Oh Hillary Rodham Clinton, we all love you but you have to stop pretending you are not running for the highest office in the land.
It's no surprise that she is one of my heroines as a women and gender studies major and feminist. She's a self-described "glass ceiling cracker" by being the only first lady to be a U.S. senator turned secretary of state. She's not afraid of being a feminist; she unreservedly advocates for women's rights.
The last couple weeks, she has been giving keynote speeches and has been asked numerous times if she will or will not run. At a conference speech last week, she had a shoe thrown at her by a Phoenix woman who is reportedly "obsessed" with James Holmes, the gunman at the 2012 Aurora movie theater shootings.
I don't believe just any media attention is good attention if you're trying to run for president. The content of what she is talking about is forgotten when the conversations are dictated by shoe-throwing fanatics, whether she's running for president or what hair style she's wearing these days.
Here's some advice for Hillary from a supporter: Step back from the spotlight, girl! I don't want America to get tired of you too quickly. I especially fear the loss of interest in the millennial generation, since we are notorious for having short attention spans and hopping to the next best thing. Clinton lost the youth vote to Obama in the 2008 presidential election, and the reality is that her age, unfortunately, may hurt her quest for youth votes.
Clinton would have won the Democratic ticket if President Barack Obama wasn't so young and new to the political arena at the time.
I believe my generation is actually more open-minded than previous generations to support candidates from parties other than the Democratic Party. If a new, younger Republican candidate riles up my generation, she can be in jeopardy in terms of youth votes.
I remember before Obama won in 2008 that many people hadn't even heard of him in 2007. In retrospect, this is incredible to me. Clinton must step back from the spotlight if she does plan to run in 2016, though she has consistently said she hasn't made up her mind (yeah, right).
Many from older generations may not vote for Clinton if they weren't too thrilled about her husband in the '90s. Luckily, millennials do not carry that political baggage of the Bill Clinton year, as most of us were too young to be involved.
With that said, the media have been bringing up Bill Clinton's infidelity with Monica Lewinsky recently by addressing unnecessary accounts of Hillary's view of Lewinsky.
It's extremely annoying that the media continues to bring up past mistakes made by her husband Bill Clinton and yet only talk only about Hillary. I can foresee the media continuing bringing up ancient history to discredit her 2016 prospects.
To combat that, she must re-examine her approach to youth by being more engaging about what millennials know best about: technology.
We are the generation of social media, smartphones, online activism and instant information. Unfortunately, we are also the generation of ridiculous amounts of student loan debt, surpassing $1 trillion. I believe advancing technology and lessening the cost of higher education will secure our generation's vote for potentially the first woman president.
Reach the columnist at gromero7@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @gilromeo92 Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors. Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.
