The Sunday talk shows were abuzz about the possibility of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton being the Democratic nominee for President in 2008. Tim Russert, the host of NBC’s Meet The Press, asked Mike Allen of The Washington Post about it, “One of the senators that you cover, Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York--let me show you the latest Gallup poll in terms of the presidential race for 2008. Hillary Clinton, 40; John Kerry, 25; John Edwards, 17. What is going on?”
If you ask me, the world’s oldest democracy has finally succumbed to the lure of dynasty much like the world’s largest democracy. India was ruled by a democratically elected Nehru-Gandhi dynasty for 37 of its first 42 years since independence! If Senator Clinton is elected President of the United States in 2008 and completes even a single term in office, the Bush-Clinton dynasty will have been in power for 24 continuous years! Of course, there is no blood relation between Bush and Clinton, like there was between Nehru and Gandhi.
Nevertheless, for two families to head the government of a mature democracy like the United States for a contiguous two decades is simply remarkable. If Hillary wins in 2008 and is reelected in 2012, then we are talking “institutional duopoly” begging for a constitutional amendment that would bar any other Bush or Clinton from running for President for the rest of the 21st century! Hey, how else are we going to convince the House of Saud, the Assads of Syria, and the Mubaraks of Egypt that democracy is really not a family monopoly?
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