Hillary Clinton/Supporters Need to Face Reality

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Wednesday April 27, 2016 · 7:19 PM PDT

2016/04/27 · 19:19

Throughout the Democratic Primary, Hillary Clinton has been treated as the anointed one. Her only real challenger in the primary is an aged Jewish senator who is both a lifelong independent and a self admitted socialist, and her competition for the general election would either be a sentient toupee or a greasy rat — neither of which have the support of the GOP establishment. To all appearances at the beginning of the race, she had this in the bag. So what changed? Hillary Clinton happened to her campaign. Campaigning is a process of appealing to the people, and both Clinton and her supporters have ensured that she has as little appeal to outsiders as possible. From painful attempts at appealing to millennials to her focus on military might, Hillary Clinton is out of touch at best and dangerous at worst. Her history (and present) of pushing for USA led military inventions is out of place in the Democratic Party, and she’s absolutely unapologetic about her track record. Despite the clown car that is Donald Trump and Company, Hillary Clinton could quite possibly be worse on the international stage than Donald Trump.

This gets at the heart of what is wrong with Clinton. Every single person has flaws. However, Clinton has demonstrated time and again that she is incapable of reflection, and covers for her flaws with inane pandering. The time to pivot on a military driven foreign policy is still open to her, and would allow her to recover a number of disillusioned ex-Democratic voters (like myself). I, for one, will not vote in the presidential candidate that has promised the most in terms of military action overseas. I can deal with everything else about her, but her appetite for war is terrifying.

Furthermore, Clinton supporters are largely responsible for the turn-off of an enormous amount of people. From the beginning, Sanders supporters have been told about their “responsibility” to vote for Clinton once she inevitably won the primary from Clinton’s rabid fans. Sanders was treated as an invalid candidate, who would offer paltry resistance before going off into a quiet corner after a quick defeat. What Clinton supporters seem to lack any perspective on is the sheer number of independents who *do not* have any loyalty to the Democratic Party, many of whom are like myself ex-Democrats who left and only returned temporarily to vote for Sanders in the primary. Voters like myself have no interest in the Democratic Party proper, and therefore have nothing but scorn for those who act as if all those that vote for Sanders will automatically vote for Clinton. Clinton will have to court Sanders supporters, and as of yet all she’s done is treat said supporters with contempt for getting in the way of her inevitable coronation.

To get back to the supporters, it seems that Clinton supporters believe that they have been actually doing so. Time and again, we’re told that we must do everything to prevent a Trump presidency. Voting for Clinton has been framed by her supporters as akin to a parent persuading a child to eat their broccoli ~ you may not like it, but it’s good for you. This condescending narrative has excused Clinton from moving left on issues Sanders supporters care about — even issues she once supported. Her decision to treat universal healthcare as a pipe dream not worthy of her attention except to bash as unreal has infuriated those that believe that the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States being exclusive to the United States among developed countries is absurd. Clinton supporters, for their part, have adopted the GOP talking points to combat the issue that Clinton once championed (and hilariously forgot she did so with Sanders himself), and ensured that their talk of actually caring about the poor and downtrodden is seen as the sham that it is.

So, where do we go from here? As of yet, I’ve yet to address how Clinton and her supporters need to face reality. I’ve given an explanation of the problems, but not a fix. So, let’s talk fixes.

First, Clinton needs to veer left. She doesn’t need to hit democratic socialist territory, but universal healthcare is not exclusively democratic socialist territory anywhere but the United States (and even here that’s changing). Support for universal healthcare won’t win her any right-wing converts, but she's not likely to get them anyway.
She needs to first acknowledge, and then apologize for her record on war. This apology needs to be immediately followed by an about-face, and a pledge to get out of the Middle East — or at least end the drone strikes. Nothing breeds terrorism like indiscriminate killing by a foreign power.
She needs to acknowledge that she is not guaranteed the votes of Sanders supporters. Her casual dismissal of issues like this is particularly irritating to millennials, of whom (as noted) have not been her strongest group of supporters.
She needs to bring all of this home by bringing Sanders on board. I’m not advocating her to ask him to be VP (would actually be a poor role for Sanders), but promising to appoint him as either Secretary of Treasury or Health and Human Services where he could do a lot of good would go a long way to making amends with supporters she drastically needs.
Last, and most certainly not least, both Clinton and supporters need to quit acting like avoiding a Trump presidency is enough to get people to support her. Aside from the likelihood that such an event would not be the apocalypse that Clinton and her supporters have made it out to be, supporters need to have reasons to be for a presidential candidate, not just against their opponent. This narrative of dutifully picking the lesser of two evils does not make a presidential candidate.

While this news may be distasteful to Clinton supporters, there are millions of Sanders supporters who are quite willing to watch the party that abandoned them burn for having done so. Considering that figures estimate around 44% of voters are currently registered independents, Hillary Clinton can’t win on establishment support alone. This is the reality that Clinton and her supporters need to face, or watch as a sentient toupee steals her predestined coronation.

Dear Clinton Supporters, Let's Talk

Vesheeth

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Friday March 18, 2016 · 9:45 PM PDT

2016/03/18 · 21:45

First and foremost, I am going to make some statements for the sake of transparency. I am a Bernie Sanders supporter. I am staunchly anti-Clinton. However, this is not a Sanders conversion post. The intent of this post isn't (in intent) to attack Clinton. I want to start an open and honest (and yes, a critical) dialogue.

I am here because I believe there is a non-zero chance of Clinton winning the primary, and if that is the case, I will plug my nose and take anti-nausea medication and vote for her in the general election. However, I would prefer not to be quite so disgusted with doing so. So, why am I here? I would like you to help me understand why you so strongly support her that you're actively trying to help her win the nomination. What appeals to you? Specifically, what eases your mind on the following questions, or makes them a non-issue?

1) History with Large Corporations Hillary Clinton served on the board of Walmart for a number of years. She has avoided making real statements on pushing for a progressive minimum wage, and I personally feel like we won't see a minimum wage increase under Clinton.

2) Being a War Hawk Clinton championed a regime change in Honduras that has led to the violent oppression of the native people. She voted for the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, and publicly stated we should never have toned down operations in Iraq. She was quick to jump the gun in Libya, which has created a haven for ISIS, and has criticized Obama for not being quicker to deploy troops to address ISIS, and wants to deploy more troops to Syria. In this, she most genuinely worries me, as I believe this is the one issue where she would actually be worse than Ted Cruz.

3) Wall Street Yes, I know this is likely every Clinton-supporter's least favorite subject by now, but please, explain to me why this is a non-issue to you. Obviously the big banks aren't taking any of her rhetoric about financial reform seriously, as they're continuing to donate to her campaign. I honestly feel as though banking regulations would get even more lax under Clinton.

4) Crime/Private Prisons During President Clinton's administration, Hillary was instrumental in pushing for minimum sentencing laws. These laws have had a terrible impact on our nation, with more citizens now incarcerated per capita than China or even Russia. Furthermore, private prisons have continuously donated to her various public office campaigns, and while she stated she will no longer accept their donations, she has also not stated that she'll work to shut them down. In addition, she is not in favor of legalizing marijuana, a drug demonstrated to be (at the very least) no more harmful than alcohol. Instead, hundreds of thousands of Americans are currently behind bars for marijuana offenses, and she seems to be fine with that. This is something that I find incredibly difficult to stomach, especially with her past rhetoric on black inner city kids being "super predators".

The Tea Party vs The Green Party

Vesheeth

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Thursday July 24, 2014 · 3:47 PM PDT

2014/07/24 · 15:47

This is definitely meant as more of an open invitation for discussion than a declaration or reporting of fact - just as a preface. This is my first Daily Kos diary, so go easy.

Am I the only person here bothered by the fact that Tea Party Republicans are free to call themselves such, openly identifying with what should be an entirely different faction that has sprouted up within the Republican Party? Should the Tea Party not be required to become its own separate political party within the US separate from and in opposition to all existing parties including the Republican Party? How is it that a party like the Republican Party can be hijacked from within by those who are openly spouting non-party beliefs?

Poll

58 votes Show Results

Should the Tea Party remain a subsection of the Republican Party and not be forced to stand on its own?

58 votes Vote Now!

Should the Tea Party remain a subsection of the Republican Party and not be forced to stand on its own?

Make it stand on its own

38 votes

Let them stay as radical Republicans.

20 votes

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