Why I’m Ready for Hillary
Editor’s note: Reed Waxham is the Vista del Lago High School ASB Vice-president, communications director and a political contributor for The Vista Voice. The opinions expressed in this column are his own and may not reflect the views of the editorial board or the publication.
I’m ready for Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the next President of the United States. Not only will she be the first female president, but she will also be the most experienced and capable person to ever hold the office. Her Twitter Bio says it all: “Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD…” I, for one, hope “TBD” will one day be replaced with POTUS.
Ready for Hillary PAC, a political action committee supporting Clinton, has already begun fundraising and fostering a grassroots movement to encourage her to run in 2016.
The Ready for Hillary website describes the PAC: “Started by two volunteers in January 2013, Ready for Hillary [is] a nationwide grassroots movement encouraging the former Secretary of State to run for president in 2016. Now, with over one million supporters and over 20,000 grassroots donors, Ready for Hillary is the vehicle through which Americans of all walks of life are expressing their support for a potential Hillary run. Every day, thousands more people are joining this movement, signing the petition encouraging Hillary to run, and showing her that if she decides to run for president, she will have a grassroots army of supporters behind her who are ready to help her win.”
Prominent members of the Democratic Party have joined the effort, proclaiming they too are ready for Clinton. “Run, Hillary, run,” her former New York Senate colleague Chuck Schumer declared. “If you run, you’ll win and we’ll win … 2016 is [your] time, and our nation will be the better for it … [her] experience is unrivaled and her vision is unparalleled.”
It’s still 25 months before the 2016 caucuses — and certainly at least a year before Clinton will decide whether or not she will run. I hope she does.
She has the experience and know-how to be the best president this country has ever seen. Her foreign policy experience will ignite a new era of American diplomacy, carving out America’s place in the world for the 21st century.
Her domestic policy experience and commitment to civil rights and equality will help usher in a new era of social liberalism — that will redefine America for the better. Her qualifications are unrivaled and she will be the instant front runner if she decides to run.
According to Public Policy Polling, in hypothetical 2016 matchups, Clinton beats every potential Republican contender, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. She also leads the Democratic field by 40 points, with the next most favored Democrat being Vice President Joe Biden with only 13 percent of Democrats saying they would support him.
Clinton attended Yale Law School, where she served on the Board of Editors of Yale Law Review and met the man who would become her husband and 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton.
Hillary went on to advise the Children’s Defense Fund and join the legal staff of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. Following Bill to Arkansas, she started on the faculty at the University of Arkansas Law School in 1975 and the Rose Law Firm in 1976. In 1978, then-president Jimmy Carter appointed her to the board of the Legal Services Corporation that provides legal services to those who can’t otherwise afford it.
She then devoted the next 20 years to public service with her husband, serving 12 years as the First Lady of Arkansas and then 8 years as the First Lady of the United States, where she used her position to champion women’s and children’s issues.
Following her husband’s term as president, she was elected as the Junior Senator from the State of New York, becoming the first First Lady elected to the Senate and the first woman elected to statewide office in New York. She served as the Senator from New York for 8 years, and, in 2007, launched an unsuccessful bid for the White House, losing the Democratic Party nomination to Barack Obama.
She chose to step down from her position as the Senator from New York to become the first female United States’ Secretary of State. According to the State Department, Clinton became the most-traveled Secretary of State in history, visiting 112 different countries during her four-year tenure as Secretary of State.
After leaving the State Department at the end of Obama’s first term, she joined her husband’s charitable foundation along with their daughter, Chelsea. The Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation “works to improve global health, strengthen economies, promote health and wellness, and protect the environment.”
Sara • Jan 29, 2014 at 3:17 pm
Reed Waxham, I’m definitely not ready for Hillary.
I have a few thoughts and concerns I would love to share with you. These are real events and are easily obtainable and verifiable via Google search.
You said:
“Her foreign policy experience will ignite a new era of American diplomacy… ”
-Hillary Rodham Clinton voted for the war in Iraq in 2002. She also worked with President Bush to help extend the war in 2007. In the 1980’s she strongly supported the death-squad torturers known as the Contras, who were the USA’s proxy army in Nicaragua. Supported aggressive US invasions of or attacks against Haiti (1994), Bosnia (1995), and Kosovo (1999). Supported Bill Clinton regime’s illegal, aggressive, brutal bombing of Yugoslavia. The bombing caused great damage to local civilians, including death, injury, severe pollution (including nuclear radiation from Depleted Uranium munitions) and widespread ecological damage. In 2007, the International Criminal Court found that Yugoslavia had not committed genocide. In 2011, Hillary Clinton’s State Department helped enable Obama’s expansion of lethal drone strikes which have killed over 200 innocent children. There are countless pro-war positions on her belt.
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You said:
“commitment to civil rights and equality”
-Hillary voted for the infamous Patriot Act, which lead to Government illegally spying on almost every civilian. The 4th amendment is a civil right, and the Patriot Act breaks it in half. She is also extremely anti second amendment, which is the civil right to bear arms. Her civil liberty work on gay marriage is great!
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You said:
“Hillary went on to advise the Children’s Defense Fund”
-Yes, she most definitely is! It seems like she cares about the children, yet supported sanctions in Iraq throughout the 1990’s. These sanctions blocked clean water, food, and medical aid from even RedCross, from getting into the country. As a result 100,000 to over 500,000 children died. Some Afghan numbers are upwards of 1,200,000 children.
She’s done some great things, especially with charity. But the absolutely horrendous war crimes she put her support into is something to consider.