There is a theory about the upcoming presidential election and I have strong, mixed emotions about it.  The theory says that the Democrats are basically going to concede the 2004 election and let George W. have four more years in the White House so that Hillary can run in 2008 and have a good shot at winning. 

For the record, I would vote for Hillary.  I would vote for almost any woman who ran for president (yes, even if she was running as a Republican) for the simple fact that I believe we need to set the precedent of getting a woman in the White House.  Elect a woman president and then we�ll argue about the politics of the thing.  We are long past due for female leadership in this country, beyond governorship, beyond Congress, beyond the cabinet.  Currently, women hold 13.6% of the seats in Congress.  This is absurd.  We need more women in the political pipeline and we need to get a woman in the White House.  So, yes, I�d vote for almost any woman (and I say �almost� simply to protect myself in the event a female version of Al Sharpton or Ross Perot makes an appearance).

On the other hand, I don�t think paving the way for Hillary in 2008 is necessarily the best thing for the country over the next four years.  True, Hillary won�t have much of a chance against a sitting (male) Democratic president in 2008.  Whether she�d be up for the challenge in 2012 is debatable.  True, it might be another eight or twelve years before another woman comes along who will have the political background and clout to take on the big boys.  But while my feminist nature is strongly in favor of getting a woman in the White House as soon as possible, my gut instinct says we need to get Bush out now and worry about setting precedents when the political climate isn�t so dire.

Normally, I�m a long-term thinker.  Do what you have to do today in order to protect the future.  In this case, I can�t help but wonder what four more years of Bush will do to this country, and that�s both from a short-term and a long-term perspective.  So, while I�m all for having Hillary for president, I am rabidly against four more years of Bush as a means to an end.

Posted by Kristina in Politics at 04:50 PM Permalink