PHILADELPHIA: The US is just one step shy of electing its firstever female President. Already , Hillary Clinton has made history, with the Democratic Party formally nominating her on Tuesday as their presidential candidate -the first woman in the country’s 240-year modern, democratic existence to become the standard-bearer of a major political party .

“I can’t believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet,” Clinton told party loyalists. “If there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch, let me just say: I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next,” she added.

The momentous occasion came with theatre worthy of a vibrant, raucous and transparent democracy . An epic intraparty battle concluded on the floor of the Democratic National Convention when Hillary’s socialist rival Bernie Sanders formally ceded the fight after pacifying his diehard supporters with a roll call vote so their choice and voice could be heard and recorded. Then, Sanders himself proposed Hillary Clinton’s nomination with acclamation by delegates.

Six hours later former President Bill Clinton, famed for his silver-tongued oratory , deployed his gift for storytelling to draw a compelling portrait of a spouse who was at once a driven policy wonk, a tireless activist and a fabulous mother who now deserved her place in the political sun. In a 45-minute address, he cited numerous in stances of how she wrought policy changes as a lawyer, a senator and as secretary of state, calling her the “real deal” and contrasting her energy and intellectual heft with an opponent who has no record of public service and no ideas, and who he suggested was a “cartoon alternative”.

“She is still the best darn changemaker I have ever known,” the man who could be America’s First Gentleman told the party flock -still boiling with skeptics.

Among them was actress Susan Sarandon, a Bernie supporter, who like many of his camp followers believe the Clintons are a dodgy couple who are part of an old order that will maintain a status quo in which the elites rip off ordinary people while pretending to work for them. (PTI)