Recently I've been arguing here that Hillary's core strength is her reputation as a strong Democrat, that she's been a consistent fighter for progressive economic causes, and that she balances out Edwards's righteousness with Obama's conciliation.
Recently the Obama people have been hitting hard on the idea that he is the only one who can reach across the aisle and build a coalition of Americans of different party identifications. Obama even said in the LV debate that that was the only thing he thought he offered that the other candidates did not, and that is why he was running for President.
Well, that reason is flawed, because Hillary's record belies his claim that he is the only one who can work with Republicans or defuse polarization. The record is not just talk, or hope, or in the future, it is real and proven, it has already happened:
Only eight years have passed since Lindsey Graham, then an ambitious Republican member of the House, paraded over to the Senate each day to argue the impeachment case against President Bill Clinton.
How things have changed....
And the two are increasingly close allies and friends, working together on high-profile issues from military benefits to manufacturing, traveling together on extended trips overseas, even publicly praising each other.
Mr. Graham recently wrote a glowing tribute to Mrs. Clinton for Time magazine's coming 100 Most Influential People issue, in which he calls her a "smart, prepared, serious senator" who "has managed to build unusual political alliances on a variety of issues with Republicans."
"I don't want her to be president," Mr. Graham said in an interview. "We're polar opposites on many issues. But we have been able to find common ground."
The pairing may be odd, but it is not unique or, from Mrs. Clinton's perspective, accidental.
Her tactical alliances with Republicans, although fodder for political analysis as she runs for re-election in New York and prepares for a presidential bid, also provide a window into how she operates in the Senate.
With Senator Trent Lott, she worked on improving the Federal Emergency Management Agency. With Representative Tom DeLay it was foster children. Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, jumped in with her on a health care initiative, and the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, was a partner on legislation concerning computerized medical records.
The list goes on: Senator Robert Bennett on flag-burning; Senator Rick Santorum on children's exposure to graphic images; Senator John Sununu on S.U.V. taillights; Senator Mike DeWine on asthma.
And virtually every Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, whose Republican chairman, John Warner, speaks admiringly of Mrs. Clinton's "remarkable core of inner strength."
...
Her advisers say the cooperation can also bolster the argument that she is above the political fray, and interested merely in trying to "get things done" in a divided Senate. "She went to the Senate saying, 'O.K., what do I need to do to get things done? How can I be effective?' " said Ann Lewis, the communications director for Friends of Hillary. "And that is how you get things done."
Being able to work with the other side has not dampened the courage of her convictions:
She has voted with Democrats more than 95 percent of the time since taking office, according to Congressional Quarterly.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Nor is it just an ability to work with Republican politicians.
New York state, 2004 Presidential election:
![Image Hosted by ImageShack.us](http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/5118/ge2004mk4.gif)
![](http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/5118/ge2004mk4.700867a4a4.jpg)
2006 Senatorial election:
![Image Hosted by ImageShack.us](http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/124/se2006nc4.png)
Now certainly, a Senatorial election is not a Presidential, and she did no better than Chuck Schumer in 2004. But Chuck Schumer was never rumored to be a Presidential candidate, and by November 2006 it was fairly clear that Hillary would probably run for President. All but four of the Bush counties in upstate New York voted for her knowing that there was a high chance she'd run for President. For what it's worth her performance in these areas was better than any Democratic Presidential candidate since 1964.
Part of her secret is a willingness to forgive and forget. When we are willing to do, a surprisingly large number from the other side are willing to do so as well. Symbolized by her reconciliation with Sam Brownback at a prayer meeting in which he apologized for demonizing her and she accepted.
The learning came in part of necessity, and has produced real results for real people. Although her 1994 universal health care plan did not succeed, a part of it did:
Before Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Task Force floundered in 1994, it developed a fallback plan, described in its documents as "Kids First," to achieve government controlled universal health care "phased in by population, beginning with children. Kids First is really a precursor to the new system."
In 1997, "Kids First" became SCHIP, as President Clinton the First persuaded enough Republicans (led by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch) to join Democrats like Sen. Ted Kennedy in creating the program. The initials stand for "State Children’s Health Insurance Program,"
...Today, of 78 million children in America, 29.5 million get health care from Medicaid, and another 6.5 million get it from SCHIP.
As to what role Sen. Clinton had in creating the program- since she had no office at the time, she can't claim sole credit, even though it came out of her health care plan. But she did play a significant role:
Gene Sperling, a Hillary Clinton campaign adviser who served as one of President Clinton's lead budget negotiators in 1997, said efforts to include children's health coverage were constrained by a balanced budget agreement between the White House and Republican congressional leaders.
But he said Hillary Clinton pushed hard and even favored boosting the price tag to $24 billion, instead of the $16 billion that had been floated as a compromise.
...
While Kennedy is widely viewed as the driving force behind the program, by all accounts the former first lady's pressure was crucial.
"She wasn't a legislator, she didn't write the law, and she wasn't the president, so she didn't make the decisions," says Nick Littlefield, then a senior health adviser to Kennedy. "But we relied on her, worked with her and she was pivotal in encouraging the White House to do it."
Eventually, the $24 billion legislation was enacted.
Part of her secret is working on practical issues that may not get the most interest but which are equally important for the American people, Democrats, Republicans and independents.
Like expanded health coverage for national guards and reservists, which she won by working with Lindsey Graham and Patrick Leahy and Mike DeWine while on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Talking about ways to revitalize rural America in upstate New York and helping establish the community renewal initiative. Proposing legislation on rural communities and broadband. Talking about body armor for the troops, and gulf war syndrome (yes, as early as 12+ years ago). Talking about food safety food safety. The Space Review said her Civil Space Policy was
...probably the best and most realistic one we can expect from a Democrat.
There is certainly a lot more out there about what she has done and show she has found common ground with Americans on the other side.
I'm sure there will be some people who say that no matter what she has done in New York or in Congress, she'll never be able to work with Republicans because they just hate her too much. Newt Gingrich, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Sam Brownback, etc. etc. can all find her likable, but "real" Republicans will always hate her.
To that I can only point to the record of the current administration. The Bush administration came in, and especially after 9/11, was a "likable" administration. Bush had strong personal favorables, which continued even into 2005, running ahead of his approval ratings. But it didn't matter what people wanted to believe about him, or wanted to like him. By governing in a hyperpartisan, corrupt and secretive manner, he made himself a polarizing figure. The perceptions of him in 2000 changed because after he came to the Presidency, his actions did not live up to those perceptions. The result is the most polarizing political period in living memory.
Hillary Clinton is the opposite of Bush. Because of her high name recognition and long association with liberal causes, Republicans start out unfavorable toward her. But she is the opposite of Bush in that she has demonstrated and proven both a willingness and ability to work across the aisle-- get results, and change conservatives' view of her even while keeping a liberal voting record and supporting progressive policies. If she continues that approach as President, she will end up not only far less polarizing than the current Bush but far less polarizing than she is perceived to be.
I'm sure Obama could find ways, perhaps has found ways, to do so as well. But his claim to be the only candidate who would reach across the aisle, which he cites as the reason for his candidacy, is not supported by the facts.
A candidate who can work with the other side because of the courage of his convictions? Obama's very good at descriptions, but he might as well be descibing Senator Clinton.