I
have a woman president in my first novel, SEX, LOVE & MURDER, and I’m
baffled as to why we in the United States haven’t elected a woman president yet.
Other countries have elected about sixty-five female Presidents since 1940.
When I first wrote SEX, LOVE & MURDER, (previously
called Mardi Gravestone, published in 2004), I felt certain we’d have a Madame
President by now.
In 2007, when Hillary Rodham Clinton sought the nomination for the Democratic Party, she won the
popular vote, but not the delegates.
Recently, she announced she’s running
again. Almost every political commentator agrees she’ll be almost impossible to
beat. But that’s what pundits said the last time she ran.
Back then, the media favored a young Barack
Obama, and many studies have proven that the mass media gives more favorable
coverage to male candidates, and I’m wondering why?
Did it start with Eve’s bad press? We all
know the story. Eve was living with Adam in the Garden of Eden, and God told
them they could enjoy all of the trees except one. Satan spoke through a serpent and convinced
Eve to disobey God and bite from an apple attached to the Tree of Life (or the
tree of knowledge of good and evil). Eve then persuaded Adam to take a bite. God
was angry and banished them from the Garden. They were pure until they
disobeyed God and sinned.
Many theologians say the story of Adam and
Eve is just a parable. Also, Geneticists believe females were the first homo
sapiens on our planet, and therefore, a woman wasn’t created from the rib of
Adam as the Bible story suggests.
However, we, as a Christian nation, have often
depended upon male religious leaders to interpret the Bible for us, and
according to former President Jimmy Carter, who is a born again Christian, the
Bible has often been used incorrectly to subjugate women.
“Some
of the words of Paul, who’s our chief religious theologian for Christians, can
be interpreted either way,” Carter said. “If you’re a male religious leader,
and you want to stay in unchallenged power and not have women challenge yours,
then you can pick some of those things that Paul said.”
And
according to Genesis, after Eve disobeys God, God says, “I will greatly
increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
Now
granted this is the Old Testament. In the New Testament we learn that Jesus
loved women, and his best friends appeared to be women. He even traveled with
women.
However,
Biblical Scholars claim that many of the writings of women were not included in
the Bible, and it remains a predominantly male offering. Some scholars have theorized that the men who
loved Jesus may have been envious of the women in his life. Later, many
religious leaders used the Bible to reinforce the idea of male dominance and
female inferiority for their own benefit.
So I think we’re long overdue
to have a woman in the oval office as president, and according to conservative
writer Myra Adams, we will elect a woman in 2016, and she gives the following reasons why Hillary Clinton will be
elected, which I've summarized:
1. There’s a social
movement to elect a Madame President, and it’s gathering hurricane strength.
2. The media is now
ready to crown a queen.
3. Political pundits are
saying, “It’s time.”
4. In Hillary Clinton’s
camp are “some top-notch Obama campaign talent, Jeremy Bird and Mitch Stewart,
have already been hired to build an organization similar to President Obama’s
two nearly flawless, state-of-the-art campaigns. It would be nearly impossible
for the Republican presidential candidate to quickly build and match what will
then be a huge national campaign organization with a three-year head start. For
even the Republican challenger, it would appear as if Hillary were the
incumbent,” wrote Adams.
5. Hillary could easily
raise more than a billion dollars before 2016.
6. “The Electoral
College is slanted toward Hillary and the Democrats,” Adams wrote.
7. Hillary will have no
real opposition in the Democratic primary and she and her team can focus on the
general election.
8. She should win the
Hispanic vote.
9. She should win the
African-American and Asian vote.
Her
popular, charitable husband will be one of her greatest assets on the campaign
trail.
She
could easily package herself to run for Bill Clinton’s “third term.”
“The
Republicans have a weak bench with little star power,” wrote Adams.
10.
The
lengthy GOP primary system will benefit her.
11.
She
can make a strong case that she will be the only leader who can bring the
country together and work with Republicans to solve problems.
12.
If
Republican candidates imply Hillary is too old, they will be insulting a loyal
base of supporters who fall in her age category.
13.
“GOP
and the conservative media are using weak arguments against Hillary,” wrote
Adams.
As
for me, I have waited a long time for a Madame President, and I suppose that’s
why I included one in my first novel SEX, LOVE & MURDER (below). I have written three novels. Along with SEX, LOVE & MURDER are HURRICANE HOUSE, and A MESSAGE IN THE ROSES.
