If Democrats Want A Female President, They Have to Give Up On Hillary Clinton

With so much going on in the world today, it must be hard to keep from thinking about the year 2020. Specifically, who’s going to run for President of the United States of America. After nearly a year of lamenting Donald J. Trump’s election and months of demanding that the man must be impeached for one reason or another, it seems that Democrats’ opine must take to a new, less fruitless endeavor: how to unseat Trump in 2020.

For myself, and I think probably quite a few people, this is not actually at the forefront of our minds, being that it is still only 2017. Yet our 45th President took to Twitter recently to address rumors of an eminent run from an old opponent, per his usual eloquence:

I was recently asked if Crooked Hillary Clinton is going to run in 2020? My answer was, "I hope so!"

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2017

Hillary Clinton has always been low-hanging fruit for the current POTUS, a surefire bet to rally his base. She is among his favorites of red herrings (among the likes of CNN, former President Barack Obama, and Senator John McCain, to name a few) to disparage in the wake of more pressing current events, all easily much more deserving of our Commander in Chief’s attention (i.e. Puerto Rico, California wildfires, etc). So, one would think to maybe take such a statement with a grain of salt, or even to disregard it as without merit.

Yet his statement is not entirely baseless. The cry for a female President amongst Democrat circles persists, and not just a female President, but THE female President: Hillary Rodham Clinton.

With the publication of her book “What Happened?” it seems as if some within the liberal circle see Clinton posing herself to remain in the public spotlight and domain. Their optimism for her candidacy is no doubt linked to the feeling of sexism she endured in the last campaign, proceeded by a seemingly cruel and unjust defeat, per a technicality, at its end.

On paper, Hillary Clinton was certainly a worthy candidate with far greater qualifications than that of her opponent’s. No matter what side of the aisle one’s politics are rooted in, there must be some respect or acknowledgment of the lifelong public service that Clinton had dedicated herself to. Still the name “Hillary Clinton” drags with it much ire and a real deeply rooted toxicity.

Since the era of Bill Clinton’s presidency, there has been an air of dislike for the former Secretary of State, New York Senator, and our 42nd FLOTUS. As much as her defendants will say that she should not be hinged to the reputation of her husband, it would be naive to think that she did not bear weight in his career or was less than complicit in some of his controversies. Even without her ties to her husband, Clinton has embarked on enough controversies of her own. From her vote on the war in Iraq, to her “misremembering” of recorded events in Bosnia, to Benghazi, and to most recently, the DNC’s treatment of her primary opponent, Bernie Sanders (which, again, would be naive to believe that she was anything less than complicit in), Hillary Clinton is a candidate whose name carries ire and toxicity for a reason. Clinton became the second most unpopular presidential candidate in U.S. History. She was second only to the man she lost to.

While the musings in “What Happened?” might inspire some to believe that Clinton has learned from her mistakes and would be able to run a third successful campaign, one has to acknowledge the skepticism that follows such a polarizing political figure in the midst of these divisive times of our nation.

If the Democrats are determined to place a woman at the White House’s helm in 2020, there are a handful of viable candidates available. Senator Elizabeth Warren (CT), once a staunch opponent of Clinton’s and former Republican, is likely the most well-known and popular amongst these women. Lesser known may include Representative Tulsi Gabbard (HI), a former Iraq veteran, Senator Kamala Harris (CA), California’s former Attorney General and a progressive platformed politician (not unlike Bernie Sanders), and even a splinter of hope lies in Caroline Kennedy, former ambassador to Japan in the Obama Administration and the only daughter of President John F. Kennedy.

It may be difficult to believe that our nation could unite under the flag of either of the two big parties right now, but certainly it will not do so under the flag of Hillary Rodham Clinton. If progress in our nation means a female president to you, then progress should also include moving in a new direction, with a new face to lead this movement. Insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.

If the only road to a female president to you means continuing to push Candidate Clinton presidential race after presidential race, consider that eventually you will probably indeed get a female president: President Sarah Louise Palin.