Women
have achieved high office in Latin America for decades, starting with
Isabel Peron, the wife of President Juan Peron of Argentina
(http://thepolitic.org/our-team/).
She served as his Vice President, and she succeeded to his office
after his death in 1974(http://thepolitic.org/our-team/).
But, although Isabel Peron was first, she was soon followed by
others. These include Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the current
President of Argentina, Laura Chinchilla, recent president of Costa
Rica; and Presidents Michelle Bachelet of Chile and Dilma Rousseff of
Brazil (http://thepolitic.org/our-team/).
Given
these examples of Latin American female presidents, why has the
United States lagged behind its southern neighbors? Will 2016 be the
year of a female president? Will she be a Latina? Or perhaps a
Latina vice president? What are the chances a Hispanic American
woman could run for high office with our two major political parties?
According
to a recent article
(http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/2016-presidential-candidates.html),
two Democrats are running for president, Hillary Clinton and Bernie
Sanders, with three more probable candidates, Martin O'Malley, Jim
Webb, and Lincoln Chafee. One is a woman, the rest men, but none are
Hispanic. On the Republican side, we have three males who have
declared their candidacy, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio, with
the latter two of Hispanic descent. There are ten probable hopefuls,
with only one woman and no Hispanic in the group.
Given
such presidential contenders, it seems likely the Democratic choice
will be a non-Latina, and the Republican a man, Hispanic or not. If
that occurs, how will each party appeal to the growing number of
Latino voters, estimated at over 23 million in 2012 by the Pew
Hispanic Center
(http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/08/30/rising-latino-stars-in-politics/14764069/)?
Ignoring such an important group could likely lead to defeat in
November 2016. This is especially a Republican problem, since
Hispanics generally favor Democrats, 62% to 36%, with Latinas even
more so, 66% to 32%, according to a 2014 election exit poll
(www.pewhispanic.org/2014/11/07/hispanic-voters-in-the-2014-election/).
There
are many rising Hispanic stars who could be considered for second
place on the 2016 national party ticket. These include Democrats
Leticia Van de Putte, Angel Taveras, and the Castro brothers, and
Republicans Raul Labrador, Jaime Beutler, Susana Martinez, and Brian
Sandoval
(http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/08/30/rising-latino-stars-in-politics/14764069/;
http://www.ibtimes.com/obama-first-latino-president-no-heres-6-hispanics-who-might-be-one-day-1763385).
Although only one Democratic and two Republican Latinas are listed,
there are actually nine Latinas in Congress and four in state elected
executive office
(http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/women_of_color/FastFacts_LatinasinOffice.php).
Of these, eight Congress women and one state executive are Democrats
(http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/women_of_color/FastFacts_LatinasinOffice.php).
Surely, any of these Latinas might be a good pick for vice president
of either party!
Given that
Clinton is the Democratic nominee, what are the chances she might pick a Hispanic woman? More
likely, she will chose Julian Castro, the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development, who gave the keynote speech at the 2012 Democratic
Convention (
http://www.ibtimes.com/obama-first-latino-president-no-heres-6-hispanics-who-might-be-one-day-1763385).
If Rubio or Cruz is the Republican choice, his running mate would
probably be a non-Hispanic woman. But, if Chris Christie gets the
presidential nomination, he might very well select Susana Martinez to
partner with, since she has campaigned for him before (
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/chris-christie-susana-martinez-is-this-your-2016-republican-ticket/281360/).
Only time will tell.
By John George Bauer-Buis
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