Senator Hillary Clinton, the Woman Who May Be President

Last night, I attended the 5th annual Educating the Heart dinner given by the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) was slated to receive an award for her work on behalf of the vulnerable and poor, particularly in healthcare reform. Senator Clinton was unable to attend due to Bill's recent surgery, so she sent a taped message.

The event was a must-attend for California Democratic politicians, including assorted members of Congress, the State Assembly and Senate, and even California Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante. The keynote speaker was City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles mayoral candidate in a hotly contested race with incumbent James Hahn. Mr. Villaraigosa is a powerful speaker and a dynamic Democratic figure. Councilman Villaraigosa is an exciting Democratic leader to watch in coming decades.

But I digress....the subject is Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In late March, former First Lady Barbara Bush declared that Hillary Clinton "will be the Democratic candidate for president in 2008," but she will lose the election. Republican columnist Peggy Noonan recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal about "Why Hillary will be hard to beat." Even Christian group Sojourners had, in its April Fools newsletter, the "Top Ten Reasons You're Voting for Hillary Clinton for President in 2008." (My fave is "Settling into a nice Bush-Cllinton-Bush-Clinton rotation will make it much easier for school children to memorize the presidents.")

With mixed feelings, I decided to write a profile of Senator Clinton, since she is an apparent frontrunner for the 2008 Democratic nomination for the presidency. Mixed feelings because we all feel like we already know her. Let's face it, eight years as First Lady guarantees oveexposure, if nothing else.

To my surprise, there's a lot to Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton that's remained hidden from the public, obscured by her husband's southern charm and his accomplishments

She is lifelong, devout Methodist and a brilliant, hard-working Senator with a special passion for children and women's issues, education and health care. But did you know that she was President of the Young Republicans as an undergraduate? And I love this story...she chose Yale Law School over Harvard after a cocktail party tiff with a chauvinistic professor.

Learn about the woman who many think will be the first female President of the United States. There's a lot more to know about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton