One Woman's Ambitions

The combination of sex and crime has audience appeal, but sex and politics is also popular. The situation becomes especially interesting if it’s treated on multiple levels. Particularly when sexual desire in high political office is involved, and generally when it’s about the male-female thing. Power plays and a hint of tragedy are all included.

Callous and as cold as ice; powerful, ambitious and ruthless. A desire for power coupled with burning ambition. These aren’t the friendliest topics associated with Hillary Clinton in recent headlines over the past weeks. The presidential primary campaign has already begun in the United States — fully three and a half years before Barack Obama will vacate the White House. And former secretary of state, senator and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton will become his successor, even if she hasn’t officially said she’s running.

But already the phantom ambitions of this woman have prompted her enemies to begin planning, and those plans are already becoming evident: Should Hillary Clinton actually run, it will make everyone who enjoys wallowing in filth ecstatically happy — and their number is legion. No other nation is as eager to speculate openly about the supposed character flaws of its leaders and then openly gossip about most intimate details of their private lives as the prudish Americans are. And in Hillary’s case, there’s an extra added touch: A female wants to be president. She’s already tried it once and she’s still not intimidated. What her critics really can’t accept: She’s neither stupid nor inexperienced. She’s not an embarrassing figure, like those the opposition Republicans have backed in previous elections. She’s the real thing.

That evokes aggression, both in the United States and other quarters. It’s also been noticed here in Germany that this woman can be as politically unforgiving as her colleagues. As early as her husband’s candidacy in the 1990s, a survey found that “What voters find slick in Bill Clinton, they find ruthless in Hillary.”

A conservative American website interprets newly published documents in the same way. These were records kept by the recently deceased Diane Blair, one of Hillary’s closest confidants, who was also a political advisor to both Clintons. Diane documented what irritated Hillary: Monica Lewinski, whom Blair describes as a “narcissistic looney tune,” as well as “all these whiny women” who allow politicians to exploit them, and the wimps in the White House who weren’t “tough and mean enough.” The papers reveal that the president’s wife argued politics differently in public than she did at home and that she demonstrated unbelievable understanding for her husband’s sexual escapades.

All this is sure to be buzzing around Hillary during her candidacy, mainly because she’s not only a woman; she’s a politician as well. This could lead to the realization of something Barack Obama seems to have missed: At the outset, a candidate’s race or gender may seem significant, but that’s leveled out frighteningly quickly by how presidential they are in action.