Argentine president Nestor Kirchner announced this month that he would not run for re-election in order to put forward his wife, Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, as a presidential candidate.  Unlike the wives of Juan Peron, Kirchner is an accomplished politician who has served both in the lower house of Congress and now the Senate.  Many are comparing her to Hillary Clinton – both are lawyers, both were involved in policy making during their husbands presidency and both are notable politicians in their own right.

As a US citizen, I am actively watching the very intriguing US presidential race, and read about both Clinton and Barack Obama with interest.  I’ve always wanted a woman in the White House: I was a kid when Walter Mondale made Geraldine Ferarro his vice presidential candidate and I insisted on wearing a button supporting them throughout the months prior to the campaign – I was crushed when they lost in the most embarrassing defeat in presidential election history.  But I have to admit that I often wonder whether this is the way that I wanted a woman in the White House.  Not to undermine Hillary Clinton’s substantial talents and abilities, but something makes me uncomfortable with a democracy that will have rotated between Bush and Clinton presidencies since 1988.   

While Kircher is currently leading opponents in the opinion polls by some 30%, I imagine (or perhaps hope) that Argentine voters would feel the same – particularly as the Argentine constitution allows presidents to run for non-consecutive terms, which would give the Kirchners the ability to try and share the presidency between themselves for a number of years.

All of this leads me to say that it is a shame that neither of these candidates emerged before their husbands – It would be easier to judge them on their substantial merits without the shadow of their husbands and a potential threat to democracy looming overhead.