From First Lady to First Female President?

By: Alyssa Mazzacco
Posted In: News

She was once just a candidate’s wife; then became the first lady of the United States and now she’s senator of New York in her own right. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a woman who’s tough, smart, ambitious, and a force to be reckoned with. Clinton is one of America’s most prominent and controversial people in politics today.

Now with the 2004 election barely history, according to USA TODAY, Clinton is the early nominee favorite among Democrats for 2008. According to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll, 40 percent of Democrats favor Clinton as the Democratic nominee, exceeding last year’s approval rating of 25 percent for Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Dr. Mary Sokolowski, director of community and government relations at Salve Regina University, believes Clinton could run a good campaign.

But, Sokolowski added, “It would be an ugly match. She would be eviscerated by the media for being too liberal.”

Many people don’t like Clinton because of their dislike for her husband and their unconventional marriage, Sokolowski continued. “With Hillary Clinton there’s very little middle ground. The people who like her, really like her; but the people who hate her, really hate her.”

Sokolowski, who has no problem declaring her party affiliation, considers herself a “yellow dog” Democrat, which means she’s a Democrat through and through.

“If the Democrats ran a golden retriever as a candidate, I’d vote for the dog before I voted Republican,” Sokolowski said.

However, that’s not the only reason Sokolowski would vote for Clinton. Sokolowski worked with Clinton and her staff to enhance funding for research at state universities in New York and found Clinton to be “incredibly smart.”

She further acknowledged Clinton’s ability to create solutions.

“She’s not a politician to say what people want to hear,” Sokolowski said. “She really gets things done.”

According to Sister Rosamond Ethier, head of the politics department at Salve Regina University, the 2006 midterm elections will be a good pulse for the 2008 elections.

Clinton winning the ’08 election will depend greatly on the state of the economy, whether Osama Bin Laden is found and whether or not Americans are tired of Republican policy and ready for change.

“If you look back in history, you can find after a long stretch of conservative policy people move towards more of a progressive feel,” said Sister Ethier. As far as running a female candidate, Sister Ethier compared Clinton’s female candidacy to President John F. Kennedy’s Catholic candidacy.

“Like JFK, you have to have the right candidate at the right time to break through these issues,” she said.

Sister Ethier pointed out that another factor that may play a role in Clinton’s success is Condoleeza Rice’s success as secretary of state. If Rice performs well at such a high ranking position, that may alleviate some concerns of having a woman president.

Seth Magaziner, a junior at Brown University studying early American history, is president of College Democrats of Rhode Island and of Brown Democrats.

“Hillary is fantastic,” Magaziner said. “She’s smart and level headed, more so than people give her credit for. I think she’d be a great president.”

However, he believes getting her elected may be difficult.

“The right wing has done a good job smearing her name. The right wing portrays her as power hungry; but as a woman, unfortunately they get that stereotype anyways.”

At 21 years old and with a progressive mindset, Magaziner would like to think electing a woman in this day and age would be possible.

Professor Peter Liotta, executive director of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University, offers another perspective on the issue and feels the first step Americans as a whole need to take is discontinuing the labels of Democrats and Republicans. Americans are greatly divided right now and need to move in the direction of working together for the common good.

“Whether or not a male or female president is elected shouldn’t even be an issue,” said Liotta. “If we were in another country, it wouldn’t even be relevant.”

Whether or not Clinton is a competent politician is hardly a question. Whether or not Clinton has the intelligence and drive to become president can’t be argued.

The only question that can really be asked is, is America ready for Hillary Clinton, first female president?