An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton
Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 07:06:08 AM PDT
Dear Hillary,
I know you must be disappointed at the loss in Iowa. But you finished in a virtual tie for second In Iowa, something that would not have been possible if you had not had a good ground game and so many dedicated volunteers. Your work in Iowa helped contribute to a record caucus for Democrats, some 236,000 participants in the Democratic caucus alone. As you noted afterward, this participation bodes well for the Democratic party in November 2008 and you helped make it happen.
According to the stats that are being tossed about you did better among those over 65, married women and those voters who preferred experience. Unfortunately you did not do as well among any other groups, especially among younger voters and those wanting change.
Here are my suggestions about where to go from here:
1. Embrace the historic victory of Barack Obama in Iowa.
It is a good day in this country when an African American can win a presidential primary in a mostly white state. This represents a historical marker of progress.
2. You were young once during a time of an unpopular war. Talk more, especially with younger voters, about what you did then and how that affects your decisions now.
Tell them how the Vietnam War a very anguished time for you and how that moved you to resign as president of the Young Republicans at Wellesley as a freshman. And tell them that by your senior year you were working for anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy, driving to new Hampshire on weekends.
Tell them how you helped organize "teach-ins" at Wellesley on the war and on Civil Rights. Tell them about your experience in Grant Park watching the '68 Democratic Convention and how that was a defining moment in your life because it convinced you that if you objected to the war and wanted to do something about it, the best thing to do was to become a policy-maker yourself.
Tell them how the war affected you and your friend Wesley Clark, that both of you believe that the threat of force is a legitimate tool but that it should only be used as a last last last resort.
Tell them how you believe the threat of force is necessary in some situations to stand up to tyrants and megalomaniacs. Tell them how you urged force when diplomacy failed to stop the slaughter of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. But constrast that with how you intended the threat of force to be used to get the weapons inspectors into Iraq and urged to president not to go to war until the weapons inspectors had finished and unless he had a broad coalition that would make the war end quickly with relatively little loss of life and actually go to war only as a last resort. It's OK to remind voters that at least one of your opponents not named John Edwards has changed his rhetoric on the AUMF to match the circumstances.
Remind them that you were concerned about the threat of a nuclear Iran even when the Bush administration was just rattling sabers and be sure to point out that you urged not war but sanctions against Iran. Tell them that at the same time you were calling for sanctions you were being clear that President Bush should not go to war with Iran unless he had specific congressional approval, half a year before the Webb amendment.
Tell them that you felt Iran was dangerous because of the threats to Lebanon and Israel, if not Iraq, and that you signed Kyl Lieberman as a way of getting diplomatic leverage against Iran, making sure, along with other Democratic Senators to take out the part that would have given President Bush an excuse to use the military against Iran. And don't forget to remind them that all three of the principal players in rescuing the Kosovo Albanians from Milosevic. Madeleine Albright, Richard Holbrooke and Wes Clark, the three heroes that you helped when they stood up to a Pentagon that was refusing to intervene, supported the vote and pointed out that the final legislation did not include the part that was likely put in the document to use as an excuse to start a war with Iran.
And while you're at it, be sure that although they seem to deny it now, both the other top contenders said that if Iran had nuclear weapons they would be willing to bomb Iran.
Explain to younger voters especially that you understand their opposition to the Iraq War and War with Iran because of your experience as a young person during Vietnam. Explain that your goal is not to start wars but to use the threat of force as one tool in a diplomatic effort to prevent actual war unless absolutely necessary, as in Kosovo. Explain that you also pushed for intervention in Rwanda, but were unsuccessful there.
3. Explain to voters that your experience at the 1968 convention applied not only to stopping war but that you learned that if you want to have a real affect on anything, the best thing to do was to become a policy-maker yourself.
Talk about how eager you were to get health care for everyone back before it was on the radar for most folks. Explain that you didn't want a watered down plan but fought hard for what looked like the right plan at the time. Talk about how important it is for leaders to know what the right direction is and to be just a little ahead of the people you are leading. Explain that the electorate was not as supportive of health care then as it is now, that you were too far ahead of where the people were.
Explain that even the best intentioned can sometimes become cynics when they get into politics. Talk about how you were originally opposed to NAFTA but relented because there was a lot of support for NAFTA at the time and it looked like it would give Bill a chance to claim he had accomplished something. Explain that although it is hard to understand now, that Bill really needed the passage of something big like NAFTA at the time. Explain that having to give in on one thing to be able to do other things is one of the biggest reasons people come to Washington as idealists and leave as cynics. Also explain that if there had been as much outcry from the Democratic base against NAFTA as there is today, it would have been a lot easier to oppose it back then.
Explain that a lot of things have changed for the better since you and Bill were trying to figure out how to make progress happen 15 years ago when he first took office. Talk about how we already have change in the electorate and what we need now is someone with the experience to know how to use the changes and unite the country behind a progressive agenda.
Conclusion: Be yourself.
Don't be afraid to talk about what you hold in your heart of hearts, how you have worked hard to shatter the glass ceiling for women and worked for rights for children and women. Talk about all the things you wanted to do when you were young and what you want to do now. Talk about how you have changed on some things and not changed on others. Talk about your progressive record. Talk about how you have voted with the people rather than with corportations. Talk about where you want to lead the country.
Best wishes,
Mike Pridmore
Permalink | 47 comments