By Ed Diokno
If Hillary Clinton is elected President, an Asian American Muslim will be close by her side. To most people, she’s hardly noticeable. She gets lost in the crowd surrounding Democratic Presidential candidate Clinton.
A more astute observer will notice that she’s always around, staying in the background on the periphery of chaos, whispering in Clinton’s ear, creating a path for the candidate or guiding Clinton through the crowd of journalists or followers reaching out to touch the candidate.
Who is this mystery woman?
A Vogue profile written by Nathan Heller gives us a glimpse of Huma Abedin, daughter of a Pakistani mother and an Indian father, and Clinton’s closest confidant.
“To onlookers, Clinton and Abedin seem to travel the world as a single entity joined by complementary strengths,” Heller wrote. “If Clinton, in her bold suits and impeccable coifs, distills a certain era of feminist empowerment, Abedin, with her breezy downtown dresses and mobile power-dialing, is the professional face of a younger, more wired-in female generation.”
“The nature of our relationship has changed,” Abedin told Vogue. “Over the years, we’ve shared stories about our lives, we’ve shared more meals than I can count, we’ve celebrated together, we’ve mourned together.”
