What Hillary Clinton Should Be Saying

Watching the presidential candidates debate is painful. No one says anything new, no minds are changed, and they are all talking about the wrong things.

But Senator Clinton is making me regret ever supporting her.

The other day, when several other democratic candidates stated that they wouldn’t accept campaign contributions from lobbyist. Clinton, with her usual talent for self-destruction, said, in effect, that she would take money from lobbyists, because they represent people, but that she wouldn’t pay any attention to what they said.

What she should have said is, “I won’t take money from lobbyists, because I don’t want to be unduly influenced by special interests, but I will listen to what lobbyists have to say, because they do represent people, people that will be part of my responsibility when I am President.” It also might help if she talked about limiting the access of lobbyists. It’s okay to talk to them, but not to the exclusion of everyone else.

A phone call we got from Senator Clinton’s campaign, was even worse. It was a recorded speech by Senator Clinton, where she seemed to say she should be elected because she’s a woman and it will make history. By that logic, why not vote for Obama, since he’s african-american, which would be even more historic?

Being President isn’t about race, or gender, its about leading the greatest country in the world through one of the most difficult periods in our history. We are trapped in the middle of a ruinous conflict in Iraq. We are facing climate change that could destroy the biosphere of our planet if it goes unchecked. (It may be a very low probability outcome, but we are fools if we don’t face that possibility.) Banks have run out-of-control, destroying families with deceptive credit card agreements and sub-prime loans. Unchallenged mega-mergers have created monopolies that are destroying our competitiveness. Healthcare costs are increasing far faster than inflation. Our dependence on oil. Our entire Congress seems to be up for sale to the highest bidder. Some states are using badly flawed voting machines that are probably being exploited to steal elections. These are just the ones that come to mind immediately.

The candidates need to be talking about these issues. Instead, they talk about civil unions vs. marriage, abortion, and whether they believe in evolution or not. (Deciding to disbelieve one of the best supported theories of the last hundred years, is stupid. It also demonstrates that the candidate is capable of completely ignoring reality. We’ve already got one of those, thank you.)

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, it’s a duck. Choosing who to include in your family is a personal and religious issue, not one of public policy. Frankly, I think that you should be allowed to include anyone in your family you want. I’m sure employers and insurers will find some way to deal with it. (That’s what I think the opposition to homosexual marriage is really all about, extending benefits to more spouses.)

We need a leader who is willing to address these issues head on, not dodge questions about them. If you want my vote, you’ll answer all the questions given to you honestly and clearly. BTW, this is the era of YouTube, better be sure you don’t say one thing to one audience and another to a different audience. That will lose my vote, as well. (Pay attention, Senator Kennedy. You claim to be a staunch supporter of wind power, up until someone wants to set up some windmills within sight of the Kennedy estate. How about setting an example by saying that you are such a supporter of clean energy that you are willing to accept the minor inconvenience of being able to see windmills on the horizon from your family home.)

What I find truly sad is that the media outlets seem to be determined to pick our leading candidates for us, constantly telling us who they think is ahead and foisting misleading polling data off on us to support their own conclusions. I don’t care who’s ahead in your polls. I want to know what they are saying about the issues I care about. I’ll make up my own mind. I urge the rest of you to do the same. Maybe that way, we’ll actually elect someone who’s qualified to lead the country.