go giants! go hillary!
Feb. 3rd, 2008 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fearlesstempI just came across someone on LJ who posted saying that they didn't know whether to support Obama or Clinton on Tuesday, could people please try to convince them? It was too tempting for me to pass up, and so I ended up typing up this long-ass list of why I'm supporting Hillary Clinton, which I'm going to include here under a cut tag, mostly because if I don't and she goes on to lose Super Tuesday, I will totally believe it was my fault for not posting this list. Kind of like how my brother's been wearing the same sweatshirt every Sunday since the Giants started winning.
First things first: I'm a registered, die-hard Democrat who will support whoever wins the nomination. My reasons for supporting Hillary Clinton are kind of light on policy because I feel that she and Obama are pretty close on policy - so close that their differences wouldn't be enough to swing me one way or the other. My loyalty is, first and foremost, to the platform of the Democratic party, which I believe has the best ideas when it comes to creating a more inclusive society that's prepared to face the new challenges of the future. I also believe that the Democratic party is more committed to promoting the welfare of all Americans (not just the wealthy and privileged).
I believe Hillary Clinton is the candidate that will take that platform to the presidency.
Why I'm Voting for Hillary Clinton
1. She is not as divisive as the media paints her to be. The media has consistently misunderstood America's relationship with the Clintons from his election as president to the present day. His approval ratings through the impeachment, Lewinsky scandal, etc., stayed high in spite of right-wing outrage and massive media coverage. Sure, there are a lot of people who hate the Clintons - they're called Republicans. Do you know why they hate the Clintons? Because the Clintons win. Anecdotal evidence: My grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousin, all who voted for Bush twice, are planning to vote for her rather than any Republican contender (including John McCain).
2. I think Hillary is tough enough to withstand a presidential election, both as an individual and because she's running with a team that's won twice before.
3. She is incredibly smart and well-versed in terms of policy and the world at large; I honestly believe she's the most-prepared candidate out there when it comes to being president. She's the person I want running the country. In a crisis, I would feel completely comfortable with her making the calls. In peacetime, I completely trust her to be making decisions that would benefit the welfare of all Americans.
4. She's been a great Senator for New York State. I've contacted her office a few times on bills that interest me, and I've always gotten a response, and often now receive updates on her legislative actions. She seems to have a well-run office (can't say the same for Schumer, my other Senator, who I also like).
5. On a personal level, I really like her. I am rooting for her the way I root for a sports team, or an artist I love, or a friend of mine trying to get a job. This article from the New York Times about letters she wrote while a college student and this video recently done with Amber Tamblyn and America Ferrera really humanized her for me, making her more than a candidate I supported for practical reasons into someone I really believed in. I really love the letters in particular - here's a quote from the article:
I feel like you can see the girl who wrote those letters in the woman we see today, even just in that YouTube clip, when she tells America and Amber that her mother asked her once if she wanted to be the lead actor in her own life or a supporting actor in someone else's. Like I said before, I really believe in her.
And that's the real, super-corny reason I'm voting for her.
First things first: I'm a registered, die-hard Democrat who will support whoever wins the nomination. My reasons for supporting Hillary Clinton are kind of light on policy because I feel that she and Obama are pretty close on policy - so close that their differences wouldn't be enough to swing me one way or the other. My loyalty is, first and foremost, to the platform of the Democratic party, which I believe has the best ideas when it comes to creating a more inclusive society that's prepared to face the new challenges of the future. I also believe that the Democratic party is more committed to promoting the welfare of all Americans (not just the wealthy and privileged).
I believe Hillary Clinton is the candidate that will take that platform to the presidency.
Why I'm Voting for Hillary Clinton
1. She is not as divisive as the media paints her to be. The media has consistently misunderstood America's relationship with the Clintons from his election as president to the present day. His approval ratings through the impeachment, Lewinsky scandal, etc., stayed high in spite of right-wing outrage and massive media coverage. Sure, there are a lot of people who hate the Clintons - they're called Republicans. Do you know why they hate the Clintons? Because the Clintons win. Anecdotal evidence: My grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousin, all who voted for Bush twice, are planning to vote for her rather than any Republican contender (including John McCain).
2. I think Hillary is tough enough to withstand a presidential election, both as an individual and because she's running with a team that's won twice before.
3. She is incredibly smart and well-versed in terms of policy and the world at large; I honestly believe she's the most-prepared candidate out there when it comes to being president. She's the person I want running the country. In a crisis, I would feel completely comfortable with her making the calls. In peacetime, I completely trust her to be making decisions that would benefit the welfare of all Americans.
4. She's been a great Senator for New York State. I've contacted her office a few times on bills that interest me, and I've always gotten a response, and often now receive updates on her legislative actions. She seems to have a well-run office (can't say the same for Schumer, my other Senator, who I also like).
5. On a personal level, I really like her. I am rooting for her the way I root for a sports team, or an artist I love, or a friend of mine trying to get a job. This article from the New York Times about letters she wrote while a college student and this video recently done with Amber Tamblyn and America Ferrera really humanized her for me, making her more than a candidate I supported for practical reasons into someone I really believed in. I really love the letters in particular - here's a quote from the article:
Ms. Rodham’s letters are written in a tight, flowing script with near-impeccable spelling and punctuation. Ever the pleaser, she frequently begins them with an apology that it had taken her so long to respond. She praises Mr. Peavoy’s missives while disparaging her own (“my usual drivel”) and signs off with a simple “Hillary,” except for the occasional “H” or “Me.”
As one would expect of letters written during college, Ms. Rodham’s letters display an evolution in sophistication, viewpoint and intellectual focus. One existential theme that recurs throughout is that Ms. Rodham views herself as an “actor,” meaning a student activist committed to a life of civic action, which she contrasts with Mr. Peavoy, who, in her view, is more of an outside critic, or “reactor.”
“Are you satisfied with the part you have cast yourself in?” she asks Mr. Peavoy in April 1966. “It seems that you have decided to become a reactor rather than actor — everything around will determine your life.”
I feel like you can see the girl who wrote those letters in the woman we see today, even just in that YouTube clip, when she tells America and Amber that her mother asked her once if she wanted to be the lead actor in her own life or a supporting actor in someone else's. Like I said before, I really believe in her.
And that's the real, super-corny reason I'm voting for her.
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no subject
Date: 2008-02-03 11:32 pm (UTC)Me too! I actually wrote her to tell her I was quite worried about the nomination of Gonzalez to Attorney General (HAH), and got a lovely and very personal-sounding response. I've been fond of her ever since, to be honest.
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Date: 2008-02-04 03:15 am (UTC)I love her, and I agree with everything Jess said. Go Hil!
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Date: 2008-02-04 11:49 pm (UTC)And I love that you have her Senate number on her phone, that's so awesome!
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Date: 2008-02-04 11:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-04 12:12 am (UTC)I could vote for either of them.
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Date: 2008-02-04 11:50 pm (UTC)She has some strong down sides, but most of those are the flaws that go with being a successful politican.
That's such a great assessment of her, and totally what I believe about her, too.
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Date: 2008-02-04 12:41 am (UTC)This is a great post. Down here in the south, among the liberals I've talked to who don't support her, their main contention is that she is too "hawkish," and that she supported the war in the beginning. Which is perfectly valid for them. And I have never supported the war. But on the other hand, I think she has taken a lot of flak for that when it's unnecessary. First of all, we tend to forget that Bush actually made a case. A completely bogus case, but at the time even Colin Powell was convinced. Also, I don't think people take into account how much September 11th influenced her. For all that we talk about it, and all that some politicians try to get mileage out of it, I think she is one governing official who really was affected. She's the senator who sponsored bills for research into long-term health affects for first responders, and who was adamant about adequate health care for responders. And she doesn't play on that AT ALL, that I've seen or heard about. It's just something she did/does. She was a representative of New York during and after 9/11, and she has the grace to act like it, and I don't blame her for voting yes for the war initially because I think that as someone who represented New Yorkers, she thought she should.
Anyway, there's my ten cents. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-02-04 11:53 pm (UTC)I was one of those who was against the war (I attended peace/protest meetings before hand, which makes me wonder if I have an FBI file or something!) and I'm kind of surprised by how easily I've been able to get past her vote. Her argument has been pretty consistent: That she gave Bush the kind of authority she'd want as president. Which, admittedly, isn't the greatest if you're, you know, into the whole separation/balance of powers, which I generally am. But I can definitely understand her vote, both because of the climate of the country and her need to establish herself as tough enough to make those kinds of calls.
I get kind of irritated when Obama criticizes her for that vote, since he wasn't even in the Senate at the time to be on the record about it! It's easy to say now how you would vote, with the benefit of hindsight and an anti-war culture; it's harder to say where he would have stood a few years ago.
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Date: 2008-02-04 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-04 11:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-04 01:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-05 12:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-04 03:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-05 12:10 am (UTC)