Even though everyone expected her to be the ultimate winner, Cristina Fernández Kirchner surpassed all expectations by defeating her 13 rivals so decisively in national elections held yesterday that she rendered a scheduled November 25 runoff unnecessary.
Under Argentina’s election laws, she needed 40 percent of the vote, with a lead of more than 10 percent over her nearest rival, to win outright. In fact, she won 44 percent, and led her nearest rival – interestingly enough, another woman named Elisa Carrio – by 21 percent (at the time of this posting).
But here’s how I heralded this outcome several weeks ago in an article entitled “Argentina’s First Lady poised to steal Hillary’s thunder”:
I relish the prospect of Cristina becoming the first wife in the Western Hemisphere to succeed her husband as the elected president of her country when national elections are held in Argentina on October 28.
However, the fact that Cristina’s election would make her the second elected female head of state in the Americas, after Michelle Bachelet of Chile, only heightens my glee over her one-upmanship of Hillary. Because even if Hillary were elected next year, she would still be considered only third-rate in the pantheon of historic women in regional politics….
Meanwhile, the sore losers have already indicated that they intend to file pro forma complaints about the “unprecedented fraud” that they claim ensured Cristina’s victory. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that she will succeed her husband, President Nestor Kirchner, without delay on December 10.
But kudos to Cristina for finally demanding that media commentators stop referring to her as the “new Evita Peron” or, even worse, the “Latin Hillary Clinton”; especially since such references belittle her independent career and this crowning achievement, neither of which had anything to do with riding her husband’s coattails:
I don’t want to be compared with Hillary Clinton or with Evita Peron, or with anybody….There’s nothing better than being yourself.
You go girl!
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Argentina’s First Lady poised to steal Hillary’s thunder
Cristina Kirchner Argentina
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