The Democrats in the United States will have a lot to choose from in the presidential elections in 2008. Three of the candidates who have entered the race represent minorities. An African-American (Senator Barack Obama), a Latino (New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson), and a woman (Senator Hillary Clinton) are the presidential ingredients in this country of freedom with conservative traditions.
Ecuadorians, wherever we find ourselves, believe in the common good and in helping our neighbor. Besides, we are conscious that, despite having a Latino in the primaries, we are leaning toward Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, former First Lady, who was the “power behind the cameras,” according to more than one source. Described as an “Ice Queen,” this quality, which could be damaging for any politician, has made her stronger and more interesting.
If she is elected president, Hillary Rodham Clinton says that having her husband, ex-president Bill Clinton, by her side would be “a huge advantage and a great support. He knows the job, and was successful at it.” But she adds that she will be the one to make the decisions, just as she told ABC television.
For his part, Bill Clinton has said that he will play “a supporting role” in his wife’s campaign. “I will do whatever they ask me to do,” he said during the presentation of a book written by Terry McAuliffe, director of Senator Clinton’s presidential campaign. “She has the best combination of mind and heart, the ability to guide and to learn, to be loyal to her convictions and to reach honorable agreements with people who think differently from her, more than any other person I’ve known,” in addition to her capacity for forgiveness, which he understands from personal experience.
The important thing is that on this difficult diplomatic and political path, Senator Rodham Clinton is no amateur. She has been able to gain admiration and love because of the humanitarian work she has done throughout her career in addition to the ironclad support she has shown the working classes and minorities in general.
Since she announced her official candidacy for the Democratic nomination to the presidency in 2008, on several occasions Senator Clinton has been asked to provide details about the role her husband would play if she were elected. When he became president 15 years ago, Bill Clinton described his wife as a political ally, and said the campaign slogan should have been “Two for the price of one.”
When she was asked if the slogan applied to her candidacy, the former First Lady responded, “I wouldn’t put it that way exactly.” She did indicate that she would depend on “his advice and his experience, not only here in this country where he had excellent results in important areas as President, but also in what he knows about current world development issues.”
The senator will travel to New Hampshire on March 10 to participate in a fundraising event for the state Democratic Party. Meanwhile support is solidifying, including among Ecuadorians, who see in her as an ally for family unification when immigration policy keeps damaging families who have had to resort to residing the country without documents in order to fight poverty and hunger.
She will have to do much more to assure her victory, but, given her presentation in the political panorama, it would be no surprise if Hillary Rodham Clinton were the first female president of the United States of America.
