Saturday, August 6, 2016
I’m with her - now with some enthusiasm.
I’m with her - now with some enthusiasm.
From the start of this election season, I was pretty lukewarm on both Hillary and Bernie. There were aspects I liked and disliked about both and those mainly balanced each other out. I became less positive as the campaign dragged on and the things I disliked about each, for me, came to the front. Honestly, I sat out the primary (very unusual for me) not doing anything for either candidate and not truly deciding how to cast my vote until in the voting booth.
The general election stakes are much higher than the primary. There is more risk: much has been said about the risk of Trump as compared to even a Republican like Mitt Romney. What is less talked about are the rewards - if a Democract wins and wins big there will likely be many more Democrats in the house and senate and the potential end of tea-partyism. With the risks and rewards so high, I knew I’d support and work for whoever won, but more from a sense of obligation more than joy. Obligation alone doesn’t win elections. So as Hillary is now the nominee, I figured i would stake a step back and re-examine how I felt about her.
For two years we’ve heard mostly bad things about Hillary. As the mostly likely nominee, the R’s amplified a 20 year effort to skewer her. And as the Sanders/Clinton battle become closer, Sanders and the left in general became nearly as vocal critics. Some of the criticism was legit - her hawkish tendencies and support of the Iran war, the tendency toward secrecy, her defensiveness, and her inability to paint a big picture for change or address the concerns of an angry voting public. Even more maddening is that many of the wounds were self-inflicted (emails and the slow, equivocal response even to this day!) But much of the criticism ranges from unfair, untrue, to just crazy. In general it seems that she gets blamed for everything people don’t like about her husband’s or Obama’s policies, without getting any credit for the good.
What was left after this assault, as her husband pointed out, was a cartoon. Not a real person with real strengths and weaknesses.
And there are real strengths. She’s no democratic socialist, but she has and continues to support raising the minimum wage, higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for social programs, paid leave, wall street reform, and universal healthcare. And she has policies that could actually work. Hillary has also championed women’s rights, reproductive rights, disability rights, civil rights for people of color, children’s rights, among others. Sometimes she was far ahead of the curve and others behind. But she has championed these causes nonetheless and making progress on them for decades. There are very few of us that can honestly say we’ve done as much.
Without ignoring any of her faults or positions I don’t agree with (of which there are many), there are other personal strengths to admire.
- Resilience. This is a term much researched and discussed in leadership these days to separate good leaders from great. As defined by research on emotional intelligence, resilience is not being stubborn. Instead it is a skill that allows someone to be determined with a moral purpose and a stake of equanimity in the face of setbacks. Hillary is resilient. No one has been more vilified over the years, and I can’t imagine the internal fortitude needed to keep going. The best example of this might be after 1990’s defeat of Hilliary’s single payer healthcare system. The bill was defeated on the backs of blistering personal attacks on Hillary. Any reasonable person would have given up or turned bitter. But Hillary did neither. She put herself back in the ring, worked with the very same people who demonized her, and help pass a children’s healthcare act that still helps millions of low income children.
- She’s a good listener. Nearly everyone she works with, even opponents, are impressed with how well she listens. In case this just sounds nice, read the “Corner Office” interviews in the NY Times on Sundays. Nearly everyone sites becoming a good listener as a key to success.
- She’s smart, studious, and sweats the details. Even when I don’t agree, I have to admire someone who is a policy wonk. Listen to this interview with Ezra Kline from the Weeds. () Her grasp of the issues and her detailed substantive knowledge are undeniable. How about electing the smart, serious, non-flashy one for a change.
- She’s been the most honest candidate this election cycle. I know what you’re saying. But according to Politifact, Hillary’s statement have been the most truthful. Her true/mostly true rating is 52% compared with 51% for Bernie, 48% for Obama, 22% for Ted Cruz and 15% for Trump. OK, so the the 3 Dems score pretty well but Hillary still comes out on top and her “true” rating is noticeably hirer than others (e.g. 23% v. 13% for Bernie). Hillary simply has shaded the truth less than anyone else this season and she has avoided making undoable promises that sound good but are impossible to implement (yes - I’m talking to you Bernie).
- Having a female president is a good thing. Not just because it breaks the glass ceiling, but because there is some decent research that female politicians do lead differently - more honest, compassionate, and creative. Amen to that. And it just seems fair that the women who gets the glory of being the first female prez had to put up 40 years of bias, stereotyping, and misogyny, and general B.S. (Watch 40 years of sexism in 3 minutes )
Yet, I found something more personal than just these facts. Frankly, I see a little of my own 70+ year old mom in Hillary. My mom who tireless works candidates, and after they lose (and they often do), goes on to support the next one. A person whose has taken a ton of shit for being one of the few liberals in a suburb that constantly votes Republican but keeps fighting anyway. Most of her victories are small. But they are victories, and they move the cause forward. Much the same can be said of Hillary, So I’m with both of them, and will be working for Hillary with real passion this fall.
I’m with her - now with some enthusiasm.
I’m with her - now with some enthusiasm.
From the start of this election season, I was pretty lukewarm on both Hillary and Bernie. There were aspects I liked and disliked about both and those mainly balanced each other out. I became less positive as the campaign dragged on and the things I disliked about each, for me, came to the front. Honestly, I sat out the primary (very unusual for me) not doing anything for either candidate and not truly deciding how to cast my vote until in the voting booth.
The general election stakes are much higher than the primary. There is more risk: much has been said about the risk of Trump as compared to even a Republican like Mitt Romney. What is less talked about are the rewards - if a Democract wins and wins big there will likely be many more Democrats in the house and senate and the potential end of tea-partyism. With the risks and rewards so high, I knew I’d support and work for whoever won, but more from a sense of obligation more than joy. Obligation alone doesn’t win elections.
So as Hillary is now the nominee, I figured i would stake a step back and re-examine how I felt about her. For two years we’ve heard mostly bad things about Hillary. As the mostly likely nominee, the R’s amplified a 20 year effort to skewer her. And as the Sanders/Clinton battle become closer, Sanders and the left in general became nearly as vocal critics. Some of the criticism was legit - her hawkish tendencies and support of the Iran war, the tendency toward secrecy, her defensiveness, and her inability to paint a big picture for change or address the concerns of an angry voting public. Even more maddening is that many of the wounds were self-inflicted (emails and the slow, equivocal response even to this day!) But much of the criticism ranges from unfair, untrue, to just crazy. In general it seems that she gets blamed for everything people don’t like about her husband’s or Obama’s policies, without getting any credit for the good.
What was left after this assault, as her husband pointed out, was a cartoon. Not a real person with real strengths and weaknesses. And there are real strengths. She’s no democratic socialist, but she has and continues to support raising the minimum wage, higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for social programs, paid leave, expand voting rights, wall street reform, and universal healthcare. And she has policies that could actually work. Hillary has also championed women’s rights, reproductive rights, disability rights, civil rights for people of color, children’s rights, among others. Sometimes she was far ahead of the curve and others behind. But she has championed these causes nonetheless and making progress on them for decades. There are very few of us that can honestly say we’ve done as much.
Without ignoring any of her faults or positions I don’t agree with (of which there are many), there are other personal strengths to admire.
- Resilience. This is a term much researched and discussed in leadership these days to separate good leaders from great. As defined by research on emotional intelligence, resilience is not being stubborn. Instead it is a skill that allows someone to be determined with a moral purpose and a stake of equanimity in the face of setbacks. Hillary is resilient. No one has been more vilified over the years, and I can’t imagine the internal fortitude needed to keep going. The best example of this might be after 1990’s defeat of Hilliary’s single payer healthcare system. The bill was defeated on the backs of blistering personal attacks on Hillary. Any reasonable person would have given up or turned bitter. But Hillary did neither. She put herself back in the ring, worked with the very same people who demonized her, and help pass a children’s healthcare act that still helps millions of low income children.
- She’s a good listener. Nearly everyone she works with, even opponents, are impressed with how well she listens. In case this just sounds nice, read the “Corner Office” interviews in the NY Times on Sundays. Nearly everyone sites becoming a good listener as a key to success.
- She’s smart, studious, and sweats the details. Even when I don’t agree, I have to admire someone who is a policy wonk. Listen to this interview with Ezra Kline from the Weeds. () Her grasp of the issues and her detailed substantive knowledge are undeniable. How about electing the smart, serious, non-flashy one for a change.
- She’s been the most honest candidate this election cycle. I know what you’re saying. But according to Politifact, Hillary’s statement have been the most truthful. Her true/mostly true rating is 52% compared with 51% for Bernie, 48% for Obama, 22% for Ted Cruz and 15% for Trump. OK, so the the 3 Dems score pretty well but Hillary still comes out on top and her “true” rating is noticeably hirer than others (e.g. 23% v. 13% for Bernie). Hillary simply has shaded the truth less than anyone else this season and she has avoided making undoable promises that sound good but are impossible to implement (yes - I’m talking to you Bernie).
- Having a female president is a good thing. Not just because it breaks the glass ceiling, but because there is some decent research that female politicians do lead differently - more honest, compassionate, and creative. Amen to that. And it just seems fair that the women who gets the glory of being the first female prez had to put up 40 years of bias, stereotyping, and misogyny, and general B.S. (Watch 40 years of sexism in 3 minutes )
Yet, I found something more personal than just these facts. Frankly, I see a little of my own 70+ year old mom in Hillary. My mom who tireless works candidates, and after they lose (and they often do), goes on to support the next one. A person whose has taken a ton of shit for being one of the few liberals in a suburb that constantly votes Republican but keeps fighting anyway. Most of her victories are small. But they are victories, and they move the cause forward. Much the same can be said of Hillary, So I’m with both of them, and will be working for Hillary with real passion this fall.
The general election stakes are much higher than the primary. There is more risk: much has been said about the risk of Trump as compared to even a Republican like Mitt Romney. What is less talked about are the rewards - if a Democract wins and wins big there will likely be many more Democrats in the house and senate and the potential end of tea-partyism. With the risks and rewards so high, I knew I’d support and work for whoever won, but more from a sense of obligation more than joy. Obligation alone doesn’t win elections.
So as Hillary is now the nominee, I figured i would stake a step back and re-examine how I felt about her. For two years we’ve heard mostly bad things about Hillary. As the mostly likely nominee, the R’s amplified a 20 year effort to skewer her. And as the Sanders/Clinton battle become closer, Sanders and the left in general became nearly as vocal critics. Some of the criticism was legit - her hawkish tendencies and support of the Iran war, the tendency toward secrecy, her defensiveness, and her inability to paint a big picture for change or address the concerns of an angry voting public. Even more maddening is that many of the wounds were self-inflicted (emails and the slow, equivocal response even to this day!) But much of the criticism ranges from unfair, untrue, to just crazy. In general it seems that she gets blamed for everything people don’t like about her husband’s or Obama’s policies, without getting any credit for the good.
What was left after this assault, as her husband pointed out, was a cartoon. Not a real person with real strengths and weaknesses. And there are real strengths. She’s no democratic socialist, but she has and continues to support raising the minimum wage, higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for social programs, paid leave, expand voting rights, wall street reform, and universal healthcare. And she has policies that could actually work. Hillary has also championed women’s rights, reproductive rights, disability rights, civil rights for people of color, children’s rights, among others. Sometimes she was far ahead of the curve and others behind. But she has championed these causes nonetheless and making progress on them for decades. There are very few of us that can honestly say we’ve done as much.
Without ignoring any of her faults or positions I don’t agree with (of which there are many), there are other personal strengths to admire.
- Resilience. This is a term much researched and discussed in leadership these days to separate good leaders from great. As defined by research on emotional intelligence, resilience is not being stubborn. Instead it is a skill that allows someone to be determined with a moral purpose and a stake of equanimity in the face of setbacks. Hillary is resilient. No one has been more vilified over the years, and I can’t imagine the internal fortitude needed to keep going. The best example of this might be after 1990’s defeat of Hilliary’s single payer healthcare system. The bill was defeated on the backs of blistering personal attacks on Hillary. Any reasonable person would have given up or turned bitter. But Hillary did neither. She put herself back in the ring, worked with the very same people who demonized her, and help pass a children’s healthcare act that still helps millions of low income children.
- She’s a good listener. Nearly everyone she works with, even opponents, are impressed with how well she listens. In case this just sounds nice, read the “Corner Office” interviews in the NY Times on Sundays. Nearly everyone sites becoming a good listener as a key to success.
- She’s smart, studious, and sweats the details. Even when I don’t agree, I have to admire someone who is a policy wonk. Listen to this interview with Ezra Kline from the Weeds. () Her grasp of the issues and her detailed substantive knowledge are undeniable. How about electing the smart, serious, non-flashy one for a change.
- She’s been the most honest candidate this election cycle. I know what you’re saying. But according to Politifact, Hillary’s statement have been the most truthful. Her true/mostly true rating is 52% compared with 51% for Bernie, 48% for Obama, 22% for Ted Cruz and 15% for Trump. OK, so the the 3 Dems score pretty well but Hillary still comes out on top and her “true” rating is noticeably hirer than others (e.g. 23% v. 13% for Bernie). Hillary simply has shaded the truth less than anyone else this season and she has avoided making undoable promises that sound good but are impossible to implement (yes - I’m talking to you Bernie).
- Having a female president is a good thing. Not just because it breaks the glass ceiling, but because there is some decent research that female politicians do lead differently - more honest, compassionate, and creative. Amen to that. And it just seems fair that the women who gets the glory of being the first female prez had to put up 40 years of bias, stereotyping, and misogyny, and general B.S. (Watch 40 years of sexism in 3 minutes )
Yet, I found something more personal than just these facts. Frankly, I see a little of my own 70+ year old mom in Hillary. My mom who tireless works candidates, and after they lose (and they often do), goes on to support the next one. A person whose has taken a ton of shit for being one of the few liberals in a suburb that constantly votes Republican but keeps fighting anyway. Most of her victories are small. But they are victories, and they move the cause forward. Much the same can be said of Hillary, So I’m with both of them, and will be working for Hillary with real passion this fall.
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