Opinion: Hillary Clinton, The Only Candidate Prepared To Lead

The views expressed in this article belong entirely to the author and do not represent the views of the US-China Perception Monitor or the China Program at The Carter Center. 

I will always remember myself at age six, watching Hillary Clinton’s “women’s rights are human rights” speech, and being absolutely awed by her beauty, courage and natural radiance.  From that day forth, I’ve known nothing more than respect and admiration for the woman who has been living history her entire life and will one day rewrite it.  Almost a year ago, on my fifteenth birthday, Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that she was running to be President.  I have never received a better birthday present in my life.  I knew that electing a woman president to lead one of the world’s greatest superpowers will not only affect America itself but will also impact the international community tremendously.

America’s founding fathers would be dismayed by the citizens who would rather blindly support their favoured party instead of evaluating the individual stances and qualifications of different candidates and selecting the best. The 2016 Republican presidential candidates, with their bombastic slogans and obsolete ideals, can no longer embody the great party that was once represented by Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.  The Democrats, on the other hand, have offered two main contenders who have proven themselves in the past to be effective leaders and will no doubt continue to encapsulate these merits in the future.

However, out of these two candidates, one must take a rational stance and choose the most promising candidate for America’s future.  Mrs. Hillary Clinton is one of the most qualified contenders for the presidency in American history.   A devout public servant, Clinton has served as First Lady, Senator, and most recently, as the 67th United States Secretary of State. Hillary has had extensive political experience and achievements, which contributes to her status as the most qualified candidate in  the 2016 presidential election. She offers American people with achievable policies that would maximize chances of happiness for American (and international) citizens of all classes.    Her stances on women’s rights, gun violence, health care reform, foreign policy, and immigration are all supported by her credibility gained from her lifetime history of advocation in these arenas.

Even with the support of these credentials, it has always been difficult for Hillary to gain popularity, especially amongst today’s youth.  As a millennial child myself, I empathize with the reasons why many young voters may not find Mrs. Clinton to be personable.  Indeed, Mrs. Clinton’s image has been really been associated with benevolence and genuinity.  Why? Because Hillary Rodham Clinton lives in a luxurious home and has longstanding connections to Wall Street and the White House. Mrs. Clinton is the quintessential image of class and success, which has been ironically counter-productive for her campaign.

Hence, it makes perfect sense for students to disregard her rationales and target her as means of expressing anger towards the upper class. Mrs. Clinton’s main rival, Bernie Sanders, has proposed plans that radiates with the freshness of revolutionary thought and are very relatable to us students.  His plans are so appealing that we are inclined to overlook his lack of the indispensable valiancy and experience to achieve these unrealistic policy plans.

Such reasoning is coherently  flawed.  Mrs. Clinton may be a part of the top 1% of privileged American citizens as of current, but like the rest of us middle-classed students, she worked her way up through education and perseverance.  She’s known failure and embraced prejudice in the past, and she’s devoted her entire life to fighting for those of us who still remain in the middle class. And that’s exact what sets her apart from other contenders. Not only her breadth of experience or her effective policy proposals.  It’s her remarkable strength of character.

Naturally, being head of state to the world’s largest national economy comes with tremendous stress and unthinkable challenges.  In the past, we’ve enthusiastically critiqued leaders who have made decisions that led to disastrous results (the Bush Administration comes to mind), yet we’ve never addressed the theory that the reason why some presidents failed was because they weren’t prepared or qualified for the position in the first place.

As much as I admire Sanders and as much as I want him to continue doing amazing work as a political activist, he does not possess the necessary traits of a president. Hillary Clinton is the only candidate with the born boldness, elegant  demeanour, and appropriate aggression for a President. Throughout her legendary life, she has asserted herself to be  America’s champion.  She’s prepared to be President.  We’re prepared to stand with her.

By MARGARET LU Mar. 21, 2016 on USCNPM