Daily Times

The Democratic convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday marked a moment of history in the politics of United States with Hilary Clinton becoming the first woman to secure the presidential nomination of one of the two main political parties. The former first lady, senator and secretary of state took a monumental step in her journey to become America’s first female president by surpassing the other party challenger, Bernie Sanders. Despite a tumultuous opening that saw Sanders and Clinton supporters trade jeers, cheers erupted as Clinton passed the 2,382-delegate count needed for the nomination. Although the outcome was virtually a foregone conclusion, the state-by-state vote saw rowdy displays on the convention floor. After his delegates had been counted, Sanders took the floor and, in a bid to unify the party, called for a vote by acclamation. Clinton’s nomination was formally put forward by Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, the longest-serving woman in the history of the US Congress.

Amid all the cheering and praise for Clinton, the best moment of the convention was perhaps the speech of the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. Her heartfelt endorsement of Clinton is termed as the best speech of the First Lady in her eight years in the White House. Her speech centred on the future of the children of the United States, as she described her journey as the First Lady raising two wonderful daughters in the most famous house in the world: the White House. To Michelle, the presidential race is the one between a positive role model for children in Hillary Clinton, and a damaging one in Donald Trump. Mrs Obama also condemned the hateful language used by some nominees, adding, “Our motto is when they go low, we go high.”

Besides all the praise for the nomination of Clinton, many political analysts in the US as well as across the globe have termed her nomination as a “lesser evil” compared to her Republican opponent, Trump. Although Clinton’s experience in the government affairs as former first lady, senator and secretary of state comes as an edge over Trump, her history of some decisions pertaining to the Middle East and other issues do not bide well with many human rights advocates and political analysts.

The nomination of a female candidate for the highest office in the United States deserves all the appreciation, but there are still questions about why it took more than two centuries for the most developed democracy in the world, championing human rights and gender equality, to even nominate a female candidate for the White House. Most of the female leaders in the third world countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have come to the top through dynastic politics, but in a country like the US, questions do arise regarding the prevailing patriarchy even in the most developed democracy in the first world.

The Clinton camp will now be looking to unite the party factions against the main opponent in Donald Trump. Despite winning the Democratic nomination, Clinton faces an overwrought situation in the next few months amid more leaked emails by WikiLeaks. Disruptive protests within the party have been witnessed over the leaked emails. Trump has been trying to cash on the issue in every event he addresses, and Clinton will need to find a way to get over all this chaos, departing from some of her past decisions in the political affairs. *