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Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is an internationally recognized brand, and many experts, pundits and political soothsayers say she'll be a force to be reckoned with in the 2016 presidential elections. But there' s one danger: depending too much on her gender to gain votes.
Indeed, while Clinton has been a senator, first lady and secretary of state, the Americans tend to view her in terms of being the first woman with a real shot at becoming president. While this resonates with single women and Democrats' liberal base, Clinton will have to appeal to a much broader pool of voters if she hopes to clinch the White House in 2016, experts said.
"Hillary Clinton needs to appeal to a broad range of voters, not just women," said Darrell West, a Brookings Institution senior fellow.
"She doesn't want to cast her candidacy too narrowly, as that would foreclose potential support," he told Xinhua. "Her best bet is to take advantage of her unique status of being female, but seek to demonstrate why she has the leadership ability and vision to be an effective president."
West said that while Clinton needs to lay out her program, it is too early to do so at this stage of the campaign.
"It is too early for her to get into very many details because political and policy conditions are likely to change over the next two years," he said. "She should address important issues as they come up but give herself the flexibility to move left or right depending on what she needs to do to win."
Earlier this year, a Gallup poll found that Clinton's position as the first possible female president is her main selling point.
Nearly one in five Americans mention this historic possibility as a positive one, including 22 percent of women, 27 percent of 18- to-29-year-olds, and 30 percent of Democrats.
A Gallup analysis in 2007 also found that Americans were more likely to mention Clinton being the first woman president than any other positive factor, a report accompanying the poll found.
But other issues beyond her gender will come up in the lead up to 2016, as GOP candidates will try to link her to White House's perceived foreign policy missteps, some of which occurred while she was secretary of state.
Indeed, the White House has been under fire for putting the threat of the Islamic State -- an extremist group in Iraq and Syria -- on the backburner until the situation boiled over. Republicans may accuse Clinton of lacking foresight on the issue.
Moreover, Clinton spurred controversy for what critics billed as not being forthcoming on the details surrounding the 2012 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed a U.S. ambassador.
President Barack Obama's ratings on foreign policy will be an albatross around the neck of the Democratic nominee, likely Clinton, and their chances of winning the presidency, Republican strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua, speaking of Obama's perceived foreign policy missteps and how they will reflect on Clinton's race for the White House. Enditem
