Tuesday, November 4, 2008 is the scheduled date for the 56th presidential elections in the United States. President, as well as, vice-president of the United States will be elected in these elections. Many corresponding elections have also been scheduled that will be carried out with the abovementioned presidential elections, such as local elections, gubernatorial elections, elections for the House of Representatives, etc. Census of 2004 has been considered the partial base for the allocation of votes to each state in the 2008 presidential elections. Subsequently, inauguration of new president and vice president has been scheduled in the month of January 2009. In midst of high-budget and long political campaigns, one of the hottest questions that are rolling down is the chances of the first female president in the political history of the United States. This paper will analyze and discuss different opinions, facts, and perspectives of society that are in favor or against the female presidency in the country.
One of the most discussed candidates for the presidential elections of 2008 has been the wife of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton. In November 2003, her run for presidential elections was announced by this Democratic senator from New York. Until the year 2007, no major party had ever nominated a female as a presidential candidate. However, media, bloggers, and American society came into controversy, when national image of Hillary Clinton established her as a candidacy for the presidential elections in 2008. Since then, different magazines, surveys, discussions, and interviews have been carried out, in order to discuss and analyze the position of Hillary Clinton as a presidential candidacy. Until now, opinions seem to be divided and perplexed in terms of deciding whether she can become the first president of the United States or not.
Nowadays, every platform related to the presidential elections is discussing the topic of Democratic Senator from New York over her chances of becoming a loser or the vice versa, the first female president of the United States. A number of experts have indicated the chances of dragging down of Democratic Party in the upcoming elections in the year 2008, and the Republican Party will be sitting in the White House. Perhaps, no political question or opinion is has been sound enough to make a final decision, and therefore, this discussion is continuous and confusing in some sense. Presently, provision of a definite answer to this question is earlier and no one knows the result of these elections. Moreover, evaluation of Hillary by the U.S. voters is an unknown factor that may bring any decision in the country. However, a number of factors may affect, and are affecting the image of Hillary Clinton, which are discussed in this paper.
Hillary has been holding a considerable place in these elections due to her relation with the former president, Bill Clinton, but still, various reports have shown that her political potential and abilities have been underestimated due to her gender. Presently, American society is very confused in deciding whether the history can be changed by the Senator Hillary Clinton as the first female President of the United States, or her gender will drag her down to the losers’ arena. Worldwide, six females are serving as presidents, four females are providing their capabilities as prime ministers, and until now, the United States has not seen any female president in the White House. (Carroll, pp. 33-36) First female presidency can be a debatable discussion, and is being discussed at almost every level in different states of the country. Currently, the U.S. Senate has fourteen females, the House of Representatives has fifty-nine, and eight females are governing different states of the country. Will Hillary Clinton be the first one to serve the country while sitting in the White House, is a big question for the American society. There are speculations that Hillary Clinton may become the first female President of the United States; however, one of the first hindrances in her path is her gender that has not been accepted by the American politics and society yet.
It has been believed by some of the observers and experts that her gender will not let Hillary win the presidential elections in the year 2008. According to a number of surveys and polls, female president is not something that is acceptable to the American people at large. In the year 1920, the U.S. Government gave the right of voting to the women; (Estrich, pp. 45-48) however, every political level underestimated its capabilities. According to the political history of the United States, women have not been encouraged to participate, and especially, make decisions at the top level. Although American society is very liberal in terms of women, as compared with the other nations of the globe, still, women have not been accepted in terms of their leadership. One of the reasons of such discrimination is that American society is still a male-dominant society, and therefore, leadership of a woman is not being encouraged. Females constitute only fifteen and fourteen percent of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the United States respectively. Overt prejudice is one of the foremost obstacles that are confronted by the female politicians in the country, and that is being confronted by Clinton. Presidency of the United States is considered one of the most powerful and responsible job in the globe, and therefore, females are not considered tough enough to handle this hectic job, which is one of the reasons that Hillary is losing against Obama.
In midst of such confrontation at political level, she is not just a New York Senator; she is not the wife of Bill Clinton, or a candidate of 2008 presidential election, but she is just a suburban woman from one of the Northeastern villages of the United States. She likes to wear dresses like a normal woman and laugh out with her family. If the paper looks into her personal life that is very much connected to the debatable topic, her gender, it has been observed that she served as a First Lady of the United States from the year 1993 to 2001, which has affected her personal life at a greater extent. As earlier mentioned in the paper, she is natively from Illinois, and has been representing her Wellesley College at a number of debates and commencement exercises. In the year 1973, she graduated from Yale Law School as a lawyer. In the subsequent year, Arkansas was her destination that connected her with the Congress as a legal counsel. A year later, former U.S President Bill Clinton married her. According to the surveys, magazines, and polls from the year 1988 to 1992, she has been considered one of the most influential female personalities in the United States, especially due to her law practice. (Estrich, pp. 20-24) Welfare of children has been one of the major areas that have been focused primarily by this suburban woman. Still, American society is not ready for a female President. One of the major reasons is that the American people are not much experienced in terms of working with a female leader, and therefore, the public and especially, media is quite perplexed in accepting a female candidate for the presidential elections in the year 2008.
Still, after a long period of campaigns from Hillary Clinton, American society is still perplexed about accepting a female president for its country. Some of the surveys have indicated that Hillary do have the chances to win this election; however, the anti-Clinton campaigns are trying their best to take advantage of her gender, which is still a matter of resistance for the American society.
Works Cited
Susan J. Carroll. (2006). Gender and Elections. Cambridge University Press.
Susan Estrich. (2005). the Case for Hillary Clinton. Regan Books.
Nichola D. Gutgold. (2006). Paving the Way for Madam President. Lexington Books.