The Contender.
Finally! A legitimate female contender for the presidential election.
I will freely admit that it is nice to see a female candidate who is being seen as a legitimate contender.
Sure, say what you will about Hillary Clinton... ("She's a bitch." "She doesn't know anything." "She can't take a stand on anything." -- I've heard it all. So have you.) But the bottom line is she is a good senator. And she has had plenty of time learning what Washington politics are all about... From her time as First Lady of the "Free World" to her taking New York by storm and winning voters' trust... Hillary Clinton can not NOT be taken seriously.
And many people will want to discount her and say, what I think, is some of the least compelling arguments against her:
She failed miserably at her chance to help with healthcare in the 1990s as first lady.
She stood by her husband after his repeated infidelity.
She "flip-flopped" on her support of the Iraq war.
But if anything, these things make her a stronger leader. I've said it before, "You've got to make mistakes before you can succeed."
The healthcare debacle in the 1990s? Hey, at least she gave it a shot. She shows she truly cares about healthcare. And she has never wavered from that stance.
Standing by her husband after the infidelity? Well, a marriage is more than just two people loving each other people. What counts the most in this world is your ability to love and forgive and not hold on to anger. (I know A LOT about anger.) The fact that she could work it out with her husband and continue forward in life having good times with each other; well, that says an immense amount about her ability to work things out and get along with people.
The Iraq War issue? You know what? Many Americans believed that what we were being told by the administration about Iraq and its "Weapons of Mass Destruction" was true. And the whole "Iraq" thing came about at a time when the nation still had "open wounds" from 9/11. This was a time when Hillary Clinton was truly doing what the voters of America wanted her and MANY other senators to do. They wanted to find answers, and possibly get retribution for 9/11. But at least she has the decency and the courage to admit that the U.S. was too hasty in going to war so quickly.
And as they say with addictions, "the first step towards recovery is to admit that you had a problem."
Not everyone can be the instigator and go against the "norm" (like me.) If you want to be a politician and affect change, you have to listen to others and and put faith in the idea that they know what they are doing.
Will I vote Hillary Clinton for President in 2008? Maybe. Right now, she's a solid contender for my vote. Though I do like Senator Obama as well. And like my pal CT at work says, "Bill Richardson would be a great candidate too."
So, if in my lifetime I can see any of the following three as one of the candidates in the general election for the presidency; I will be very, very proud:
A woman.
An African American.
A Hispanic.
We're still at the beginning stages of this whole thing. But, despite my cynicism (I am a writer and jaded "youth" from Generation X, after all), I do have hope for my country.
And to think... I'm actually a registered republican.
I will freely admit that it is nice to see a female candidate who is being seen as a legitimate contender.
Sure, say what you will about Hillary Clinton... ("She's a bitch." "She doesn't know anything." "She can't take a stand on anything." -- I've heard it all. So have you.) But the bottom line is she is a good senator. And she has had plenty of time learning what Washington politics are all about... From her time as First Lady of the "Free World" to her taking New York by storm and winning voters' trust... Hillary Clinton can not NOT be taken seriously.
And many people will want to discount her and say, what I think, is some of the least compelling arguments against her:
She failed miserably at her chance to help with healthcare in the 1990s as first lady.
She stood by her husband after his repeated infidelity.
She "flip-flopped" on her support of the Iraq war.
But if anything, these things make her a stronger leader. I've said it before, "You've got to make mistakes before you can succeed."
The healthcare debacle in the 1990s? Hey, at least she gave it a shot. She shows she truly cares about healthcare. And she has never wavered from that stance.
Standing by her husband after the infidelity? Well, a marriage is more than just two people loving each other people. What counts the most in this world is your ability to love and forgive and not hold on to anger. (I know A LOT about anger.) The fact that she could work it out with her husband and continue forward in life having good times with each other; well, that says an immense amount about her ability to work things out and get along with people.
The Iraq War issue? You know what? Many Americans believed that what we were being told by the administration about Iraq and its "Weapons of Mass Destruction" was true. And the whole "Iraq" thing came about at a time when the nation still had "open wounds" from 9/11. This was a time when Hillary Clinton was truly doing what the voters of America wanted her and MANY other senators to do. They wanted to find answers, and possibly get retribution for 9/11. But at least she has the decency and the courage to admit that the U.S. was too hasty in going to war so quickly.
And as they say with addictions, "the first step towards recovery is to admit that you had a problem."
Not everyone can be the instigator and go against the "norm" (like me.) If you want to be a politician and affect change, you have to listen to others and and put faith in the idea that they know what they are doing.
Will I vote Hillary Clinton for President in 2008? Maybe. Right now, she's a solid contender for my vote. Though I do like Senator Obama as well. And like my pal CT at work says, "Bill Richardson would be a great candidate too."
So, if in my lifetime I can see any of the following three as one of the candidates in the general election for the presidency; I will be very, very proud:
A woman.
An African American.
A Hispanic.
We're still at the beginning stages of this whole thing. But, despite my cynicism (I am a writer and jaded "youth" from Generation X, after all), I do have hope for my country.
And to think... I'm actually a registered republican.
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