WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York), a close friend of Filipino and Asian Americans, has announced that she will seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2008.
Sen. Clinton, the wife of former President Bill Clinton, has on many occasions expressed her support for the aging Filipino veterans of World War II who are seeking benefits, attended many Filipino and Asian social functions in New York and Washington D.C., and is a close friend of many Filipino Amerian leaders.
She is also a friend Loida Nicolas Lewis,
a businesswoman and former chair of the National Federation of Filipino
American Associations, the umbrella organization of the more than two million
Filipinos in America. Lewis was a top contributor to the reelection campaign of
Sen. Clinton in New York.
Recently, she attended the Asean media
awards at the Mayflower Hotel. She was also present during the premiere of a
movie of Filipino and American troops battling the Japanese invaders in the
Philippines in World War II.
Some Filipino Americans have expressed
doubt whether or not America is ready for a woman to lead the United States in
the war on terror. But some, particularly among women, said it is time for a
woman to lead the nation.
After the midterm election which saw the
Democrats taking over control of both houses of Congress, Filipino American
Democrats started preparing to support Hillary should she decide to run.
With her announcement, the field of US
Democratic presidential contenders continued to grow. New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary,
and a prominent Hispanic leader, has also announced the creation of a
presidential exploratory committee, according to people close to the Democratic
Party.
With Sen. Clinton’s entry in the race and
the first woman at that, the race for the presidency will be the first
groundbreaking political contests in US history.
She now becomes the first woman to seek
the presidency while another Democrat, sen. Barack Obama (N-Chicago) hopes to
be the first African-American in the White House.
“I’m in. And I’m in to win,” Clinton said
in a video announcement on her website Jan. 20.
Four days before Obama signaled his own
plan to fight for the nomination, saying he had formed a committee to test the
waters and start raising money.
With their entry the field of confirmed
Democratic hopefuls expanded to seven, still 12 months ahead of the first
crucial state-based primary elections that will decide the Democratic and
Republican party nominees who battle for the White House in November 2008.
Clinton, 59, ended years of speculation
over her political ambitions with her announcement. “The frontrunner has
just stepped on the stage,” said
Washington’s veteran political analyst Charlie Cook. Polls put Hillary ahead of
Obama in the Democratic race, 41 to 17 percent.
“This is the first woman in our history
who will be taken seriously by everyone,’ said political scientist Ruth Mandel
of Rutgers University.
But while polls showed Clinton the
odds-on favorite to capture the Democratic nomination next year, her continuing
ability to divide voters meant that the race was still wide open with Obama,
former senator John Edwards and others yet to commit to the race angling to
demonstrate they have a better chance to defeat the Republican challenger.
Likewise, a Gallup poll taken a week ago
put Clinton ahead with backing from 29 percent of Democratic voters, compared
with 18 percent for Obama and Edwards at 13 percent.
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