Letters to the editor
To the editor:
Every day, the presidential election of 2016 draws closer, and already we are witnessing events that could influence it.
Hillary Clinton’s email scandal while Secretary of State seems like it could cost her substantial support in the election, a loss of support that seems warranted.
Using a personal email while Secretary of State not only makes her seem suspicious, but it also shows a serious disregard for the national security of this country. By not using a secure email, Clinton risked exposing secrets vital to the well-being of our nation.
The question remains: Should this serious breach in judgment disqualify her, at least in the eyes of the public, for the presidency? The truth is it is hard to tell.
Yes, the decision shows a serious lack of forethought, but does that mean we should forget all of her other accomplishments that qualify her for the highest position in this country?
While her actions make me wary, I also am unsure there is any other Democratic candidate with the same political clout as Hillary Clinton. For so long she has been the obvious Democratic candidate for the 2016 election that a Democratic victory with anyone else seems improbable.
I think that it is about time that we have a female in the White House, and Hillary Clinton certainly seems like a worthy candidate.
The thing about being the first woman is that everything she does will be endlessly scrutinized and used in the future to judge further female candidates, but I suppose that is true of the first woman to do anything.
On the other side of the aisle, Ted Cruz has just declared his candidacy for president, and an interesting situation has thus arisen. Republicans have continued to accuse Obama of not being born in this country, despite his producing his birth certificate, and now the first presidential candidate of the 2016 race is a man who was born in Canada.
And even though the fact that Cruz’s mother was a U.S. citizen when he was born makes his candidacy constitutional, I, for one, think it will be interesting to see how Republicans defend Senator Cruz when they have so vehemently attacked President Obama for supposedly being born in Kenya. My prediction is that they will probably end up trying to dodge the issue and eating their own words; what else can they really do?
One this is for sure: This is going to be an exciting race.
Trisha Datta
Hillsborough