Clinton wants to get into White House
Hillary Clinton will seek to become the first woman president of the United States in 2016, the US Democratic Party member announced in an Internet video on Sunday. Some commentators are sceptical about her chances because she stands for a continuation of the policies of current president Barack Obama. Others believe she will score points with her experience as former secretary of state.
Candidate doesn't offer enough change
Hillary Clinton's experience and prominence alone won't be enough to get her into the White House, the conservative daily Salzburger Nachrichten writes: "The elections for the world's most important office are about the future. America always reinvents itself in the presidential elections - every eight years in general. With one exception - the election of George Bush senior - no party has managed to stay in office for more than two terms since the end of World War II. If the polls are accurate, the desire for change will be even stronger than in 2008. Hillary will just have to hope that the Republicans put up John Ellis 'Jeb' Bush as their candidate. A third Bush would stand for as little of a fresh start as a second Clinton presidency. Any other rival could make things more difficult for Clinton. Her only novelty factor would be the prospect of going down in history as the first woman in the White House."
Clinton must distance herself from Obama
Hillary Clinton will face a number of hurdles on her path to the White House, the left-leaning daily Pravda predicts: "One of these obstacles could be Obama himself, who said on Sunday that Clinton would make an 'excellent president'. His popularity has dropped from 69 to 47 percent, so it's incomprehensible that Clinton is counting on him as her most important campaign ally. According to CNN's most recent polls, six in ten Americans say they want the next president to have a different policy than Obama's. So the fact that Clinton comes from Obama's camp could scare off part of the electorate. ... That said, Clinton herself has a handicap: many left-leaning voters outside of the big cities find her too centrist. In their view she's a very wealthy politician backed by rich Wall Street sponsors. And they think she really only wants to become president so as not to be outdone by her husband."
Ex-secretary of state good for the whole world
Clinton's foreign policy experience is a major trump in her bid for the presidency, the liberal daily Sydsvenskan comments: "As is so often the case, jobs and the economy will play a decisive roll in the election outcome. But national security will also be high on the agenda. While the Republicans waver between wanting to strengthen the US's global power base and seeking to give it up altogether, Hillary Clinton can fall back on her experience as secretary of state. Commenting on American foreign policy she has said that 'don't do stupid stuff' is not an organizing principle. The world needs a committed US, one that supports international cooperation. ... In addition, Hillary Clinton has stressed the importance of strengthening women's rights both at home and abroad. ... Globally speaking that's crucial when it comes to leading countries out of poverty and avoiding armed conflicts."
Dynasties rule the US
After Hillary Clinton, observers expect Jeb Bush to be the next to declare his candidacy for the White House. If one of these two wins, the US will have been governed by either a Bush or a Clinton from 1989 to 2021 apart from an interlude of eight years. A frightening scenario, finds the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza: "The emergence of a quasi-feudal system in which an individual's fate is determined from the moment he is born would send a fatal signal that the US increasingly belongs to the millionaires and billionaires - first in its economy and now in politics. ... Clinton's biggest flaw is not even the fact that she is privileged, but that she also sees herself as privileged. ... Ms Clinton's first grandchild was recently born. It would probably be better for the 'ordinary people' if she got the chance to prove her skills in a different role: as grandmother."