I used to admire Hillary Clinton. I thought she would make an extremely strong nominee and a very solid president. I still respect her but over the last several months I have become so unbelievably disappointed with the way she is running her campaign. I resented both her and Obama originally for hoarding media time against equally qualified candidates like Joe Biden. When it became clear that this was a two person race, I was actually leaning towards supporting her for several days. However, her conduct has left me (a strong Clarkie) with a bitterly sour taste in my mouth. I’m writing this for all the people left supporting Hillary to try to explain why she has driven so many people away. She really is an attractive candidate on paper, she has taken so much crap in her life, and it would be amazing to have a woman in the White House. I’m not disputing any of that. It does not excuse the kind of conduct we have seen.
Dismissing Obama’s South Carolina Win
The first thing that caused me to scratch my head about the Clintons was Bill’s comments in South Carolina. After Obama’s big win, Bill Clinton, according to the Washington Post, "was busy downplaying the significance of Obama's impending win, casting it as a function of the state's demographics." There was a lot of talk at the time that Obama may have been becoming "the black candidate" and it’s my guess that Bill knew exactly what he was saying when he tried to frame Obama’s win as a result of exclusive support from African Americans.
Staying on the Ballot in Michigan
First of all, Barack Obama and John Edwards both took their names off the ballot in Michigan in cooperation with the DNC over the scheduling of the primary. Hillary refused to take her name off. She defended the move in October by saying,
"I just personally did not want to set up a situation where the Republicans are going to be campaigning between now and whenever, and then after the nomination, we have to go in and repair the damage to be ready to win Michigan in 2008."
To me this seemed like a red herring because she also agreed not to have any kind of campaign in the state. How can you claim you are keeping your name on the ballot as to not offend the voters of Michigan, but agree to ignore the state at the same time? It was an excuse. She also said in October that,
"It's clear, this election they're having is not going to count for anything."
It’s easy to win a state when your name is the only one on the ballot and now that she has won, she has publicly declared that Michigan’s delegates should be seated at the convention. To anyone who was impartial at this point, this move was extremely unfair. She said that the election would not count, but when she realized that those delegates would be important, she changed her mind.
Celebrating in Florida
The Florida primary took place soon after Michigan and Hillary was the victor. Again with this state, all the candidates agreed not to campaign, and no delegates were to be awarded according to rules set down by the DNC. Essentially this was a similar situation as Michigan where "this election they’re having is not going to count for anything." Just several minutes after the results were announced in Florida, Hillary touched down and threw a victory celebration rally with supporters in the state. The beginning of her speech was televised on all the cable networks. As me and my girlfriend sat in our dorm and watched what was happening, we thought, "What is she doing?" There she was, acting as if she had won the state, when there had been no campaign whatsoever. Not only that, but she declared that she would fight to get Florida’s delegates seated! Some people may say her move is smart for the general, but it felt like cheating to me. I felt like she wanted to change the rules after the fact, only if the changes prescribed benefited her campaign.
Social Security in Arizona
As Super Tuesday approached, I wasn’t quite sure who to support. I was leaning slightly towards Obama when I read about a robo call the Clinton campaign was using to shore up support among seniors in Arizona. The call said, among other things that,
"Barack Obama has said when it comes to Social Security all options should be put on the table. That includes raising the retirement age and cutting benefits. He has even proposed raising Social Security taxes by a trillion dollars."
If you read Obama’s website, it is quite clear where he stands on the retirement age, "Obama will protect Social Security benefits for current and future beneficiaries alike. And he does not believe it is necessary or fair to hardworking seniors to raise the retirement age." I always admired during the debates that Obama would have the spine to propose raising the cap on social security taxes, which I think most people would find reasonable. Hillary has never in this campaign proposed anything specific about social security. She has said we need to be fiscally responsible and have a commission on the subject. It is dishonest what she did in Arizona: falsely attack Obama on social security when she herself has proposed nothing because she doesn’t want to talk about raising taxes in an election year.
Excuses for Losing
After Obama’s South Carolina win was dismissed, a new belittlement of opposition began. The Clinton campaign and Clinton supporters have repeatedly tried to belittle Obama’s wins in caucus states. This criticism may be valid in a normal election year, but turnout in caucus states have been unprecedented in this campaign. It is a testament to the superior organization of Obama’s campaign that he has been able to win so handily in most of the caucuses. In addition to this, he has won primaries in Utah, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, D.C., Delaware, and Connecticut. After the Wisconsin primary, the Clinton team actually tried to spin it as a win because they had "narrowed the gap" in some of the demographics since Virginia. A 17 point loss is still a loss. I hope that if Hillary is the nominee we won’t have to put up with this kind of ludicrous spin and excuses for failure.
Plagiarism and "Change You Can Xerox"
Before the Wisconsin primary is was found out that a couple lines Barack Obama had been using in his speeches to argue that words do matter had actually been taken from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Hillary tried to use the fact to attack Obama in Wisconsin, and the attack failed miserably. When she brought it up at the Texas debate, she said,
"This isn’t change you can believe in, it’s change you can Xerox."
The line was met with boos from the audience and Hillary became visibly agitated. She reiterated that "it raises serious questions" after the boos died down. I can’t imagine a more petty attack on a fellow democrat than this. In an election where we are at war, our standing in the world has collapsed, and where 50,000,000 of our neighbors lack healthcare, Hillary chose to attack Obama on plagiarism. She seemed to forget that Patrick actually told Obama to use the lines and that he is a close friend and a national Co-Chair for the Obama campaign. Headlines around the nation the next day read "Clinton Accuses Obama of Plagiarism at Texas Debate" and no doubt millions of people sighed because they thought that politics was actually changing for the better. This kind of petty absurdity is what causes people to lose hope in their leaders.
False Outrage, "Shame on You, Barack Obama"
Yesterday in Ohio, Hillary Clinton unloaded on Barack Obama just two days after being "so proud" to be with him at the Texas debate. Visibly angry in front of the cameras, she said,
"Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics right out of Karl Rove's playbook. This is wrong, and every Democrat should be outraged...shame on you, Barack Obama!"
She was angry about mailers the Obama campaign had sent out, the first of which claimed she supported NAFTA in the 1990’s and the second of which claims her healthcare plan would force families who can’t afford it to purchase healthcare. Both of these charges are basically true. Hillary has changed her position on NAFTA. Although the mailers don’t mention the help that Hillary’s plan gives to people who can’t afford healthcare (tax incentives), it is true if people STILL can’t afford it, they are likely to face a fine or garnished wages. What gets me about this is that the mailers have been going around for at least several weeks, maybe months. Hillary’s outrage is purely false. She is either trying desperately to bring down Obama as her campaign sinks further and further, or she genuinely just found out about the mailers – in which case her campaign is utterly incompetent.
Mocking Obama and Unity in Rhode Island
Just today at a Rally in Rhode Island, Hillary Clinton openly mocked Barack Obama and the idea of bringing people together,
"Some would say, let's get everybody together, let's get unified. The sky will open. The light will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing. And everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect."
This one speaks for itself. Have a look at the mocking tone she took while saying it.
Hillary Clinton has been dishonest in this campaign about Michigan, Florida, and Social Security. Her campaign has belittled Obama’s wins in South Carolina and in the caucus states. She has come up with excuses for losing, and now resulted to expressing fake outrage about Obama’s tactics and to openly mocking him and the idea of unity and hope at her rallies. She has said he needs a "reality check" and that he is "peddling false hopes." She has implied that only she (and not Obama) will be ready to defend America on day one and has noted that terrorists like to test new leaders. After having this idea of a what a strong leader she is in my head, I am utterly speechless at what I have seen from her in this campaign. Forget experience, forget change. Hillary Clinton’s campaign has been a disaster. Obama’s has been run with great skill. If the contrast in the way these campaigns have been run is any indicator as to how they will run the White House, I want Barack Obama as my president.