By Uche Onyebadi

THE biggest political buzz in the U.S. was, is, has been and will continue to be about Hillary Rodham Clinton, former First Lady, Senator, and U.S. Secretary of State. Will she or will she not contest the presidency? Even without an answer to this question, it appears as if the gods have decided that come November, 2016, the U.S. presidency will be hers. But Hillary is yet to publicly declare her interest in running for the White House.

Yet, her silence is louder and more piercing than the sound of a million vuvuzelas. In fact, she need not declare her intention because everyone knows that she will very much like to make history as the first woman ever to become a U.S. president, as well as the first, first lady to do so in a country where, in 2014, women still earn less than men even where they occupy the same position.

Yes, for overall, every one dollar a man earns in the U.S. a woman in the same position earns less – about 70 cents! Besides, while female presidency is still beyond the reach of Americans, it is certainly not new to our world. As I write, Africa has two of them in Malawi and Liberia and another one in the Central African Republic on an interim basis. And two more can be found in U.S. neighbourhood of Brazil and Argentina. Two issues make Hillary’s political next-move the hot-topic issue that it is. First, we have current vice president Joe Biden.

Running for the presidency

It is no secret that Biden would like to have his last try at running for the presidency. At almost 72, age is no longer on his side. As the serving vice president, he has enough political visibility to go for that office. But, Hillary’s shadow looms too large for the Biden camp. It is an irony that the lady who is outside of government is eclipsing the fortunes of someone in the position of the vice president of the United States.

The second issue is about the Republican Party. As it is, the party has no identifiable leading contender to carry its flag in the 2016 presidential election. The only person who got close to doing so is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Unfortunately, the governor is now mired in a chain of controversies that have practically sidelined him from the presidential race, at least for now. Another potential contender of some substance is Senator Rand Paul, son of former failed presidential contender, Ron Paul.

Yet another is Marco Rubio, the young, handsome and brilliant senator from Florida whose Hispanic parentage is supposed to give him an element of advantage among Latino voters. Jeb Bush, former Florida governor and younger brother to former President George W. Bush, is also on the list. But, he has to first woo over his own mother as the matriarch of the Bush family and former first lady of the U.S. has publicly come out to say that Jeb, her son, should not run for the presidency. Apparently, she means that Americans have had enough of the Bush family with her husband and son having already occupied the presidency.

The Republican dirty-trick is something Senator Rand Paul has apparently made his mantra in the past weeks: telling whosoever cares to listen to him that Hillary is not suitable for the U.S. presidency because her husband, Bill Clinton, is a man who, in 1995-1996, was impeached over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Then, Bill Clinton admitted having an “inappropriate relationship” with Monica, an intern at the White House.

So, why is Rand Paul now resurrecting the ghost of Lewinsky, and trying to hang the scandal around Hillary’s neck when it is obvious that she was also a victim of her husband’s inappropriate relationship? As bizarre as this appears to be, the senator believes that Hillary and Bill are two sides of the same coin. If Americans elect Hillary they also would be “electing” Bill at the same time.

So, why not attack Hillary and say that potential donors should stay away from her because did inappropriate things to a young lady almost twenty years ago. So, it would be immoral to financially support Bill’s campaign to raise funds for his wife because he abused a woman several years ago. Of course, few people, including some Republicans,think that Rand Paul is on to anything tangible with his ranting against the Clintons.

Both Benghazi and Lewinsky are unlikely to stop Hillary’s ambition. Americans remember that she stood by her man and saved her marriage and family when the Lewinsky scandal made headlines. They also remember that although she mounted a vigorous campaign against incumbent President Obama during the 2007 U.S. primaries, she was gracious in defeat and magnanimously served the Obama administration with distinction as Secretary of State. She also distinguished herself as a U.S. senator. The Republicans will have to look for something else with which to fight Hillary. Neither Benghazi nor Lewinsky will scuttle her presidential ambition.

In fact, the only thing that can stop Hillary is Hillary herself. It is either that she decides not to run for the presidency – which is most unlikely – or she dramatically fumbles and discredits herself.But for now, you can call her the political juggernaut in the 2016 U.S. presidential race!