Hillary Clinton’s announcement on Sunday solidifying her decision to run for president in 2016 was eye opening, but not surprising.
Her pre-campaigning trail during the past couple of years foreshadowed her announcement via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Clinton has put herself in the spotlight to initiate change; her campaign will put a large, significant crack in the glass ceiling, but even though she is the only woman running so far, she probably won’t win the race for presidency.
Young, uninformed voters will probably vote for Clinton only because she is a woman and, along with current President Barack Obama, a face for continuing reform and social rights shifts in U.S. politics.
But the fact that she is a woman might also raise some concerns among voters. Some voters feel that female stereotypes will hinder her abilities as president.
“I see her making irrational decisions based on emotions,” senior healthcare administration major Kimberly De La Cruz said. “It’s just woman nature; I feel like women get into their feelings when it comes to decision making.”
Furthermore, Clinton’s choice to stay married with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, who allegedly cheated on the first lady with a White House employee, has cast a dark cloud among voters.
Anti-Hillary feminist groups are bound to spring up throughout the election season. The fact that Hillary Clinton stayed with Bill Clinton may look like she condones misogyny, and she may appear weak as a result.
Although it is still early in the campaign race, Clinton has failed to share her political agenda with potential voters. Her website is clean and easy to read, but lacks information on what policies and goals she is running behind.
“She may talk about broad issues on her road tour to meet voters, but she hasn’t said much to a national audience other than her campaign video — which talked about the need to stand up for ‘everyday Americans,’” David Nather wrote in an article for Politico.
“[It is] an indication that she’ll likely give more of a nod to Elizabeth Warren-style populism than she has in the past.”
Most Americans don’t know Clinton’s story. This fact makes her current road trip across the U.S. to “start to build a nation-wide grassroots organization” and to “[engage] directly with voters” feel like an eager attempt to familiarize herself to voters. Clinton is a household name thanks to Bill Clinton.
But Americans will not be voting for both Clintons in 2016 – they’ll just get Hillary. And other than serving as the First Lady alongside her husband, serving eight years in the Senate and four years leading the State Department, we don’t know who she is.
Historically, Americans vote for someone who is appealing, someone whom they would want to hang out with.
“Democrats close to Clinton have started to call her the most unknown famous person in the world,” according to CNN online Sunday. “Their argument is that people know of Clinton — she has near 100 [percent] name recognition in most polls — but they don’t know her story.”
It will be interesting to watch what Clinton will do to try and counter all of the negatives, but it won’t be enough to win.