Hillary`s challenge

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is seeing skyrocketing popularity in America. A Washington Post/ABC poll showed that 57 percent of adults support her presidential candidacy in 2016. In a Bloomberg poll, 32 percent said her prospects for the Democratic Party`s presidential nomination in the next election are "excellent," with another 27 percent saying "good" and just 20 percent "poor." This is quite a contrast to four years ago, when she conceded to Barack Obama in the primaries, saying, “I know that there are barriers and prejudice (against women).”

Nate Silver, a statistical analyst who grew famous for predicting the outcome of this year’s U.S. presidential election, said a secretary of state who works for national interests by nature is far from domestic politics. Clinton`s popularity remains high as it was while she was first lady to then President Bill Clinton in 1997 when he faced impeachment due to a sex scandal. She showed her commitment as a wife. Her popularity plummeted, however, when she was allegedly involved in the Whitewater scandal and intervened in key policies such as healthcare reform. When she ran for Congress and the White House, the American people showed mixed responses.

In Korea, a highly respected expert turns into an ordinary politician when he or she enters politics. Lee Hoi-chang, former chairman of the minor conservative Liberty Forward Party, was praised by Rhyu Si-min, former joint chairman of the election committee of the Progressive Justice Party. Rhyu said Lee was a fair judge who acquitted a family sent to prison by a Supreme Court ruling for spying and false charges when Korea was ruled by a military dictatorship. Lee tainted his party’s image, however, while he ran for president for the Grand National Party (now the ruling Saenuri Party) twice. Ahn Cheol-soo, a former IT guru who dropped out of this year`s presidential race late last month, said before entering politics, “I’ll not give up the values of the entire community for the sake of political logic.” How different he is now.

Hillary Clinton has endured a lot in her political career. On the ABC TV show “Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People of 2012” Wednesday, she said, “I don’t think I’ll run for president again. All options are on the table (after retirement).” Whether she wants another run for the White House remains uncertain. If she decides to run in 2016, her popularity might not be the same as it is now.

Editorial Writer Kim Sun-deok (yuri@donga.com)