I know, another "bash Hillary" diary. I’ll try to be logical and honest, and I won’t resort to nasty language or knee-jerk emotionalism. I just need to get this off my chest as I continue to read people’s comments in support of the Senator from New York.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is the obvious front-runner for the Democratic nomination for President of United States. Her campaign is run by experienced professionals. She continues to amass large amounts of money with which to campaign. The media is already portraying her as the presumptive nominee. She is very smart and I have no doubt that she would be a reasonably competent steward of the Executive Branch of our government, unlike the present gang of incompetent criminals.
Yet I can never support her. And here’s why.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is the obvious front-runner for the Democratic nomination for President of United States. Her campaign is run by experienced professionals. She continues to amass large amounts of money with which to campaign. The media is already portraying her as the presumptive nominee. She is very smart and I have no doubt that she would be a reasonably competent steward of the Executive Branch of our government, unlike the present gang of incompetent criminals.
Yet I can never support her. And here’s why.
- She contributes a divisive presence to the national political scene. Roughly half of all Americans dislike her – they’ve already made up their minds. I don’t see her able to bring those people together in an honest and courageous way. The right-wing noise machine will continue to harass her from the sidelines, making it difficult for her to focus on the tasks at hand. Sure, they’ll harass any democrat, but they’ve already got a full arsenal of weapons at the ready for Hillary.
- She lacked the courage to vote against the Iraq War Resolution and now stubbornly refuses to admit her mistake. So much has been said about this that I cannot add anything else, except to say that if a third of Americans and the Senate knew well enough to vote against the IWR, why did she not do so? I’m an average citizen and I knew not to trust Bush’s word – you mean I have better judgment than Senator Clinton? Sorry, I want my president to be SMARTER and have better judgment than me.
- She does not inspire in me hope for the future. She brings with her all the baggage of the past – the same advisors, the same DC insiders, the same addiction to big corporate money, the same fear of challenging the status quo. I find her decidedly uninspiring.
- She tries too hard to appear "tough." Stand up for what you believe with courage and you won’t have to TRY to appear tough. I have never the doubted the ability of a woman to be commander in chief of the military, and I think many people hold the same belief. I naturally distrust anyone who tries too hard to convince me of something. Tough would be facing down Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for their tacit (or worse) support of Islamic extremism.
- I cannot determine what she truly believes in, other than her own ambition to be president. Seriously, what are her core beliefs?
- She did not oppose the Bankruptcy Bill, which made it more difficult for the average citizen to declare bankruptcy. She conveniently did not vote at all, which to me looks like the action of a coward. Also, her failure to vigorously oppose such an obvious anti-consumer law makes me worried about which side of OTHER consumer issues she’ll come down on – will she favor other policies that help big corporations at the expense of consumers?
- She voted for the USA Patriot Act. Then she voted for the continuation of the Act. Her support of this bill further reinforces my view of her unwillingness to stand up and challenge the prevailing political winds of the day.
- I don’t want America to fall into a dynastic habit in the election of presidents. Clinton, Bush, Clinton.....Bush? Enough with the elite ruling families – we need fresh faces in the government to help bring new solutions to rapidly growing problems. Each ruling family brings with it the White House the same old gaggle of political professionals, whose past actions have helped take us to where we are now - the precipice of disaster.
- Her pandering to social conservatives by supporting flag-burning legislation and speaking out against violent video games. I believe these actions are her attempts to make herself appear less liberal and more moderate and therefore, more palatable to voters in a national election. This doesn’t say "leadership" to me. Rather it says "political calculation." We’ve had enough of that, haven’t we?
- The Bubba distraction. Like it or not, Bill Clinton is a larger than life figure. He will continue to be a distraction from Hillary’s presidency.
- I know this may not be her own fault, but Hillary Clinton frequently uses a shrill tone when she speaks. It is off-putting to say the least. At LEAST as offensive as President George W. Bush’s inability to craft a coherent sentence.
- I don’t know where she stands on these issues, which are very important to me:
- If elected, when and how will she end our involvement in the Iraq Civil War?
- Will she push for Universal Health Care, which we desperately need, or will she support smaller, safer reforms that simply cover more uninsured Americans under the current broken system?
- Will she continue to base our foreign policy on oil security or will she use the bully pulpit of the presidency to push significant investment in alternate fuels so we remove foreign oil, and by extension the Middle East, from our foreign policy calculations?
- What specific steps will she take to fight global warming?
- How will she global terrorism? Will she continue the Bush war on terror or will she challenge Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries to do more to fight Islamic terrorism and, if they fail to do so, will she pledge to take strong action regardless?
- How does she intend to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of rogue nations?
- Will she support the rights of average citizens to challenge the power of big corporations, through the formation of labor unions and in the courts?
- Does she support continued consolidation of the media?
- Where does she stand on immigration reform, which is a HUGE issue for many Americans and presents a real opportunity to bring people together?
I believe many if not all of these issues are at the point of crisis and demand bold action, creative new thinking, and a national leader who can bring Americans together to support dramatic change. Senator Clinton’s divisive presence will prevent Americans from coming together. She seems more determined to act on political calculation than on serious core beliefs. Her reluctance to challenge the conventional Washington DC wisdom is alarming. It tells me that she will NOT propose and fight for bold policy changes but will tinker safely on the edges of national policy just enough to please the Democratic base and gain re-election, but the large problems facing us and our children will remain unsolved.
THAT is why I cannot support Hillary Clinton for president. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever. She represents the flip side of the Republican/Democratic coin – the elites who run the government and the country and couldn’t care less about the real needs of the average American. Sure she’ll be better than the current president. I’m certain she’ll eventually pull our troops out of Iraq (but whoever is elected President in 2008 will do this). I’m sure our allies around the world will look more favorably upon us if she is president (but again, anybody elected in 2008 will enjoy this response). But our problems cry out for more than just competency-by-comparison.
This is why people are supporting Barack Obama. He represents to them a fresh face, the HOPE that maybe, just maybe, here’s somebody who will at least be willing to stand and fight for the bold policy changes that we need in this country.
Update: To those of you kind commenters who demand facts, I did try to check Hillary's voting record on many of these issues. However, I found contradictory information on different web sites. So I left that stuff out; I'm no reporter and I'm happy to let others point to the facts of her voting.
On the Bankruptcy Bill vote, sure she might have voted AGAINST cloture on that, but I'm a working stiff and I want to see the final vote. I want a leader who will actually be there to vote against final passage of a bill that might someday threaten my financial well-being. I'm tired of these calculating senators NOT brave enough to stand up publicly and put their vote where their mouth is. Sorry, but there you have it.