The Long March of Hillary Clinton

As expected, Hillary Clinton is now officially a candidate for the White House. There is not very much we don’t know about this 70-year-old woman, who has lived in the world of politics for about 40 years. The world knows her weaknesses and her strengths.

We know she was the adviser of her husband and that she did her job over decades in a committed and decisive way, every single day; that she survived and overcame the most public-private humiliation of American history; and we also know what she thinks about hundreds of national and international issues. If she wins, it is possible to anticipate that she will have stronger positions than Barack Obama when it comes to foreign policy. No one forgets that, as a senator, Hillary Clinton voted for the American intervention in Iraq.

Her resilience and acumen allow us to predict that she will fight in the next months as if it were the first political combat of her life. Only an amateur would repeat the “inevitable winner” pose with which she reached the primaries of 2008. Six years ago, she came with the power of being “the first woman to become president in the history of the USA,” but she had as rivals a candidate to “the first black president” and another to “the first Hispanic president.” Obama won. That image stays symbolically strong, but it is not enough to get all the votes she needs.

Hillary has a lot in her favor: her husband is the most popular living former president and a money machine — estimates claim that he will get a billion dollars for the campaign. Hillary also has relevant experience. Five years at the head of foreign policy made her an expert of the world, and nine years in the Senate gave her the baggage of party negotiating, which impressed Republicans. Some believe her strong personality will help close difficult agreements. However, she has a lot against her: being “one more Clinton,” not being young and being regarded as too much a “friend of the capital” and too conservative by a considerable segment of Americans. Moreover, she doesn’t know who her rivals will be. And in the coming months, anything can happen. The coronation is far from guaranteed.