Hillary Clinton has said she is not sure if the US is ready to elect its first woman president even as the Democratic presidential frontrunner emphasised that there has been a “big improvement” in peo
Hillary Clinton has said she is not sure if the US is ready to elect its first woman president even as the Democratic presidential frontrunner emphasised that there has been a “big improvement” in people’s perception in this regard.
“I really don’t know. I think it’s gotten better. I think there still is a very deep set of concerns that people have, which very often they’re not even aware of or they couldn’t articulate,” Ms Clinton, 68, said. The former First Lady and the top American diplomat who is aiming to create history by becoming the first woman president of the US was responding to question if the country is ready for it.
“There’s nothing overt about it in most instances. People are very convinced they want to vote for the right person. And then you know, you get little hints that maybe they’re not as comfortable with a woman being in an executive position,” Ms Clinton said in an interview with Vogue magazine. “Especially in a big, rough-and-tumble setting like New York City or the United States of America. But I think it’s changing. I’ve noticed a big improvement between now and the last time I ran,” she said.
“Some people run for President and they don’t know what they don’t know. Some people run for President and they know how hard the job is, but they may not be entirely convinced that this daunting task is one that can be taken on,” Ms Clinton said. “I know how hard it is, and I feel very ready and very confident to take it on,” she added.
Meanwhile, latest opinion polls said more women have shifted to her Democratic primary rival Bernie Sanders. Ms Clinton said she believes she is a better candidate. Mr Sanders, 74, now has support of 47 per cent of Democratic primary voters as against 44 per cent people who back Ms Clinton.
A month ago, Ms Clinton, 68, had support of 49 per cent of the Democratic primary voters. And last summer, Clinton had a lead of 46 points and that of 22 points as recently as two months ago. This is the first time that Mr Sanders is leading a national poll against Ms Clinton, who not long ago was regularly described as the “presumptive” Democratic nominee, according to the poll released by Fox news ahead of the South Carolina primary on February 27.
“One thing that is clear from our poll — and others — is that Clinton has been losing support and Sanders has been gaining. And this process appears to have accelerated since the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire,” said Democratic pollster Chris Anderson.
“Historically, lesser-known candidates beating establishment candidates in early contests have seen the biggest boost in their national support,” said Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who jointly conducted the Fox news poll with Anderson.
