My delightful daughter Mary Kate challenged me to think of something good to say about Hillary Clinton.
She is no fan (to say the least), but believes that in the spirit of Easter I should be charitable to a pol who claims to be a fellow Christian.
If you wonder about the good of doing this, I plan on not voting for Hillary (!) in the up-coming elections, but it does not pay to underestimate the foe. Knowing what is good about Hillary (!) will help beat her in the general election.
So darling daughter, here are Ten Good Things about Hillary (!):
I. Hillary Clinton is more sensible on the War than most Democrats. Hillary voted for the War and her foreign policy seems to be as sound as the Democrat grass-roots will let it be. If a Democrat must win, then Hillary is the leading candidate closest to wanting victory in Iraq. It may not be a big difference on the trail, but her Secretary of State is likely to be a DLC type like her husband’s. That is bad news, but less bad than if Edwards were to win.
II. Hillary Clinton was a Goldwater Republican as a girl and evidently had a happy, culture-of-life childhood.
III. Hillary Clinton is smart in an intellectual sense.
IV. Hillary Clinton is not good at pandering. She has convictions which are left of center, but not as left of center as people in the new-new left. Hillary knows she needs mothers and lefty bloggers (the two don’t over lap that much!). She hates pandering to stay at home mothers (”milk and cookies types”) AND to far-left bloggers.
V. She really loves her daughter and seems to have been a good mom by the standards of our age and her class.
VI. She refused to let bad stereotypes about women in an earlier American age (not everything old is good!) hold her back.
VII. She is not a good public speaker, but has worked hard to get better. That shows remarkable discipline and is another reason she should not be underestimated.
VIII. She inspires fierce loyalty.
IX. She has taken a great many cheap and disgusting shots (Vince Foster, her appearance) from some that claim to be on the right and kept fighting. That points to strength of character.
X. Though I strongly disagree with her proposed solutions (which would do much more harm than good), she has shown a consistent desire to help poor folk.
I strongly hope Hillary Clinton is not president. She is too weak on the war, bad on economics, bad for the judiciary, bad for health care, and a disaster for traditional values. She is not a “people person” and her personal strengths seem more like those of Nixon than Reagan. . . for good and bad.
It is difficult to imagine a Republican nominee who would be worse, but she is likely the most mainstream of the Democrats now running.
We can pray that the Democrats, the party of Cleveland (good economist, bad politician), Bryan (good Christian, bad economist), and Roosevelt (bad economist, great war time leader) will finally find someone who like Truman (just good) would give those of us supporting liberty and the culture of life an actual choice.
I am not holding my breath.