US Election 2016 candidate profile: Hillary Clinton, Democrat

While various potential candidates started campaigning for the US presidential election 2016 some time back, it is still an early stage. With the first contest coming on Feb. 1, the scelection fever is on. Here is a look at one of the major candidates.

Candidate

Hillary Clinton, Democrat

Who Hillary Clinton is

Clinton’s political profile includes a number of major achievements at the top level. She was a US First Lady from 1993 to 2001.

When she was elected to the US Senate in 2001, she was the first US First Lady ever to win a public office seat. She served as the 67th US Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.

In 2007, Clinton talked about her plans to become the first female president of the United States. However, it was Barack Obama who held a majority of the delegate vote and eventually became the US president in 2008.

What Hillary Clinton wants

One of the strongest causes Clinton is fighting for is raising American incomes. According to the official campaign website, she believes the defining economic challenge of the present time is raising incomes for hardworking US citizens.

“From her first day in office to the last, Hillary Clinton will fight for you and for more take-home pay so you can get ahead and stay ahead,” Clinton’s campaign says.

“Hillary understands that in order to raise incomes, we need strong growth, fair growth, and long-term growth.”

The former US Secretary of State also claims to have a plan for defeating Islamic State terrorism. She believes “old school tactics” are not going to work while trying to defeat a terrorist group like ISIS.

“ISIS and global jihadists are recruiting, training, and inciting violence on social media—breeding a growing network of terrorists around the world,” the campaign website quotes her as saying.

“The U.S. needs to work with our partners around the world to be just as savvy.”

Whom Hillary Clinton is fighting against

There are only three Democrats in the race. That leaves Clinton with two rivals: Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders.

According a CNN/ORC poll in December, Clinton leads Sanders 58 per cent to 30 per cent, with O'Malley registering just 2 percent. According to majorities of Democratic voters, Clinton is trusted most on foreign policy (74 per cent), being commander-in-chief (64 per cent) and handling ISIS (59 per cent).