Monday, April 25, 2016

Election 2016 – Hard Choices

Let’s be adult – it’s not about marbles

By Mildred Robertson

I am a Hillary supporter. I believe, that with all her knots and bruises, she is the best person in the field to follow the path President Obama has so appropriately charted for America. Hillary believes what I believe. It is not something that I have to turn to the media pundits to figure out.

She believes in universal health care.  I know that, because I heard her voice call for it, first, long and loud, back when her husband first took office.  Her record will show that she has an understanding of the impact of things like child care, pay equality and paid leave on not just the women of our nation, but our entire economy.

She believes a woman should have sovereignty over her own body, and that every human being in this country should be treated with respect.  She knows the Black community often doesn’t get a fair shake when it comes to the legal system, employment, education, and a myriad of other factors that help to continue and widen the economic gap between people of color and the rest of America and she wants to do something about it. She knows that Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid are not charity, but an essential part of what makes us a civilized nation and provides an essential safety net for countless Americans who otherwise would languish in utter poverty.

She knows what it takes to lead. She has done it in the chambers of Congress and in the board rooms of countless heads of state world-wide. Whether it is foreign policy, health-care,  the support of historically black colleges and universities, voting rights, or sensible gun laws, Hillary and I agree on many things.

She is Hillary, not Bill. She did not sleep with Monica Lewinsky.

She is Hillary, not Bill, she did not institute the current prison system. 

Does she always tell the truth?  I don’t know.  Do you?  Does she get paid well for what she does? Certainly! Isn’t that your goal in life as well?

I do know that if the media dug around in my past as they have hers, they would probably come up with a thing or two that would make me look somewhat unattractive. I do not always make the right choice. Sometimes, over a 30-year span, I get new information or a new perspective, and sometimes I simply change my mind. How about you?

I want to vote for Hillary in November. That doesn’t mean that I think she is perfect, but I believe she is the best prepared and positioned candidate to be the 2016 standard bearer for Americans who want to move this country forward.

However, if Hillary does not win the Democratic nomination…if Bernie Sanders comes out victorious in July and successfully captures the nomination, I will NOT take my marbles and go home.  I will gladly walk into the voting booth on November 8 and cast my vote for Bernie Sanders.

I understand that Sanders speaks to many Progressives in a way he does not speak to me. I understand the fervor. After all, I was a die-hard Obama fan when folks were saying “Obama who?” I know what it means to see something in a candidate that no one else sees, and to passionately believe that the person can make a difference. So I get it.

What I don’t get, is the decision by many Sanders supporters to vote for Sanders or no one. When you look at it up close, you could change all the “she believes” in my previous statements, and write “he believes” and there would be very little daylight between the two.

The opposition is another story entirely. Any Republican candidate put forth thus far spells disaster for this country and every part of the Progressive agenda. For any Progressive supporter to opt out of this election because his or her preferred candidate fails to gain the Party nomination is immature, short-sighted and dangerous. 
Remain in play.  

Defeat the REAL enemy. 

That enemy’s name is neither Bernie nor Hillary.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very good commentary and I agree with the separation between Hilliary and her husband. Hillary did not sign Nafta< her husband did, she didn't create the prison industrial complex as it is today, her husband did, but she is willing to do something about it.

The Hillary haters better understand that with voter id laws changing dramatically in the south, gerrymandering or redistricting where Republicans can choose their own constituents rather than you choose them, and the North being trumped by Donald, the Republicans can easily win this election. Even black voters have been hoodwinked by trump. Black people and poor whites need to understand that those jobs overseas are not coming back, they are gone and we need to stop being tricked by that pony. Hillary and Bernie are the only lifesavers we have in this political hot bed.

Great article, wish it could find its way to thw Times or,the Wash Post, more people need to reac it.