Simply the best — that’s why Hillary deserves to make history

I WANT to see Hillary Clinton win for several reasons. First, she is immensely able — easily the most able of the candidates left in the race. Her international and economic expertise make even candidates a good deal older than her look like novices.

Second, she is a woman.

Her winning would be far more than symbolic, it would break through a barrier that has lasted for centuries and would empower women all over the world.

And third, I want to see Hillary win because the right-wing press hate her so much.

If you search out Hillary on the web, you’ll find an incredible number of vicious personal attacks on her. I can’t remember a political candidate in my lifetime who has had to endure so much abuse, and all from the same source.

They hate her because she’s a Democrat. They hate her because she stands for things like universal access to healthcare, because she is liberal on women’s right to choose. They hate her because of her position on Iraq.

But most of all they hate her because of the man she is married to. For years, Bill Clinton was seen as an Antichrist by the right wing of American politics, the man who stole the presidency from them after Ronald Reagan and in the process deprived George Bush Snr of a second term.

They will say anything about Hillary and they are prepared to believe anything.

She has been accused of election fraud, of driving former friends to suicide, of covering up sex abuse — there’s hardly a crime they think she’s not capable of.

In the past few days one television commentator was suspended from his network because he suggested on air that Hillary was “pimping” her daughter Chelsea — apparently because Chelsea is working on the campaign.

And still she goes on. It was that way when Bill was running and she was his principal adviser, and when she ran for the US Senate to represent New York. She took on attack after attack, never gave up, and went on to win.

I reckon she does it partly because she doesn’t know how to quit and partly because she believes she can do a bloody good job as the next president of the United States.

The question is, will she get a shot? Right now, the likely republican opponent, John McCain, looks a lot easier to beat than her rival for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama.

And by the way, the dirtier operatives on the Republican side are already lining up to have a real go at him. It’s not just his colour they will be focusing on in the sleazier corners of that campaign. They have latched on to the fact that his middle name is “Hussein” and they intend to use that name, and all sorts of invented links to the Muslim world, to terrify the more easily-duped voters if Obama wins the nomination.

Clinton and Obama are neck and neck in the race for the nomination. Based on the primary results so far, each has the committed support of about 1,120 delegates. That means each is about 900 short of the number needed to secure the nomination to run on behalf of the party.

And as things stand, the next few days should see Obama pull slightly ahead, as further primaries take place in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, which have nearly 300 delegates between them.

The next big day, though, is March 4, three weeks from now. We’ve had Super Tuesday, but March 4 is make-or-break Tuesday, especially for Hillary. Texas votes that day, and there are 228 delegates up for grabs. So does Ohio, with 161 delegates.

If Clinton wins those states with a decent margin — and a couple of months ago she was seen as a certainty to do so — her momentum will be restored.

She should then go on to win some of the remaining big ones, like Pennsylvania and North Carolina, primaries that are happening in April and May.

But if she doesn’t make a sufficient impact on make-or break Tuesday in Ohio and Texas, and especially if she loses either of them, it will effectively be over.

If Obama should pull off what was previously unimaginable, and win Ohio or Texas, he will have such huge momentum that there will be no stopping him.

So the next three weeks are probably the most important in Hillary Clinton’s political life.

Imagine that for a second. When our Taoiseach announces the dissolution of the Dáil, the entire election campaign usually lasts three weeks.

Try to remember the three weeks of the last general election campaign here. Stories broke every day, there were endless opinion polls, the Government’s fortunes plummeted and then began to rise, the opposition looked good for most of it and then the tide ran out for them.

There were leaders’ debates, rows on the Late Late Show and then the excitement of the count. We manage to pack a lot into the three-week election campaign here and it usually leaves a lot of exhausted politicians behind. But Obama announced his campaign on February 10, 2007 — almost exactly a year ago. Clinton announced on January 20, 2007, even further back. Since then they have been going flat out, with their campaigns reaching the boiling point of a general election here several times so far.

Apart from anything else, the fact that Clinton and Obama are still standing is an incredible testament to the stamina that all great politicians need.

Because the race is so tight, very few Democrats have actually focused on the key strategic issue — which of the two is better positioned to beat John McCain? To answer that question, you also have to answer the other key question — what will the deciding political issue be?

THERE will be character issues as the campaign wears on, as there always are, and there will be performance issues. In the latter stages of this election, especially since so many Americans have decided to take an active part, television will play a key role and the Democrats need to pick someone who will beat McCain in that department.

As it happens, there is little to choose between Obama and Clinton in that area — they will both look good alongside the grizzled war veteran and they can both easily debate him into a corner.

But Hillary has one great strength for those who want to pick a winner.

Americans are more troubled now by the state of their economy than they have been for years. The last time it was in good shape, guess who was in the White House? The Clintons, of course.

If the election comes down to the economy, and the inspirational but inexperienced Obama is the candidate, the Democrats are on a hiding to nothing. Hillary is the one most trusted in relation to the economy, and that’s why she’s the most powerful weapon the Democrats have.

She has three weeks to prove it. Between now and the Ohio and Texas primaries, she has to recover momentum, begin to inspire and hit the road running.

For Hillary, the election starts now.