Recently former Secretary of State and former First Lady Hillary Clinton officially announced her candidacy for Democratic president in 2016. In her announcement video, Clinton attempts to capture different stories in America “getting ready” for new things, even including the portrayal of a gay couple walking down the street to show a sense of progress in America. Overall, Clinton’s announcement for her presidential campaign marked her re-introduction to Americans, hoping to appeal to voters by spanning through matters that affect many people, particularly those who are considered middle class.
The Campanil knows the impact of Clinton running for president of the United States. If Clinton were to win, she would be the first female president of the United States, symbolizing and creating a turning point for other women to run for office in the future.
In an op-ed from The Guardian, Clinton is described as a “second wave feminist to the bone.” This proves problematic for us because of second wave feminism’s notoriety for focusing mainly on heterosexual, middle-class white women. Because of this, we feel Clinton’s feminism and politics do not include marginalized populations, such as women (or people) of color and the LGBTQ community. Although Clinton attempts to represent those groups in her campaign video, we felt that it was only a strategy to have people vote for her, or at least consider her as an option.
The Campanil also found it interesting that Clinton’s campaign strategy was similar to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s. Warren’s strategy when she was running for Senator in 2013 focused on how “the system is rigged” to favor the rich. Clinton’s statement “the deck is stacked” echoes Warren’s words, and it did not look coincidental to us.
Clinton has praised Warren as a “progressive champion,” yet there is still an issue of animosity and competition for and between women in politics, something that society has condoned since women first started getting into politics.
The Campanil also knows that Clinton holds moderate views in her politics, as well as questionable policies and ideas during her time as Secretary of State and U.S. Senator. The Campanil questions Clinton’s trustworthiness as a politician, especially if she were elected as President. At the same time, The Campanil wondered about whether it is better to have Clinton or a Republican candidate, such as Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio or Rand Paul, as president. We see the different ways either option could go, and all options look questionable.
We have also noticed that people tend to vote or register to do so when candidates are relatable and see something symbolic in their campaign, just as many people of color did when President Barack Obama ran for office. Because of what Clinton running represents, we see the potential in her winning the election because of the possible relatability as not only a candidate, but as a wife and mother will symbolically represent. The Campanil knows that it takes less time to vote than to read about policies that could be unfair or unreasonable or of her questionable past as Secretary of State and U.S. Senator.
The Campanil recognizes our rights and privilege as citizens in voting in elections, for policies and politicians. At the same time, we cannot excuse what could potentially happen if Clinton or any of the candidates are elected as President. While voting (or not voting), we have to consider not just what these politicians represent, but also what they have done and plan to do in office, especially for issues that will better all communities instead of just singling one or two.
