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The reigning Miss America is not short of ambition.

Teresa Scanlan, 18, is determined to serve in the Oval Office ... and the Supreme Court. And she's not afraid to voice her opinion about how she thinks female politicians are often portrayed in the media.

“I think it’s a good combination to (be) President for four to eight years, and then go to the judicial side for the rest of my career until the day I die," she told FOX & Friends on Thursday.

The poised and articulate beauty queen is not deterred by the often sleazy aspects of running for public office.

“I think that’s all the more reason to want to be involved, to want to be a part of it,” Scanlan explained. “To get in there, make a difference and make change happen–that’s always been my goal all along. I’ve seen that more and more this year. I constantly get comments when I talk about my plans. ‘Why do you want to get involved with that? You’re too good for that–stay out of (politics), don’t get involved in that mess.’ That shows me all the more why I should be involved.”

Scanlan also takes issue with Newsweek’s depiction of female politicians, specifically their recent cover of GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann.

“I absolutely think it’s (sexist),” declared Scanlan. “Not because there’s a difference of political opinions there, but because Newsweek has had other candidates that they haven’t agreed with–they’ve had Rush Limbaugh on the cover, they had former candidates Huckabee and McCain on their covers–and whenever they have a male on their cover–even if they don’t agree with them, as far as policy goes–they portray them in a serious light, they take them seriously and they portray them in a positive light. Then, as we saw two years ago with the Sarah Palin cover in her running shorts, and now with Michele Bachmann. They simply try to degrade women and make fun of them and portray them in a negative light–and I think that shows extreme sexism.”

The former Miss Nebraska feels that her career in pageants as prepared her for the rigors of public life.

“Many people don’t know that there’s four points on my crown for a reason–they stand for four things: Style, success, scholarship and service. Those are the four fundamentals of the Miss America organization–that’s what we’re based on," she said. "But many people don’t understand that we are all about those ideals to empower young women to promote their educational and career goals. Instead, just because we are women and choose to portray ourselves in a positive way, they look down on us for that.”

Despite being the youngest Miss America since Bette Cooper in 1937, Scanian is ready to get down to brass tacks, “I’m an official adult now, I can sign all my contracts on my own–it’s great!”