In the first serious bid by a female for the presidency, Hillary Rodham Clinton is making great progress toward becoming the next leader of the United States. Her victory is being trumpeted as inevitable; even conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh claims that there is an 80 percent chance she will be the next president. But over the past month, her campaign has hit some bumps in the road, and she has experienced the bitter taste of the possibility that she just might lose. But does she really have anything to worry about?
Clinton’s entire political career has been one stroke after another to gain more power. She is the wife of a skilled politician who governed over a peaceful and prosperous decade, living in the White House for eight years. She then moved from Arkansas to upstate New York, establishing residency status and becoming one of New York’s senators. Now that she has secured an ideal political springboard, she can use her liberal “home state,” one with 36 electoral votes, to help her enter the White House yet again.
But as her campaign begins to heat up, it is becoming more and more obvious that she does not have the political skill of her husband. Bill Clinton’s smooth character and smart decision-making allowed him to bring people together, both Republicans and Democrats, passing both tax hikes and conservative welfare reform. Hillary, however, is not and will not be able to do this. Her image is extremely liberal and polarizing, due in no small part to her failed healthcare plan of the early 1990s (which even Bill refused to support). When going into an election, it is not good to have 47 percent of poll respondents saying that they will not vote for you.
To further rub salt into the wound, Clinton’s integrity was challenged at the second-to-last Democratic debate, when Tim Russert began to grill her on the issue of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Her responses were as follows:
“I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize what Gov. Spitzer is trying to do.”
“No, I didn’t [say that it made sense].”
“It does make sense. What is the Governor supposed to do?”
“Do I think this is the best thing for any governor to do? No.”
These responses were all within minutes of each other, and all to simple “yes or no” question. These kinds of answers are further proof that Clinton says what she believes her audience wants to hear. In 2003, she voted for military action in Iraq; now, she is backpedaling on this vote and claiming that it is Bush’s fault for “misinterpreting” this authorization. She does not know how to pay for her healthcare plan. Her stances on Social Security and abortion are equally confusing.
The way she has been preparing her image is just as bewildering. All jokes aside, she is trying to be a man, an equal in their world. People with her mentality see themselves at a massive disadvantage, and there are two ways to overcome it: act like a man or act like a victim. Somehow, she has successfully managed to do both. On one hand, she is saying she is “one of the boys”. But on the other hand, she makes a laundry list of references (no pun intended) to things like cleaning, cooking and “vacuuming the White House.” Just like her stances, it all depends on what audience she is speaking to.
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal compared Clinton to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom, who worked with Ronald Reagan to end the Cold War. She was (and still is) a tough woman, but not in Clinton’s sense. She is a “lady,” allowing her feminism to show through but not allowing it to define who she is. Clinton doesn’t seem to know how to handle her gender as an issue.
But what does all this mean for her future? How will any of this affect her campaign next year? The voting booths open in New Hampshire on Jan. 8, 2008, a mere seven weeks away, and she continues to lead in polls there and nationally. The final word is that she will win the primary. None of these discrepancies will have any effect on her ability to win the Democratic nomination. Even though she is slipping in Iowa, she can afford to lose it; she has New York and California for sure, and that should give her enough momentum to win. Furthermore, those who have already decided to vote for her are not going to be swayed by a few foolish mistakes.
These mistakes, however, will come back to haunt her after the primaries. She can hide behind the ineptitude of her Democratic rivals, but not behind a strong-willed Republican like Rudy Giuliani. And bar any crazy unforeseen events, a Republican victory next November is completely plausible. All a Republican has to do is make the campaign about immigration and taxes, which will expose not only the fact that she cannot come up with an honest response, but also that she disagrees with the vast majority of Americans. Keep your eyes peeled for one fascinating, roller-coaster election.
Brett Kostrzewski is a freshman in Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology.
