show viewers that a woman in office is not a scary thing.

Olivia Pope

Shonda Rimes is fantastic at bringing strong, well-rounded female leaders to television. Seeing Scandal's Olivia Pope own her own firm and fix everyone's problems probably subliminally told the American people that they wanted female powerhouses running Washington.

Claire Underwood

Underwood is another D.C. power player in House of Cards. As a lobbyist and head of a nonprofit, she shows the men how leadership is done.

Jessica Pearson

Although she resides in New York and not Washington, this Suits character is a shark in the courtroom and helped run a successful coup to take over the law firm. She shows viewers that it's OK to be unapologetically powerful as a woman.

Diane Lockhart

Another lawyer, Diane Lockhart on The Good Wife is a serious strategist. She's a senior partner and even has a photo of herself with Hillary Clinton in her office.

Carrie Mathison

Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison on Homeland is an inspiration to women who want to pursue traditionally masculine professions such as working in the CIA. Characters like her illustrate that women are capable of working in high-stress fields.

Leslie Knope

Although she might not be as intense as some of the other ladies on this list, Knope works just as hard and fights for women's roles in government. Parks and Recreation is a great way to see the potential of female leaders.

Elizabeth McCord

Madam Secretary was another example that Clinton mentioned, and it's not hard to figure out why. The parallels between the two female secretaries of state are obvious. Clinton, along with Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice, was an inspiration for the character of McCord, creators told Politico.

These fantastic TV ladies are even more powerful if they helped show the world that having women in power is a good thing. Maybe another season or two could get a woman in the White House.

Images: Getty Images (7); CBS Entertainment; NBCUniversal