Hillary Clinton (Candidates' Positives, Part I)

by  D. Cupples | Buck Naked Politics' writers don't always agree: we include one undecided and at least one supporter of McCain, Clinton and Obama (in chronological order of existence). 

We do seem to agree that some U.S. media have done about as bad a job of covering the Democratic presidential campaigns as they did covering the lead up to the Iraq war.

Some media report blood baths when none had occurred.  Some spotlight non-issues like which candidate's eyebrow lifted 5 millimeters during a debate -- then devote lengthy analysis to the possible psychological implications.  Moreover, most media seem more focused on negatives: why we should dislike Candidate X, instead of why we should like Candidate Y.

My co-blogger Woman of Mass Discussion and I decided to highlight some "positives" of both Democratic candidates.  WMD chose Barack Obama (read here) and I chose Hillary Clinton (below).

Long before she was first lady, Hillary Clinton worked to help under-represented citizens. In the '60s, she fought for civil rights -- even brought black friends to a then-segregated church.  In the '70s, she worked for the Children's Defense Fund and was one of the staff attorneys that helped investigate the Watergate scandal.  Before that decade closed, she was a law professor and director of a legal aid clinic that helped people who couldn't afford lawyers. 

That's more public service than many people perform in a lifetime.

Hillary was an active first lady and used those eight years in Washington to learn about and focus on policy and process.  Hillary visited many nations and helped her husband promote worldwide good will toward America.

Much of the world actually liked America during the Clinton years, and our next president will have to rebuild that good will which George Bush managed to crush.

Hillary tried to reform our health care system in the early '90s -- which might have prevented the current crisis.  The political climate was unfriendly: 1) the Gingrich group opposed all things Clinton; and 2) poor health care coverage was not on most Americans' radars, because it hadn't yet reached crisis proportions.

Though Hillary's efforts were resisted, she managed to increase health care for children a few years later -- without even having a vote in Congress.

Hillary has worked with Republicans since joining the Senate, though some of those people had treated her badly just a few years earlier. 

Hillary understands the many flaws of President Bush's economic policies and has tried to change them.  Check out her detailed explanations and plans here.

Hillary publicly acknowledged regret for her 2002 Iraq war vote.  It's refreshing to hear a politician admit regrets -- after seven years of a president who stubbornly refuses to admit (and learn from) failures.

Hillary has actively served on the Senate Armed Services committee and managed to impress enough flag-rank military officers that 27 of them endorsed her candidacy last week.  I don't know what "flag-rank" means, but the words general and admiral are all over the list.

Hillary's Senate committee assignments encompass a broad array of issues -- including education, labor, pensions, the environment, again, and health -- which gives her a broad policy foundation.

Just last week, Hillary sponsored a bill to change how we use and monitor private defense contractors.

I can't cover it all here, so I'll list some of Hillary's Senate votes that I like. Note that I haven't found a single politician yet (local, state or federal) with whose voting record (or goals) I completely agree.  My mission here is to state (what I consider) positives.

I haven't even covered her entire voting record, but the list below indicates that Hillary has done a lot during the last seven years.

Some of Sen. Clinton's Votes (from Project Vote Smart)

Jobs & Benefits:

- Voted to increase minimum wage (Jun '06)

- Voted to stop tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas (Mar '05)

- Voted to extend unemployment benefits for 13 weeks (May '04)

- Voted to protect workers' pensions (Apr '04)

Homeland Security:

- Voted to implement 9/11 Commission recommendations (Jul '07)

- Voted to restore Homeland Security grants that Bush cut (Mar '05)

National Debt:

- Voted against increasing limit of national debt (Mar '06)

Health Care:

-Voted to expand SCHIP (Sep '07)

-Voted to fund stem-cell research (Jul '06)

-Voted against Medicare prescription drug act (Senate Roll call) (Nov '03)

Investor Protection & Corporate Fraud:

- Voted to increase SEC funding (Jul '02)

Elections & Campaign Finance

- Voted to require uniform voting procedures (Apr '02)

- Voted for campaign-finance reforms (Apr '01)

Education:

-Voted to stop lenders from scamming taxpayers (Jul '07)

-Voted to increase grants for needy college students (Oct '05)

Energy & Climate:

- Voted for alternative-energy funding (Jun '07)

- Voted against EPA's loose standards on mercury emissions (Sep '05)

- Voted to decrease dependence on foreign oil (Jun '05)

- Voted for research on hydrogen cars (Jun '03)

- Voted to prevent oil drilling at ANWR (Mar '03)

Taxes:

- Voted to increase child tax credit (Sep '04)

- Voted against taxing the Internet (Apr '04)

Military, Wars & Contractor Fraud

- Voted for rest periods for troops in Iraq & Afghanistan (Sep '07)

- Voted to set up time lines for troop withdrawal from Iraq (Mar '07)

- Voted to investigate contractor fraud in Iraq & Afghanistan (Nov '05)

- Voted to increase veterans' health care funding (Nov '05)

- Voted for habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees (Nov '05)

Executive Branch Appointees

- Voted for "No Confidence" re: Attorney General Gonzales (Jun '07)

- Voted against confirming Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito (Jan '06)

- Voted against confirming Supreme Court Justice John Roberts (Sep '05)

- Voted against confirming Gonzales as Attorney General (Feb '05)

- Voted against confirming Ashcroft as Attorney General (Feb '01)

- Voted against confirming Gale Norton as Energy Sec. (Jan '01)

.

Given all of the positives listed above, I don't grasp the motives or mindset of some political insiders whose opinions were reported in yesterday's International Herald Tribune (via Memeorandum).

Related BN-Politics Posts:

* Obama: Because I Remember (Candidate Positives, Pt. II)

* Penn. Governor Notices Media Bias re: Clinton & Obama

* Media Fashions Bill Clinton's Words into Cork Screw...

* Is MSNBC Biased?

* Recent Primary Polling Data

*

Comments

[Natasha Rio]

Senator Clinton's campaign has consistently brought out a trumped up charge on every election eve. Now it's the kitchen sink--innuendo, fear, and stories made out of events that have been denied by all participants. Apparently sleeping with the President (and how we have avoided going there!) constitutes "foreign policy experience." Give me a break!

[D. Cupples]

The point of the post was to focus on Hillary's positives, just as my co-blogger did for Obama (linked above).

I do understand that sometimes -- especially in the heat of a campaign -- people cannot see any positive in a candidate that they don't support. Rush Limbaugh's audience tends to feel that way about ALL Democrats.

What can I say?

[Sam]

I find it interesting that the list of Clinton's positives is predicated on her many, many accomplishments and what they indicate for the future. It's a very impressive list, but alas, there's no "emotion" behind it so it probably won't sell.

The article about Obama's positives is mostly about what (we hope but have no way of knowing) he will do IF elected, and the fact that he doesn't have the "Clinton attack machine" second-guessing his every move. I had hoped that the Democrats would move beyond the emotional idiocy that we decried when George Bush was running against Al Gore ('the fun, unflappable, regular guy you want to have a beer with' versus 'the uncool policy wonk') but I guess when both candidates are in the same party, history will repeat itself.

[D. Cupples]

I was writing about why I support Hillary, which is based on her demonstrated record. True, I view that as SoME indication of what she'll do in the future (or an indication of what she's unlikely to do). As you said, we never know until they get there.

I agree with you re: the emotional stuff. I'd expected that from Limbaugh fans but not from Dems. I was wrong.

[pearl elliott]

you are so right about Hilary Clinton, she is really the only one that has got the know how to put this country back on it"s feet, and why folks don"t see it is beyond me, to have Obama as our president will be dooming the United States, not only will we have a civil war here,the whole world will react in voilence, he is not ready, he cant even talk with out stutting and putting some one down- mostley Clinton or Mc cain- shame on the news,media for supporting him

[D. Cupples]

Hi Pearl,

I agree with you about Hillary -- though, I don't think that if Obama wins our nation will come to an end. (My father does, though).

[Harold Borkowski]

Regarding the failure to reform health care in the first (W) Clinton term: Hillary's committee proposed a plan that did away with the private health insurers. These are an interest group directly and solely focused on the provision of health care. It is the source of the profits which are the reason they exist. As anyone who has ever made a claim knows, they appear to be massively inefficient. Of course, the paper churning is profit for them, and waste "invested" in the health care system. If you keep up with the news, here in California the Insurance Commissioner and Gov. Schwarzeneger have teamed up to investigate suspicious cancellations of coverage when people report serious diagnoses. No profit in keeping a quadriplegic or a cancer patient alive. Of course, no one on the campaign is mentioning that the insurers are (part of(?)) the problem, because that killed reform in the 90s and will do it again.

[Harold Borkowski]

More than you care to know about flag officers and other things military:

Flag officers are indeed generals (in the Army, Marines and Air Force) and admirals (in the Navy and the Coast Guard). They are called flag officers because they have the right to signal their presence at a base or on a ship by flying a flag, usually blue, with the number of stars the respective flag officer wears.

The ranks are these:

* - Brigadier General, Rear Admiral, Lower Half. I kid you not. History buffs may remember the rank of "Commodore" as in Commodore Mathew Calbraith Perry, who "opened" Japan to the Euro-American world. For some reason the navy thought there was more dignity in having "half-assed" admirals rather than Commodores. Maybe it's because even yacht clubs have "Commodores." A surprisingly bad innovation for the service which most prides itself on its dignity and traditions.

** - Major General; Rear Admiral. If they fight things other than piles of paper, a Major General commands a division; A Rear Admiral, a Carrier Battle Group.

*** - Lieutenant General; Vice Admiral. A Corps or a Fleet.

**** - General; Admiral. An Army; a Fleet; an Area of Operations, like the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, Africa, the West Pacific. These are, by and large, the "politicals." One writer called them proconsuls because their regional responsibilities and amazing military resources make ambassadors look small by comparison.

****, but BIGGER - Chief of Staff (Army, Air Force, Marines; Chief of Naval Operations (Guess which.) or the BIGGEST: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (His every word is an order, unless he's speaking to the SecDef (Guess again) or POTUS (President of the ...).

If you think you should understand things like this, and the rest of American military culture, either because you respect the people who are prepared to give their lives for us or because you think they are the enemy and anyone but a fool should know his enemy, get Schading, Barbara, et al., A Civilian's Guide to the U.S. Military. Cincinatti: Writer's Digest Books, F+W Publications (2007) paper, $16.99. LCC# 355.00973--dc22. fwpublications.com.

[D. Cupples]

Harold,

I agree with you re: health care. Contractor fraud (which includes lots of medical businesses and insurers) is one of my favorite topics.

And thanks for explaining the military rankings. I knew that flag rank meant something important -- and now I know just how important!