Hillary makes history

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, not hiding his socialist credentials, campaigned spiritedly over the past months, but it is now evident, based on a widely accepted Associated Press calculation, that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party to challenge the official Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Ms Clinton will make history when she is made her party’s official nominee to contest the American presidency at the Democratic Party convention in July. No woman before her was officially projected by a leading American political party to fight for the presidency.

Should she win the election in November this year — and this is a big “if” at this stage — a glass ceiling in US public life would have crashed. That is the meaning of a woman President. A black man — Barack Obama — becoming President eight years ago had also brought about massive social and political churning and fresh perspectives in American public life.

At this stage it appears that while the Republican rank and file are united behind Mr Trump, the Democrats are divided, for Mr Sanders has made a fairly deep impression through his call to challenge the American establishment, especially big money, via Wall Street. Ms Clinton’s most urgent political task is to seek to unite the Democrats so that even Mr Sanders’ supporters come on board to back her presidential campaign.

While Mr Trump’s policy perspectives seem amateurish and are yet to crystallise, Ms Clinton is an old hand at the game. She is likely to be more predictable.