History for Hillary — and lots of politics

Former first lady is the frontrunner in the American presidential polls, but she still has a long way to go

s delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday night noted, the glass ceiling has thoroughly been cracked as never before with the nomination of Hillary Clinton for the November presidential election in the United States. It’s the first time a woman has been nominated to run for the Oval Office and her nomination itself is a historic milestone.

But being the first woman to be nominated to contest the presidential election is one thing and winning the election is another. And it’s a contest that Hillary enters in a not-so-solid state. There are cracks in her personality, her party and her stature that may yet converge to deprive her of the Oval Office, cracks that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his supporters will prise open using every legitimate — and one would also so easily envision illegitimate means too — to show her as weak, crooked, untrustworthy and too much of a Washington insider to be electable to the highest office in the US.

Yes, Hillary’s Democrat rival Bernie Sanders took to the national convention floor on Tuesday night to urge a change in rules to move to declare Hillary the Democratic candidate, but it’s a move that was meant to paper over the obvious cracks that have divided Democrats from the earliest days of the caucuses and primaries — those rooted in the very nature of the party itself. Sanders, the veteran senator from Vermont, struck a chord with blue-collar workers, students and urban voters with his message of social democracy, environmentalism and anti-establishment that isolated and irked Hillary and party officials. And given the scenes on Monday night, where Sanders’ delegates openly booed every mention of Hillary, the erstwhile Democratic contender had little choice but to make a public showing of support and unity for the sake of the party. Those fissures, however, are not going away and Trump himself has said that he feels he can appeal to those blue-collar workers who related to Sanders’ message.

Hillary has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the email server scandal, with the FBI saying that she will face no further action on the matter. But that clearance is allowing Trump to allege that the establishment is with “crooked Hillary”. It’s a strategy that’s gaining ground: When else have you heard calls for Hillary to be jailed?

Yes, Hillary is the frontrunner and the race is her’s to lose. The trouble is, it’s still roughly 14 weeks to polling day. And one week alone is a lifetime in politics. Time will indeed tell.