I don't want to vote for Hillary Clinton. Here's why:
- Dynasty. We've gone Bush - Clinton - Bush. I don't want to see that pattern continue -- we did away with hereditary monarchies a long time ago, for good reason.
- Authoritarianism. I think Hillary is the same type of authoritarian leader as G.W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Richard Nixon, the type who thinks the rules don't apply to her or her subordinates, and who thinks the rule of law is an inconvenient weakness to be skirted rather than the core of what makes our country great.
- Baggage. I'm still exhausted from the last few years of Bill Clinton's presidency, when I had a friend on the phone tell me that he hated Bill and Hillary personally. Not just their politics or their positions, but as human beings. I don't think I can take four more years of that kind of anger from the right.
- Lack of Vision. Her vote on Iraq showed me that she lacks insight and wisdom. Granted, she's not alone, a lot of people got it wrong at the time (including me), but I'd rather have someone who got it right serve as our next President. If I was willing to settle for someone as gullible as I am, I'd vote for myself.
- An Unwillingness to Admit When She's Wrong. I hate people who can't say "I was wrong, I'm sorry." Her tortured defense of the original Iraq vote now that it's obvious she was wrong is painful to watch. A lack of vision joined with an inability to admit error is a bad combination.
- The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. For seven years we've had an Administration who treats the opposing party as anti-American, traitorous scum who by virtue of having lost an election are no longer allowed to have a voice in how the country is run, and I'm sick of it. I think Hillary fundamentally sees the world the same way, as "Us versus Them", where "Them" is other Americans who happen to disagree with her. Haven't we learned by now that that's a bad way to run the country? We don't need a ruler, we need a leader, and you can't lead with hatred and fear. Not for long, anyway.
- The Health Care Initiative. I've done some reading lately on how she handled the Health Care Initiative at the beginning of Bill's presidency, and it wasn't pretty. High-handed authoritarianism and contempt for the opposition were evident even then, and she wasn't even elected! Again, seven years of that is enough.
Having said that, I will absolutely not vote for a Republican, because I think it's crucial both for our country and their party that they lose this election, and lose big. As "The Commander Guy" said, we only get one chance every four years to pass judgment on the leadership of the President and his party. Given that, I'm happy to oblige him by telling the Republicans exactly what I think of Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, the Debacle in Iraqle, the "Unitary Executive", Presidential Signing Statements, "Heckuva Job, Brownie", ballooning federal debt and deficits, extraordinary rendition, torture, warrantless wiretaps, and the rest of the legacy foisted on us by this renegade bunch of malicious incompetents. (Yes, that statement's probably over the top, but damn it was fun to write!)
Any other Democrat besides Hillary is pretty much a shoe-in for me. Since I live in Texas and my vote's not going to count anyway (anyone with an "R" after their name has our electoral college reps all wrapped up by now), I have the luxury of not voting for Hillary if she's the Democratic nominee. I wish the primary season worked differently and I had a chance to at least influence who my party was going to nominate, but I'm shut out of that by virtue of the calendar. So I don't get a say at any level really, and thus I'm at a loss as to what to do when I'm in the booth on Election Day.
The Libertarian candidate looks like a first-class nutjob, which I guess means I'll have to look into the Green Party or something. Man, I'll feel like a whacko if I do that. I wish we had more choices somehow, either with a parliamentary system like in England, where each party gets a percentage of seats in government proportional to the votes cast for them, or just by having a greater number of viable parties. Having only two candidates with a reasonable hope of success sucks.
3 comments:
i'm right there with you on hillary. she's going around telling unions that she's going to support them while taking in big checks from anti union corporate interest.
my favorite dem right now is dennis kucinich. this guy is impressive, and the only one with the balls to call for an impeachment of cheney.
i'm also a fan of ron paul. i find it odd that i like a republican from texas as much as i do, but that guy is the only red teamer who doesn't seem to be blowing smoke.
both of these guys are big on the constitution, ending the american military empire, changing/ending the war on drugs, and the idea that no one is above the rule of law. i can't picture myself voting for any other major party candidates. they're too oily, and in obama's case, too inexperienced.
While I agree with many of your points on Hillary, I will vote for her if she gets the nomination. I couldn't possible vote for any Republican nominee, including Ron Paul. Adam, I think you may want to investigate a few more of his stances - you may change your mind about him. Like you, I agree with his stance on Iraq and getting government out of our private lives. However, he is more Libertarian than Republican, and his championing of "individual property rights" is code for gutting environmental laws. His sense of getting government out of our private lives doesn't extend to the choice debate - he is ardently pro-life. Further, he wants to cut taxes even more, and after the past 6+ years of profligate, unwarranted spending on an idiotic war and tax cuts for the wealthy, reality is dictating that taxes be maintained or even increased to pay our debts.
It is a shame indeed that we are limited to two viable parties - 4 or 5 would be great to give voices to those ignored or absorbed by the reigning two. Until that happens, we're stuck with voting for the lesser of two evils.
All that said, I'm hoping Al Gore gets into the race - I (of course) am a fan of his environmental stances and it would be poetic justice for him to attain that which was stolen from him in 2000.
Cheers,
Trey
Agreed, Trey. I'd vote for Hillary in the general election if I were in a state where it was going to be even remotely close, but that's not gonna happen in Texas. Unfortunately.
The older I get, the more and more I think we ought to do away with the Electoral College completely and just go to a general election where the most votes wins. It's so easy to get discouraged from voting when, like me, you know there's no chance your state's going to go for the candidate you want. If it were an overall vote tally I'd be out there beating the bushes and on fire to cast my vote, but as it stands, not so much.
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