Release date: June 4, 2008
Contact: Beverly Cox Clark at 404-712-8780 or beverly.clark@emory.edu

Clinton not the Nominee, but not Out of Power

Hillary Clinton’s historic presidential campaign appears to be over, but she still holds a tremendous amount of power, says Emory political scientist Andra Gillespie.

“Despite the sexist invective that has been levied against her, Clinton’s performance in this primary season shatters any idea that a woman cannot be viewed as a viable presidential candidate,” says Gillespie. “At this point, Clinton supporters should recognize that she retains an enormous amount of influence in the Democratic Party, even in defeat.”

Historically, candidates in her position hold tremendous bargaining power, she says. They can leverage their pledged delegates to change party platforms or to elevate members of their inner circle to positions of power within the party infrastructure.

In 1988, when Jesse Jackson won a quarter of the pledged delegates, he lobbied the Democratic Party to take a hard line stance against South African apartheid and to support DC statehood and affirmative action. Additionally, many people credit Jackson’s candidacy with the eventual ascension of Ron Brown as the Democratic Party’s first black chairman.

Advocacy for Universal Healthcare

It appears Clinton will continue to advocate for universal healthcare, and “as a candidate with nearly half of the pledged delegates, she is in a strong position to influence the party platform on this issue. Moreover, she has the power to shatter glass ceilings for other women who are just starting their careers in either elective office or partisan service by demanding greater gender diversity in candidate identification and leadership opportunities,” Gillespie says.

Paving the path for others

“Few could dispute the fact that Barack Obama’s path was paved by the efforts of people like Jesse Jackson and Shirley Chisholm, who ran before him. Similarly, Hillary Clinton’s candidacy in 2008 sets the stage for her or another woman to become president in the near future—probably less than 20 years from now. So, while Clinton’s most ardent supporters may not want to hear it, the reality is that some woman will take the oath of office on some January 20, in a year as yet to be determined, because of what Hillary Clinton did in 2008.”

Emory University (www.emory.edu) is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate experience, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. Perennially ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report, Emory encompasses nine academic divisions as well as the Carlos Museum, The Carter Center, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, Georgia’s largest and most comprehensive health care system.

Subscribe to News@Emory RSS feeds for automatic updates of the latest news at Emory.

Back