Forty-four men have been elected President in the nation’s 234-year history. That’s a very small club of leaders that has represented hundreds of millions of Americans and many generations since the American Revolution. Women didn’t even achieve voting rights until Aug. 18, 1920, when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was finally ratified. The struggle for women’s suffrage began in the late 1700s as “feminist” Abigail Adams, the wife of America’s second President John Adams, urged him to remember women as he labored to secure the liberties of our new country in its early development.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a political rock star, are both women who draw national attention and generate emotion on both sides of the political spectrum — that’s why they’ll be contenders for president in 2012.
Americans have tried the Barack Obama experiment — the election of a liberal, minority president with no real-world experience and a thin resume — and found it wanting. The Obama “hope and change” magic of 2008 is nearly exhausted, both nationally and internationally. In politics, it’s very difficult to recapture the same “magic” once the American voter has a shaken faith, especially where pocketbook issues are concerned. With about 10 percent unemployment, a stagnant economy and turmoil in the world, voters have about had it with the Obama/Pelosi/Reid left-side agenda. When the National Enquirer and other grocery-checkout trash magazines start printing crazy Obama stories, it shows the glow of invincibility has faded and can’t be easily reignited.
The 2010 election told us where the nation is politically — on the right side of center — and if congressional Republicans are smart and not overzealous, Mr. Obama’s last two years in office will fall short of his plans to transform America into a left-of-center country.
So the presidential candidate door will be open next year for the national scene’s two most powerful women — Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Sarah Palin. Even though these two are definitely not my choice for the 2012 slate, history and national circumstances are likely to propel them to their party’s nominations.
Given the lust (sorry!) of her husband, Bill, for national attention, Hillary Clinton will continue to position herself as a logical substitute for Obama’s failing image and as the Democrats’ only 2012 hope. She has bona fides in a big electoral state — New York — and has traipsed around the globe as a good soldier in contrast to Obama’s weakening popularity in the global community, showing that even the Obama international allure has limits. She is of an acceptable age (mid-60s) for the presidency and is experienced enough (Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, former first lady). She’s already made one presidential run, and organized labor and minorities love her. She has wide political connections and can raise the necessary money, too.
Sarah Palin, on the other hand, has been a governor for two years, a prolific fundraiser, a darling of the Tea Party movement and proven herself deft at keeping her name and profile at the center of national attention by virtue of her good looks, brash style and everywoman resistance to sophistication. She seems to think the phrase “darn right” and leaving the “g’s” off the end of her verbs is somehow endearing to the average voter. And it is — to some.
Politics and elections are about timing and opportunity. While some have speculated that a Hilary campaign splits the minority vote, and a Palin campaign doesn’t interest the candidate because she’s already making millions, those arguments miss the mark. They discount the natural human urge for power among the American political class. When you already have millions of dollars in the bank, making a few million more doesn’t really matter. When you’ve been close to power, the natural tendency is to think, “why not me?” for the top job.
A broad range of Republican candidates with that “why not me?” mentality will comprise the 2012 Republican field, but only a Palin candidacy has the populist attraction. Obama will eventually realize that his magic is gone, so he’ll push hard for the next two years to leave a left-wing mark on his historic presidency, but will retire as an international figure, where he’s most comfortable, thereby leaving the door open for a Clinton resurgence.
Although it would be fun to have 2 women running against each other for the presidency, thereby guaranteeing one for the top job, Palin doesn't have a chance in hell. That leaves us with the right person for the job -- Hillary!
It would be fun but it won't happen. On the Republican side, they know they could have had control of the Senate come January if not for the "fringe" candidates supported by the Tea Party. Palin can't win nationwide as she has spent more time becoming a "celebrity" instead of buckling down and doing the work to be a serious contender.
Hillary is unfortunately party first. If Obama is running again, she won't take up the spoiler role that Ted Kennedy played against Carter in 1980.
Bottom line, we the people will be once again denied our best and brightest as POTUS.