Hillary Rodham Clinton creates history, seals Democratic Party nomination

New York: Hillary Clinton, 68, is now officially the US Democratic presidential nominee, making history as the first woman ever to secure the backing of a major American political party. In a sign of strong unity, Democratic runner-up, Bernie Sanders, the Socialist Senator from Vermont, moved the party to nominate Clinton by unanimous vote on the second evening of the Democratic National Convention. The nomination comes more than nine years after Clinton launched her first presidential bid. “I move that all votes cast by delegates be reflected in the official record, and I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States,” Sanders announced from the convention floor as delegates roared their approval. It was largely an evening of unity after an opening night soured by resistance from spoilsport Bernie supporters who felt their candidate lost mainly on account of pro-Hillary shenanigans by party operatives. [caption id=“attachment_2715014” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  US democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. AFP[/caption] Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, 69, will take the main stage at Philly’s Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night to show his support for his wife. Bill’s speech on Tuesday night will be unprecedented, to say the least. He will be the first former president to speak in support of a spouse running for president. Two decades ago, Hillary was the one getting ready to speak on her husband’s behalf at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. It smacks of irony. Male-dominated India had Indira Gandhi while neighbouring Pakistan had Benazir Bhutto. Yet America which prides itself on being progressive has never elected a woman to the White House and still associates the presidency with masculinity, say political scientists. The US political system is so tipped in favour of rich, white men that even Clinton, who tried to parlay the female vote in an all-male field in 2008, quipped it is the “highest and hardest” glass ceiling. “It is still difficult for Americans to see a woman in that role because the office of the presidency is such a white male-dominated office,” Lori Cox Han, the co-editor of the book Rethinking Madam President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House, told Firstpost. “We have this great man model of leadership which we rely on when we look at the presidency. It is how presidency is portrayed as muscular in pop culture, the movies and on television,” she added. Women face more difficulties in being elected in presidential systems. Historically, 69 percent of women leaders have been prime ministers with only 31 percent from presidential systems. “That executive-style of leadership is viewed differently from legislative leadership. If you are in Congress, you certainly have women who are successful. Take Nancy Pelosi who is the first female House speaker. Legislative leaders like Pelosi have to work with people, comprises are essential to getting things done — women are seen as good at this,” said Han. “Executive-style leadership is much more a male model of leadership where a man is seen as decisive and able to take tough unilateral decisions,” she added. More than 55 percent of voters will be women in the upcoming November elections and Clinton is trying to reach those voters in her bid to get to the White House. Clinton finally becomes the nominee of her party after a pair of grueling primary contests. Her first run for the presidency, announced in January 2007, ended in a bitter loss to Obama in a Democratic primary that stretched into the summer of the election year. Calls for Democratic unity on Monday night from First Lady Michelle Obama, progressive hero Senator Elizabeth Warren and Sanders himself served to calm the Vermont senator’s die-hard backers.