Politics & Elections

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I'm neither a Democrat nor a Republican (um, I think in California they call it "decline to state"); I have voted both of those parties in my life, as well as Libertarian and Green Party and Independent. This year I'm going Democrat -- because I'm against the Iraq War -- and favoring Hillary Clinton for various reasons. I've done a lot of research on all the candidates, and I've concluded that Clinton is the most competent of all. I believe it will take someone very strong and experienced to dig us out of the hole we're in with regard to Iraq and our economy, as well as our domestic problems and global reputation, which have been terribly damaged in the past 7 years, unfortunately. Among her achievements as first lady of Arkansas, she introduced Arkansas' Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth (1985), a program that helps parents work with their children in preschool preparedness and literacy; she chaired the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession, which addressed gender bias in the law profession and induced the association to adopt measures to combat it; and she served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital Legal Services (1988-92) and the Children's Defense Fund. As First Lady of the United States, Hillary was nowhere near the usual role, being compared more to Eleanor Roosevelt than any First Lady since then. According to one Wikipedia source, when Bill Clinton took office as President in January 1993, she was the initial First Lady to hold a post-graduate degree and to have her own professional career up to the time of entering the White House. She was also the initial First Lady to take up an office in the West Wing of the White House (usually First Ladies stayed in the East Wing). She is regarded as the most openly empowered presidential wife in American history, save for Eleanor Roosevelt. But even before she ever met Bill, she was hard at work on behalf of the poor and under-privileged. In the summer of 1970, at the age of 22, Hillary was awarded a grant to work at Marian Wright Edelman's Washington Research Project, where she was assigned to Senator Walter Mondale's Subcommittee on Migratory Labor, researching migrant workers' problems in housing, sanitation, health, and education. During her second year at Yale Law School, she worked at the Yale Child Study Center, learning about new research on early childhood brain development and working as a research assistant on the seminal work, "Beyond the Best Interests of the Child" (1973). She also took on cases of child abuse at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and volunteered at New Haven Legal Services to provide free advice for the poor. Clinton is well-traveled -- the most well-traveled First Lady in history, having traveled to over 80 countries -- and when her husband was President he was outstanding at relationship-building with other countries. In her travels, Hillary advocated for women's rights in those countries which treat women as second-class citizens, such as Afghanistan and China. She helped create Vital Voices, an international initiative sponsored by the U.S. to promote the participation of women in the political processes of their countries. In all, Hillary can validly claim many years of experience in politics and social issues. She has made mistakes and has learned from them. She has been attacked by vicious opposition and has withstood the attacks. She has fallen down over and over, and each time she gets up and brushes herself off and keeps going. How many times has Barack Obama fallen? How will he respond when he gets attacked? How many mistakes will he have to make before he gets it right? He could be a JFK, but he could also be a Jimmy Carter in the public's eye, and the fact that we don't know worries me. This is my opinion, and I welcome all discussion, especially if you disagree for good reasons. This is one of the most important dialogs we need to have in this country, because it will continue to affect us for generations to come. /// * Please note: I am not a member of any political campaign or party. The remarks and opinions here are only my own and are here for the purpose of discussion, not of promotion or anything beyond a personal perspective.