Over the past several weeks I have spoken to friends and participated in political forums that have questioned whether or not America is ready for Hillary Clinton to become President. In spite of arguments that America is not ready for a female President or that Hillary has demonstrated that she is not fit to wield power, she remains the Democratic front runner ahead of candidates with more experience. I decided to take a look into this.
Recognition
Hillary Clinton is a household word. She has been in the public eye since 1978 when her husband Bill was elected as Governor of Arkansas, and has had national press coverage for more than 15 years now. You may or may not know anything about her as a person or her position on the issues, but if someone mentions “Hillary” you instantly recognize who is being discussed, regardless of context. This same level of recognition worked for Arnold Schwazenegger when he defeated several candidates with considerably more political experience in California’s 2003 gubernatorial recall election. In today’s Presidential race, most candidates are having to work to get their name out into the public eye before voicing their stance on the issues. Hillary has an advantage here because America already knows her.
Credentials
Hillary has the credentials and experience to hold the office. She holds an Ivy League law degree and has experience as both an attorney and politician. Early in her career she worked as an attorney for a prominent Arkansas law firm, eventually becoming the its first female partner. While her husband Bill was president Hillary played a central role in health care reform.
In 2000 her husband’s second term in the White House was ending and Hillary was elected to the New York Senate. At the time she was accused of being a carpetbagger since neither of the Clintons had any previous affiliation with New York. She apparently has done well in the office because she retained the seat in the 2006 Senatorial election.
Change
Many Americans feel that President Bush has not done a good job as President. The war in Iraq has gone on much longer than anticipated with no clear end in sight, the President has incrementally expanded the government’s surveillance abilities under the guise of homeland security and he has garnered criticism for his use of signing statements. Today there is a public outcry for change. For the past months even the Republican candidates have maintained some distance from President Bush. To be fair, Bill Clinton’s administration suffered at least as much criticism as President Bush, if not more. America is ready for, in fact expecting change. Voting in the first female President in American history would send a clear message that change is needed in the Oval office. President Bush’s popularity has been on a long downward slide for the past few years, America might be ready to send this message.
Two for the Price of One
If Hillary is elected as President, her husband will come along for the ride. In 1992 when Bill Clinton was nominated as the Democratic candidate he made the statement that were he elected America would receive “two for the price of one,” indicating that Hillary would have a role in his administration. This proved true, as Hillary was the first First Lady in history to have an office in the West Wing, where the Presidents advisers and staff are. It is more common for the First Lady to office in the East Wing, along side the White House Social Secretary and correspondence staff. Hillary’s campaign has been silent on this issue, other than to say that Bill would serve as a global ambassador for America. If Hillary is elected as President it is hard to imagine that Bill would merely be a passenger.
This tactic has worked once before. Miriam Ferguson was elected as the first female Governor of Texas in 1294. Her husband James had previously held the office, but was impeached and removed from office during his second term. When Miriam ran for the office she claimed that Texas would get two governors for the price of one. The slogan worked and she was twice elected to the office.
Popularity
Hillary is proving to be quite a strong candidate for the office. At the time of this writing she is the clear front runner of all of the candidates, Democratic or Republican, both in terms of popularity and amount of funds raised. In fact, according to a CNN poll Clinton and other Democratic hopeful Obama together are more popular than all of the Rebuplican candidates combined. Whether its in spite of, or because of, the fact that she’s a woman, America likes Hillary and is saying so in the polls and with their dollars.
The Presidential election is still more than a year away, so anything can happen at this point. Hillary is a strong Presidential candidate and could very likely be voted the first female President of the United States of America. By looking at the polls and funds raised, America is clearly supporting a female candidate, and the critics of her use of power are lost among the supporters. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out closer to the election when a larger percentage of our population will be participating in the political process.
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