The central character of the autumn 2008 U.S. presidential election has taken the stage. Hillary Clinton, the New York senator, has announced her bid for the presidency.

In the U.S. midterm elections last November, the Democratic Party scored a huge victory over the Republicans to gain control of Congress. Presidential hopefuls from the Democratic Party are hoping to ride that wave of success straight to the White House.

So far, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004 and others have announced their intentions to run.

Obviously, Senator Clinton's decision to announce now was influenced by the other nominees within the party. But we cannot ignore the fact that as the situation in Iraq plunges deeper into dire straits, more Americans are hoping for a leader that is different from President George W. Bush.


Watching America