I’m still recovering from the expected, anticlimactic ending of the presidential nominee race on June 4th, when America witnessed the final appearance of a trail blazer, Hillary Clinton. Even if she runs again in 2012, she’ll be recovering paths already found. It’ll just be a matter of breaking a previous record and making it to a redrawn finish line.
It’s interesting that the historical significance of what has happened until now in the American election process has descended into a pile of fire fueled by like and dislike. For me, that has nothing to do with what matters in the long run. At best, she was a victim of circumstance, being part of the old and part of the new (a position I know all too well, being someone who made personal choices considered liberal against old standards, but not respectable enough to put me in any leadership-type roles). Indeed, Hillary Clinton’s duel positions about experience and change were mutually exclusive.
Should Obama make it into the White House, his character dictates that he will likely surround himself with people he has chemistry with. This is also part of the new. Even so, keeping Clinton within arm’s reach (as a White House advisor, perhaps?) could be an efficient and effective use of her experience, filtering out her less effective aspects.
And if these next 8 years don’t clean Hillary Clinton’s slate well enough, someone else—possibly another ambitious woman politician—will no doubt be grooming herself in the wings, preparing herself mentally, emotionally, and physically, to slip into those shoes. Let’s hope whoever it is at least brings common sense, if not some experience at dealing with people here and abroad, a good memory, and running shoes.
