<Iraq war and willingness to oppose it later, her experience in international relations, and her hands on administrative experience in White House policy affairs insured the allegiance of millions of voters to her. She was the one Democrat who could beat any GOP contender, and hit the ground running once in office. Millions of women also saw Hillary as the gender Obama. Her presidency would have marked a historic presidential breakthrough for women. She would have been a role model and inspiration for millions of women young and old. She would have proven that women can hold the world's top political power spot and govern as well if not better than a man. And do it with the grace, dignity and class that had been sorely missing from the Oval Office for years. Her administration would have been savvy, moderate, and capable of skillfully navigating and winning the blood battles with congress.
Obama knew all this about her. He wanted and needed her experience to shore up his paper thin resume on foreign policy issues. He also needed to remove the one Democrat who posed any real reelection threat to him in 2012. Obama quickly took that possibility off the table by back rooming her at the State Department to keep her out of the media and domestic policy limelight.
When asked whether she might be a candidate in 2012, Clinton dutifully says no; that she's happy at her post. She's telling the truth. But to millions of voters, Hillary was the best candidate in 2008. As the Gallup Poll shows, a year later to millions, she's still the best presidential candidate that wasn't.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His forthcoming book, How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge (Middle Passage Press) will be released in January, 2010.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a nationally acclaimed author and political analyst. He has authored ten books; his articles are published in newspapers and magazines nationally in the United States. Three of his books have been published in other (
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