Say what you want : it is quite a milestone1 in American politics to see a woman nominated as a major-party candidate for President. It has not happened in 240 years. And can the nation ‘elect 43 white guys, then a black guy, and then a woman?’ asked Chris Matthews on MSNBC tonight. We will see in November. And What Will Bernie2 Do (Now?) is the other question.
1 A very interesting question is why the USA, for all its promotion of equality for women, took so long to reach this milestone. As long ago as 1969, there was Golda Meir (Prime Minister of Israel), Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher in 1979 (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) and more recently since 2005, Angela Merkel (Chancellor of Germany) .. and many many more female national leaders.
2 Bernie Sanders, her Democratic Party Primary Election opponent. He wanted to make the case that he has ‘momentum’ and a better chance of beating Trump in the general election, but it really does not look as if he will win California tonight. The Democratic party has to be nice – very nice – to him, though. They cannot afford to rebuff his supporters, and have them not go to the polls in November!
