Why I support Hillary Clinton

[Chicken Little]

quote:Originally posted by RecycleMichael

But Hillary is a friend to chickens, Little.

She is from Arkansas.

True. And when I think about who the next President should be, she's comes in a close second.

[Hometown]

quote:Originally posted by FOTD

Not no. Hell no.

Ok....she is doing us a favor by airing all the filth she can, throwing the kitchen sink, and whacking knee caps. When the Repugs try it in the general election it will be a big "we've heard this bs already"....So, in a way I am happy she is tooling around.

The question is why do you like Obama?  That is a simple question.  Can you give a positive answer?

[Hometown]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

We need a candidate with a pet comment of:

"Sometimes ...I wear a fake donkey."

Conan, are you capable of making a positive comment on why you are supporting the Republican candidate?  

I don't want you to get a big head, but I would really like to read your reasons for why you are supporting the Republican candidate.

[Hometown]

quote:Originally posted by RecycleMichael

OK. You convinced me. I will support Hillary Clinton for President. Anybody else?

Well stated, Hometown.

Seriously RecycleMichael, can you comment on what it is about Hillary that makes you support her?  Next Monday is okay if you are already winding down from a hard week of posting.

[RecycleMichael]

It is because he is a republican.

Democrats fall in love with their candidates, republicans fall in line with theirs.

Conan is worth saving, though. With a little work, he could be a democrat.

[Hometown]

I think he has Democrat envy.

[FOTD]

quote:Originally posted by Hometown

quote:Originally posted by FOTD

Not no. Hell no.

Ok....she is doing us a favor by airing all the filth she can, throwing the kitchen sink, and whacking knee caps. When the Repugs try it in the general election it will be a big "we've heard this bs already"....So, in a way I am happy she is tooling around.

The question is why do you like Obama?  That is a simple question.  Can you give a positive answer?

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf

He will bring the best and brightest back to the beltway. He will disarm lobbyists (lawyers). He will be a great leader....

[Hometown]

There you go.  Give us more.  Really.

[USRufnex]

quote:Originally posted by Hometown

Okay you Obama and McCain supporters, either it is taking you some time collect your thoughts or you are incapable of making a positive argument for your candidates.

Talk about a bunch of negative campaigners.

"Talk about a bunch of negative campaigners."

Ah, the irony, coming from a Hillary supporter... [B)]

My reasons for supporting Barack Obama...
http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=12782369&page=3

1.   In February 1990, he was elected the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review.  Obama graduated magna cum laude in 1991.

2.  His experience in community organizing... working with and representing low-income folks on the south side of Chicago ain't no picnic.  This kind of perspective recognizes that having a national minimum wage without a COLA not only affects the folks with jobs at or attached to minimum wage... it also recognizes that a minimum wage political tug of war hurts small, community-based businesses...

3.  His experience working in the Illinois senate... "Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans in drafting legislation on ethics, expanded health care services and early childhood education programs for the poor.  He also created a state earned-income tax credit for the working poor.  And after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.

4.  His principled opposition to the war in Iraq... in stark contrast to the go-along get-along views of most Dem politicians at the time...

"I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars," he said.  "What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

"He's a bad guy," Obama said, referring to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.  "The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.  But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history."

"I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences," Obama continued.  "I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda."

5.  His experience losing a house race against Bobby Rush in which he was perceived as too intellectual and "not black enough"... his experience transcending race in winning the Illinois Dem primary for the senate against six other candidates; including a multimillionaire (Blair Hull), a white male political insider with widespread support from Chicago's black city aldermen (Dan Hynes), a white female with high name recognition (Maria Pappas), a black female who campaigned on "universal healthcare"... he won the primary...

U.S. Senate (Dem)  
 11504 of 11745 Precincts (98%)  
 Barack Obama    640,707  53%  
 Dan Hynes       288,176  24%  
 Blair Hull      130,944  11%  
 Maria Pappas     73,485  6%  
 Gery Chico       52,105  4%  
 Nancy Skinner    15,651  1%  
 Joyce Washington 12,973  1%  

... and then beat the crap out of Alan Keyes in the general, receiving 70% of the vote to Keyes's 27%, the largest electoral victory in Illinois history.

6.  His ability to "disagree without being disagreeable"... he was criticized by the Clintons before the Nevada primary for his positive statements about Ronald Reagan, yet this was not the only time Obama has praised Reagan...

6/7/2004 --  "Ronald Reagan left Illinois as a young man, but maintained his Midwestern sensibilities throughout his long and storied life.

While I disagreed with many of his policies, I, like most Americans, admired President Reagan's eloquence, optimism and unshakable faith in the ideal of America as a beacon of hope and freedom.

Tonight, our thoughts and prayers are with Nancy and his family.

All of America remembers the grace and courage with which President Reagan told the nation of his diagnosis of the dreaded affliction of Alzheimer's disease 10 years ago.

Let us hope one of the lasting parts of Ronald Reagan's legacy is a renewed commitment to finding a cure for this horrible disease so that no family must endure the pain the Reagan family has known."

7.  After entering the Senate, he could have used older Dem senators like Ted Kennedy as mentors, but instead, has taken lessons/wisdom from Republican senator Dick Lugar of Indiana...

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/12/obama-says-hed.html

8.  His view of making healthcare affordable enough for the goal of "universal coverage" to be achieved, rather than mandating coverage.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/02/healthcare-mand.html

quote:...It's "Yes, We Can," vs "I'll Take Care Of You."

And that's why a simplistic Obama-is-a-leftist critique won't work as well as some seem to think. He's a liberal, but a reconstructed one. He's the kind of liberal who sees dependency as a problem not a solution. And he's not a statist in the way previous liberal generations have been. He actually listened to and absorbed some of the conservative critique of liberalism these past two decades. And he has changed not just to protect his right flank.

9.  Speeches matter.  And Barack Obama is the best speaker I've heard in a lifetime... So, when HRC consistently characterizes Obama's speeches as mere words without action, I get very angry... Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Kennedy and yes, Ronald Reagan used great speeches which have stood the test of time, to shape policy and public opinion...

"We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states," he said.  "We coach Little League in the blue states, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

Yes, the speech from the 2004 Dem convention... and the race speech from a few days ago... there are many to choose from... one of my favorites is the speech he gives primarily to university students mentioning the "empathy deficit"...
 http://www.northwestern.edu/observer/issues/2006/06/22/obama.html

quote:...it called to mind a passage from scriptures that some of you may know: Corinthians 13:11: "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things."
------------------------------------------------
...There's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit — the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes; to see the world through those who are different from us — the child who's hungry, the laid-off steelworker, the immigrant woman cleaning your dorm room.

As you go on in life, cultivating this quality of empathy will become harder, not easier. There's no community service requirement in the real world; no one forcing you to care. You'll be free to live in neighborhoods with people who are exactly like yourself, and send your kids to the same schools, and narrow your concerns to what's going on in your own little circle.

Not only that — we live in a culture that discourages empathy. A culture that too often tells us our principal goal in life is to be rich, thin, young, famous, safe, and entertained. A culture where those in power too often encourage these selfish impulses.

10.  Words matter.  I tire of political consultants who have much more power than they have any right to exercise... Peggy Noonan wrote eloquent speeches for Ronald Reagan but those words became his own.  Contrast that to the cynical strategies of Lee Atwater, James Carville, Dick Morris, and "Bush's brain," Karl Rove...... I'm happy to hear the words of Barack Obama in his quotes and speeches, with a minimal amount of political meddling from David Axelrod...

Quotes from Obama:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/barack_obama.html

"A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, 'Huh. It works. It makes sense.'"

"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."

"My first job is to say thank you to those who voted me. Those who didn't, I'm going to get your vote next time."

"No one is pro-abortion."

"Today we are engaged in a deadly global struggle for those who would intimidate, torture, and murder people for exercising the most basic freedoms. If we are to win this struggle and spread those freedoms, we must keep our own moral compass pointed in a true direction."

"We're not going to baby sit a civil war."

"You know, my faith is one that admits some doubt."

"We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don't want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential."

"I opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. It should be repealed and I will vote for its repeal on the Senate floor. I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying."

"It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today."

"In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?"

[Ed W]

Here's a news flash - despite all the hype and hope regarding either Democratic candidate for President, the state of Oklahoma will choose Senator McCain, a Republican, and give all their electoral votes to him.  Those of us on the minority side are effectively disenfranchised.  Our votes do not count.  

So it's hard to get excited about this election or any other presidential election.  

Still, despite the above, I'll vote in this election and I'll most likely vote for Senator Obama if he's the Democratic nominee.  He represents the hope we have for change in our government and in our political parties, while Senators Clinton and McCain represent simply more of the same.  If Senator Obama is not the nominee, I'll hold my nose and vote for Senator Clinton.  I could not vote for Senator McCain in good conscience because he's already said he'd continue George Bush's war for another 10 years if necessary.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by Hometown

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

We need a candidate with a pet comment of:

"Sometimes ...I wear a fake donkey."

Conan, are you capable of making a positive comment on why you are supporting the Republican candidate?  

I don't want you to get a big head, but I would really like to read your reasons for why you are supporting the Republican candidate.

HT, actually, I've not made a committment on whom I'll vote for in November, that's why I really haven't weighed in as being "for" a candidate. (Okay, I'm afraid of tipping the balance of the campaign with my "endorsement" at this point [] ).

Other than my stance on WOT, I'm not much of a lock-step Republican.  I don't give to GOP PAC's and seldom contribute $$ to campaigns.  On state offices in the '06 election, I voted for about as many Democrats as I did Republicans.  Socially, I have pretty much Libertarian views- I don't think the Gov't should legislate morality, and they shouldn't be poking their noses in areas like marriage and "women's health".  

The GOP talks about limited government, but given the performance of Congress while the GOP had control from '94 to '06- it's hard to see that in action anymore.

On the one hand, Hillary is predictable. Shenanigans and impeachment aside, Bill Clinton was essentially a successful President in many ways.  No small secret Mrs. Clinton was influential in that admin.

Obama is a relative newcomer to Washington, but it's becoming clearer to me that he's a creation of the Democrat Party and the grooming started years back.  He has a lot of "silent partners" who are backing him and his agenda.  Not saying all that is bad, it's got appeal to a lot of voters, just not me.

McCain is yet another known quantity with a longer history in D.C. than Hillary.  He's quite moderate and he'll be relatively bi-partisan.  He's been around the political establishment long enough, he knows how Washington works.  By the same token, being in D.C. so long can be a liability.

Not casting negativity on your choice of a candidate, but providing some historical correctness to your assertions of the "Clinton economy":

People with last names like (but not limited to) Gates, Wozniak, Jobs, and Terman had far more to do with the gains you made in the stock market in the 1990's and the historic gains in Bay Area real estate than people with last names like Reagan, Clinton, or Bush. Who is Fred Terman?

Sure a President can help with confidence in a market or have initiatives to help industry.  I don't think there is one President who can lay claim to the high tech sector, unless you consider that the default date on the old IBM PC's was always 1/1/80 which would point to Carter []

Private enterprise and entrepreneurs had far more to do with your burgeoning fortunes in the Bay Area in the late 1990s.  Clinton had the priveledge of being the President while all that was going on and you had the good fortune to live in a heated real estate market and there was a lot of growth in the suburbs which helped drive the market for legal services in the SF area.  

A lot of people made a killing in the market in the late 1990's, mainly due to telecom, the internet, and bio-tech.  A rising tide lifts all ships, so pretty much all stocks went well for awhile.  Internet stock trading also got more people into the day trading frenzy which helped drive market activity as well.