He had not seen such a good-looking woman in Argentina politics since Eva Peron, who died 55 years ago, he said.

The designer’s comments, however ungallant to the other two women who were also running for president, show how Cristina, wife of ex-president Nestor Kirchner captured the limelight.

Since Cristina announced in July that she was standing for president, people have talked about the similarities between her and Argentina’s legendary first lady, Evita.

Eva Peron was an elegant woman who liked to wear fashionable clothes, and was a compelling public speaker. Cristina has the same vibrant way of speaking, and also enjoys dressing well. But the similarities can only be pursued so far. Cristina comes from a middle-class family while Evita was born into a poor, rural household.
Cristina, who was a senator for the province of Buenos Aires, was involved in politics for a long time before her husband was elected president and she assumed the mantle of first lady. Evita was an actress when she met her husband, Juan Peron.

In 1951, more than two million people gathered in the centre of Buenos Aires to urge Evita to run as vice-president for her husband, who was seeking re-election. Despite her huge popularity among Argentina’s poor, her failing health combined with opposition from the country’s elite and military, deterred her from running.

Evita was a radical figure that divided Argentines along very clear lines. The lower classes loved her, while a large part of the middle class and the whole of the upper class hated her. Cristina’s support base is more diverse, and although she identifies with traditional Peronist values such as social equality and the support of local industries, she is also keen to attract foreign investors.

And then there is the age difference. Cristina is 54 and has a son who is 30. Evita was 33 when she died of cancer.

Perhaps stronger parallels can be drawn between Cristina Kirchner and US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. Cristina herself has welcomed the comparisons with Hillary, who she has praised as an “intelligent and modern woman”.

Both, of course, met their future husbands in college while studying law and both saw them rise to become governor and then president.

Cristina had been a senator since 1995, while Hillary has represented the state of New York in the US Senate since 2001. And as in the US with the Clintons, there is talk of a political dynasty with the Kirchners in Argentina. But here the differences emerge. Hillary has yet to win the nomination of her party.

Hillary has had to present and publicly defend what she intends to do as president. One of the biggest criticisms against Cristina was that her campaign promises were vague and that she did not debate them in public.
BBC News