SandeshIndia

Women Politics

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The way a society treats women and girls is an indicator of democracy, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday at a conference on women and politics at Furman University. Clinton spoke to about 2,000 people at the university's Richard W. Riley Institute. Clinton, the first former first lady elected to the U.S. Senate, said she first spoke out against the oppression of women by the Taliban during her husband President Bill Clinton's administration. The Taliban regime has attacked girls' schools and women's clinics and made women fear for their safety, she said. Americans have a duty to lift up the roles of girls and women abroad, Clinton said. "Where women participate, it is more likely democracy will flourish and take root," she said. Women also need to be more politically active in our own country, Clinton said. South Carolina has among the lowest percentages of women elected to public office. Many women may be turned off by the obstacles of raising money, juggling family responsibilities and the fear of facing negative campaigning, Clinton said. Clinton said her decision to run for public office was a leap of faith. Many tried to persuade her to run but the turning point came from the comments of one young woman, she said. Clinton said she was speaking at a New York event to celebrate the anniversary of the Title 9 provision that opened up sports activities to girls. While greeting female athletes, one basketball player leaned down and whispered, "Dare to compete, Mrs. Clinton. Dare to compete." Many women are qualified to compete, she said. Those that do also have an obligation to other young women, she said. Clinton said she hopes to see a mentoring program develop at Furman out of the two-day conference. Before the speech, Bob Kunst from Miami Beach, Fla. sold anti-Republican bumper stickers and pins outside. All the proceeds from the sales go toward his group's campaign to draft Clinton as president, he said. Kunst said he had a good response from visitors Monday in the conservative Upstate city. "People have said it's a breakthrough for them to have Hillary here," he said. Greenville resident Margaret Gaines said Clinton is one woman she'd vote for president. "I'd feel confident about her running the country," said Gaines, 30, a project coordinator with NuVox Communications. State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Erwin spent much of Monday at events with Clinton. The topic of a Clinton bid for the White House didn't come up, Erwin said. But Clinton wanted to know how the presidential "candidates were doing in the state and what things look like and who seemed to be doing well," Erwin said. Others were not as pleased to have Clinton in town. Furman University student Pete Stevenson, 20, was passing out flyers protesting the speakers at the Riley Institute's conference this week. Stevenson said he wanted to see a "more balanced speaker perspective." Clinton, a Democrat, had no Republican counterpart on stage, he said, and the Republicans scheduled to speak later this week - including South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford - are not elected officials. Still others used the opportunity to promote their own cause. Some Furman University students passed out flyers on a new feminist group on campus.

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