February 1, 2007
Is America Ready For A Woman President? And, If So, Is Hillary Clinton Going To Be Our Choice?
Latvia has a woman president. Germany has a woman as chancellor. Finland’s president is a woman. Chile and Liberia also have women as presidents.
Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of Great Britain and Golda Meir ran Israel as did Indira Gandhi in India and Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan.
There are many other examples today and in the recent past except in the United States. Certainly we are as modern in our thinking as Latvia or Chile or Liberia.
While there are probably pockets of people in certain parts of the United States that would never vote for a woman for president, I would have to say that the country is ready for a woman president. The number of women in politics from Nancy Pelosi down to the local level is increasing all the time so it seems only a matter of time before America’s voters send a woman to the White House.
Senator Hillary Clinton has already lived in the White House for eight years, and now would like to go back for another eight years this time as our president.
No one seems to argue about her abilities or intelligence or desire to be president. No one doubts she has the necessary skills to perform the job. She has the political background and now the legislative background to handle the nation’s top political job. She has a husband who is one of the top political strategists in the country not to mention a popular former president. Her resume is nearly perfect and her speaking skills are good.
And yet there seems to be something about her that bothers a large part of the general voting population who say they would never vote for her under any circumstances.
And, there also some Democratic voters who have their doubts and they say they won’t vote for the senator from New York.
Possibly some of these feelings could be because she is a woman as some voters aren’t yet ready to vote for a woman for president.
But others see her as too programmed and pragmatic in her actions and decisions. Some see her as devoid of back-slapping abilities and not an entertaining type politician. Unlike her husband who seems like the type person you would like to have a beer and a hamburger with and shoot the breeze she seems the exact opposite.
In other words, to some, she seems not to be an entertaining type of politician like her husband.
Americans like to be entertained by their politicians like Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, our current president is an exception as was Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon.
Senator Clinton seems to be preaching to the choir. Often she sounds as if everyone is on the same page as her. This is not the case with many potential American voters.
She is not in favor with the far left of her party because of her vote on the Iraq War and her voice is not deemed strident enough as she has not called for an immediate troop withdrawal.
Business types in her party may feel she is not as favorable to business interests as was her husband who was one of the most pro-business Democratic presidents the country has ever had.
She will need to win over the independent voter if she gets the Democratic nomination for president next year. She might seem somewhat distant to this group of voters with no time for their problems and concerns.
To the family values voter her days in the White House during the impeachment will be brought up over and over again.
Her husband will figure in the equation when some voters go to the polls. Do we want Bill Clinton back in the White House as the first husband?
Hillary Clinton appears to some to be the smart and hard-working school class president. She is admired and respected but she doesn’t win our hearts and trust.
To become president of the United States the New York Senator will have to convince many voters that she has the compassion and heart to reach out to her fellow Americans.
Even for lifelong Democrats there seems to be something missing in her character that troubles them in deciding to warm up to her as a presidential candidate. It is an intangible feeling that is hard to put into words but there seems to be something missing that needs to be found for her to connect to voters if she is to become our first woman president.
She doesn’t have the charisma of her husband – very few people do – but she needs to show that she is a real person with real concerns and not appear so programmed and scripted.
If she can do this she has a good shot at living in the White House again – this time as our president.
If not, America, unlike Latvia, Liberia, Chile and Germany and many other countries, will have to wait another four years for another woman to run and win.
In 2008 if Senator Clinton doesn’t win it won’t be because she is a woman. The American voter has joined the 21st century and is looking beyond whether the candidate is a man or woman. The 2008 voter is looking for a president who won’t polarize the country and who has answers to war and peace and keeping the economy stable and growing.
The good news is we have moved on in our attitudes about a candidates’ sex, color or religion. Senator Clinton is now on a level playing field with all the other candidates and what counts are her views and more important-her personality.
Robert J. Guttman
Founder and Director, CPFR Click here to return to the Thinking About It archive.
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