Thank you for taking the time to share Hillary's positions and track record. I am a strong Bernie fan, but I want both candidates' views and actions to be heard. I have tipped this diary, and I have tipped a number of pro Hillary diaries over the past weeks, and I shall continue to do so, because I want to be fair to both candidates. I want her views heard and I do want to give credit where credit is due. I want to give Hillary a fair chance to earn my vote and my support even though I have concerns about her corporate allegiances (given her donor list). I have in the past expressed criticism of Hillary for things she has said and done, and not said and not done. Yes, I have expressed strong criticism, but I have also expressed praise for things she has done. I have posted two diaries critical of her, both of which I took down within 24 hours of posting, not because I believe I said anything incorrect, it's just that I didn't feel good about them. I do want to promote truth, but I also do appreciate her lifetime of public service, the sheer weight of such public exposure is, I am sure, no small thing, and I honestly do want a female president one day. I really do. Those are not empty words. And yes, I am aware of the fact that she might win the primary (though I do feel strongly about Bernie, given what I've been seeing these past 6 or 8 weeks), and if she does win the primary, I know that we need to make sure she wins the general.
The GOP folks are certifiable and must be stopped by any and all means necessary.
This weighs heavy upon me, even when I have been critical of her. I don’t think we should vote based on fear, but we do need to be strategic in our thinking. I always take great pains to be very careful NOT to echo RW talking points, though there is some overlap. I try not to promote RW attacks that might hurt her in the general, hence my attacks are primarily of a "liberal economic" focus, and how she handled her 2008 primary campaign, neither are issues that (I believe) a GOP candidate would use in the general, though they do demotivate the democratic base, which is why I do have concerns about her as viable nominee for the general election. The effects of this "demotivation," though, will surely be seen by her turnout (or lack thereof) at her campaign rallies over the coming days, weeks, and months, so no "concern trolling" about this is needed nor intended, at least, not yet... the proof will be in the pudding, as they say. My mother is not inspired by her, even though my mother would surely like to see a female president one day. My mother is inspired by Bernie. This has affected my position in no small way. However, if Hillary inspires huge crowds, the way that Bernie seems to be doing, my concerns will have been addressed, and we will see this LONG before the first primary and it won’t require any polling to know. EVERYONE will know.
However, if she wins the primary, we still need to make sure she wins the general. This is the dilemma I feel in my heart. I really want her to be a true blue liberal progressive democrat whom I can support, with my heart and soul. I want to be inspired, not just to vote for her, but to actively help her get elected. This is where my thoughts lie. Every time I enter a "pro Hillary" diary, I enter hoping to find something that will inspire me. I don't come to be critical and I have even HR’d off-topic thread jacking comments even though those comments expressed critiques of Hillary that I, myself, have personally expressed on a number of occasions and do feel are important and do need to be expressed, when and where appropriate and respectful. Have class folks. Respect where respect is due. We need to be better than that and I am trying to do my part, while maintaining a critical and discerning eye (and so should the Hillary supporters, by the way).
I know Hillary has been fighting to break "glass ceilings" her whole life using whatever means necessary, which makes her a fighter, and those are not empty posturings, and I am not pandering, those are the realities of the misogynistic world she grew up in. That is my honest appraisal. My mother suffered from those ceilings in no small way, and my mother was the primary bread winner in my family (if not the SOLE bread winner) throughout my entire life, so this affected me and my family and my upbringing personally and directly, and I even financially supported my father for the last 25+ years of his life, being the struggling artist (writer) that he was, loved him dearly, in spite of his faults and foibles ... and he developed dementia in his latter years and so I also became his primary care giver. So, yes, I am intimately aware of the problem and I have striven throughout my life in my professional career in the corporate world to go out of my way to ally myself with female managers and empower them. I care, deeply. And I do believe it matters. Young women, like my niece, need female role models, most especially as President of the United States. This matters far far more than we realize, I believe, but truth and honesty and ethics in our leaders also matters, most especially with problems like Climate Change looming, and allegiances to corrupt corporate oligarchy are at the heart of that problem. Which means that I need to see honesty and clarity on the legislative initiatives from Hillary for me to believe in her and be inspired by her, so that I know she will be fighting the right battles for the right strategic goals necessary to address the real (underlying economic root causes of the) problems crippling our nation. Please continue to post these diaries. I want to know her policy positions and I want to judge her fairly and I want to be inspired.
#Listening: Imagining, if I were on Hillary's listening tour... (continued below the fold)
If I were on Hillary's listening tour...
I would share this comment with Hillary (because I think it is a somewhat accurate and succinct overview (given what we've seen thus far) of the two campaigns and touches upon the problem I have been seeing with Hillary's, and why it seems to be gaining little traction (most certainly not here on DailyKos), and why it might be floundering or at least, might be setting itself up to flounder) and I would ask her to respond candidly, to my thoughts, concerns, questions and to what I believe is necessary:
I think what we have is a question of what politics is going to appeal more to voters. One is focused on social issues (Hillary - racism, gun control, police brutality) with only a nod to economic issues, one is focused on economic issues (Bernie - employment, wealth equality, ending the screwing of people in general) with a nod to social issues (supports the right stances, doesn't choose to focus on them).
Now, some might argue otherwise, however the accuracy of this overview is, I believe, evidenced by simply reviewing the list of pro Hillary diaries here on DailyKos over the last month or two. I have yet to see any specific concrete economic legislative policy initiatives promoted by Hillary in her campaign, most certainly no diaries have identified them, and I have been watching. And it's not that I don't deeply appreciate the liberal positions she is taking on social issues, I do, in fact, I applaud her for them. However, if I may respectfully quote the esteemed, James Carville, one of Bill & Hillary Clinton's own senior strategic advisors, because his rather infamous truism seems most apropos and should be heeded:
It's the economy, stupid!
In short: "Why is Hillary NOT focused on economic issues?" This is what concerns me, both as a democrat and as a constituent, for obvious reasons. It is not enough to speak of economic issues in broad generalities (or "platitudes") which Hillary's "Four Freedoms" speech seemed to do, (with her promise: "In the coming weeks, I’ll propose specific policies..." ...but that was 6/13, a little over 3 weeks ago); that is not enough today, not in 2015/2016, when people actually ARE savvy enough to appreciate the details and ARE paying attention, far more acutely than ever before, (due to the rise in political awareness due to the internet, this being the "Information Age," I would suggest.) However, I am hopeful and I do wait in anticipation, given this comment from the diary which sparked this diary (which was originally just a comment):
Hillary's only a few days away from rolling out her economic policies, but for now, she's focusing heavily on the two biggest challenges that our nation must confront in the aftermath of the Charleston terrorist attack: race and guns.
I must ask, though, with this being her second presidential campaign, and 8 years to prep since the last,
"What is taking so long?" She should have had these done and been promoting them, DAY ONE, included in BOTH her YouTube launch video AND her "Four Freedoms" speech. Those would have been the perfect time to get the word out, when EVERYONE was listening... not so much, today. For my part, as of about a week ago, to offset the imbalance here on DailyKos, I have given myself to REC all of the pro Hillary and none of the Bernie diaries, not that his diaries need more recs, but her's do. As a democrat, I want her policies read (and analyzed) by as many knowledgeable & discerning eyes here on DailyKos as possible, whether I personally want her as President over Bernie or not, because at this point, she seems to be getting far too little coverage, notwithstanding, negative coverage, of which there is plenty. This pattern does not bode well, not for her campaign at least.
In contrast...
#6EconomicPolicies: I like that Bernie is clearly stating his specific & concrete legislative policy positions up-front and throughout ALL of his campaign speeches and in ALL of his interviews. His legislative policy positions which, from my assessment, directly address the root causes of the overarching economic issues facing our nation, (like: (1) TPP, and (2) Too Big To Fail, and (3) Glass Steagall, and (4) a massive investment in infrastructure to directly and immediately provide work to millions, and (5) free tuition for education, and last but not least, (6) campaign finance reform, to get corporate money out of politics). And, notwithstanding the TPP, which seems to be a done deal and whose full ramifications (and text) are unclear/unpublished (though the dangers are NOT unclear and the history of previous trade deals is NOT unclear), these legislation are the larger economic initiatives that will drive a much needed true transformative change in our country, and which will directly affect our ability to address climate change (and inequitable tax burden, and corporate corruption, and unjust wars, and police brutality, and and and...etc.) ....and if we don’t address Climate Change, sooner rather than later, humanity could perish. This is the dire issue that haunts me. This is the dire issue of humanity that should trump all others: IT SHOULD BE OUR NUMBER ONE TOP PRIORITY. We really need to get our priorities straight, as a people. As an aside, I am involved in a green energy project myself, so this is and has been my personal and professional focus for a number of years.
BERNIE: And, by the way, if you think that the Republican Party's refusal to acknowledge that climate change is real, is caused by human activity and is a severe threat to our planet, is not related to how we finance campaigns, you would be sorely mistaken.
#Listening: What do I want from Hillary?
I don't know what specific economic legislative policies Hillary is planning on proposing, and her apparent silence thus far is telling, one might suggest... however, for my part, as a constituent, I want to hear Hillary clearly state her position on these six(6) specific legislative policy initiatives, today, and repeatedly, and ongoingly, in unequivocal terms. I want to see her campaign speeches focused on these legislative initiatives, acknowledging and educating people on each of them and where she stands on them ... no mincing of words, not parsed, not as an aside, not in broad sweeping platitudes, and not in vague general terms... but in exact specific terms at the FOREFRONT of all her speeches so that even a four year old will get how important these issues are and where she stands, in no uncertain terms... exactly the way that Bernie Sanders is doing ...so that Main Stream Media (MSM), and the Republican candidates, MUST ALSO FOCUS ON THEM as part of their daily news narrative, and following suit, so should every single one of the down-ticket Democratic candidates for the Senate and Congress.
THAT is what I want from Hillary Clinton.
I want her to demonstrate she is on our side fighting the good fight, today, now, today... forget about becoming our President and being our champion later, forget later: BE OUR CHAMPION NOW TODAY ...whether or not she ever gets elected, because it's not about that, it's about doing the right thing. It always was. And educating people on these economic legislative policies and where she stands is the right thing. THAT is what I want from her as a public servant. What I am calling for is nothing short of a Sea Change in American politics, and so is Bernie, and once upon a time, back in 2005, so was Obama (in a diary here on DailyKos, no less... yup! BOTH Bernie AND Obama are kossacks, in case you had any doubt how powerful this community is):
BARACK OBAMA: In order to beat them it is necessary for Democrats to get some backbone, give as good as they get, brook no compromise, drive out Democrats who are interested in "appeasing" the right wing, and enforce a more clearly progressive agenda. The country, finally knowing what we stand for and seeing a sharp contrast, will rally to our side and thereby usher in a new progressive era.
I want that "New Progressive Era!" that Obama once spoke of...
I want the "Political Revolution" that Bernie IS speaking of...
I want Hillary's alignment and commitment to discussing these six economic legislative policies and how they address the overarching problems, discussing them as the Democratic Party's main goals, in lockstep unison with Bernie and I want her doing this at every single chance she gets during the entire 2016 Campaign season. STOP AVOIDING INTERVIEWS. Embrace them, and use them to talk about these six economic legislative policies and about why, we the people of the Democratic Party firmly believe they are imperative for humanity's prosperity and for earth's survival.
Helping Bernie educate the public...
Helping Democratic progressive liberals educate the public...
USE the press coverage she is getting, don't avoid it, USE IT, and turn it around and make it a positive thing ...positive for the Democratic Party's JUST cause! I want Hillary ON OUR SIDE, today. I don't want to fight her on these economic policies, I really don't, and I'm tired of criticizing her, too, and I am making a concerted effort to stop, or at the least, to soften my words, for my part; it honestly was never about that for me and doing so always left me with a bad feeling in my stomach, because I do admire her for a great many things she has done, but the truth must be told. Must. But let us all do it with class and respect, and mind you, for the record, as a seasoned veteran of the 2008 Hillary-vs-Obama flamewars here in DailyKos, fighting rather passionately on Obama's side, I am well familiar with the propensity to "Flame On!" when something needs to be said. I get it. Trust me. Just review my comments, and you will surely see my rather impassioned positions. However, let us note how Bernie responds to questions about Hillary, he always says things like, "I've known her for 25 years. I consider her a friend." This should tell you a lot. It's not that he doesn't have criticisms, I am sure, but he doesn't want his campaign to be about that. He wants people to form their own judgements. Which means that we, the constituents, must judge and discern. Which I have done, and so should you. And, to anyone who has read my admittedly harsh critiques of Hillary, please consider, sometimes we criticize the most those whom we admire the most, because we expect the most from them. This is most certainly the case with me. This is what has motivated me to write this diary. I am honest to a fault, with friends, but with enemies, those whom I truly despise, I am usually silent. Trust me. Notice I have stopped saying anything about O'Malley, and I won't even tip a comment attacking him, and the one diary I posted criticizing him and his superpac attacking Bernie, I deleted within one hour of publishing, mainly because I fast realized (due to a wise comment making this point) that I don't want to give him ANY press, even bad press. I have stopped even thinking about him from that moment forward. So, do the math. And please do believe me when I say that I really do like Hillary. Quite a lot, actually. What I have really wanted all along is her support. Dare I even ask? Yes, I dare, for my niece's sake and for humanity's sake. Which candidate do I want? Bernie or Hillary? I want the one who will MOST inspire the population to effectuate the transformative Sea Change we need. Beyond that, I want Hillary's help doing everything in her power to make the discussion of these economic legislative policies an unmitigated unrelenting unstoppable storm, a perfect storm, coalesced as a singular concerted rallying cry, a tsunami to clean-up and transform the way politics and government works in this nation once and for all. To clean up the massive political corruption and overarching economic injustices that have plagued this great nation since its very birth.
In one of the pro Hillary diaries I read, from 2 or 3 weeks ago, (and I rather diligently go out of my way to read ALL of them) there was the following comment:
Litmus tests undermine the liberal cause...
I respectfully disagree, in fact, I could not disagree more. In fact, I think the very notion of this idea is an unmitigated lie. We all have our own criteria for judgement, on all things. That's the nature of judgment and discernment, and without judgement and discernment, we are not being responsible citizens.
#Silence today, on these economic legislative policies is
completely unacceptable and brands her as weak and feckless, I feel... and it appears as if she is already paying the price for this. And, if she does not feel that taking a bold forthright stand on these economic legislative policies is of critical importance,
trumping all others, then I respectfully question whether she is qualified to be our champion and leader, our
"Democratic Party Standard Bearer" and so too should you, I believe. Strongly. I respectfully suggest that Hillary needs to get her priorities straight, if she wants to be OUR "champion" and not the champion of the corrupt corporate oligarchy who seem to be funding her campaign, to the tune of BILLIONS, apparently. Only a fool would not, at the very least, question her loyalty, her allegiance, and her economic agenda, given her donor list and given her apparent silence on these critical economic legislative policies. To state the obvious, as the proverbial saying goes:
"Silence Speaks Volumes" -- We must hold Hillary accountable (and we must hold ALL candidates today accountable) to a higher standard than any previous presidential candidate or nominee, and so should republicans, for that matter, because the stakes are just too high. The larger point I making is that Hillary's oft praised Democratic Party establishment "National Brand Name Recognition" (and her strong polling at this stage due to this) is really NOT what matters in this election...
(that will be overcome in a New York minute, I assure you, as soon as the election heats up, and it already is, fast...but give it another a month or two, maybe three tops... and then, show me the national polls... and also, let's see which candidate is having undeniably large enthusiastic campaign rally turnout over this period, which will be most telling, but to my point) ...what matters today in 2015/2016 is, I suggest, having clearly stated specific concrete BOLD liberal progressive economic legislative democratic policies. BOLD.
As Bernie says, "THINK BIG!"
Bernie's honest message will be heard, far and wide, early and often, here and there and everywhere, by young and old alike, by everyone, literally everyone, if for no other reason than the ubiquitous nature of the internet with it's viral media paradigm and its emerging role as the dominant communication medium of the 21st CENTURY: enabling the grassroots movement to communicate, mobilize and SELF-ORGANIZE on a truly massive scale ...effortlessly... the likes of which have never been seen before in prior generations. This is the 21st Century -- THE INFORMATION AGE: We don't need the DNC/Democratic Party machine infrastructure to organize and mobilize. Bernie's campaign is mobilizing and organizing (SELF-ORGANIZING) at record speed! Did you notice NOT ONLY the turnout, but the amazing speed, alacrity, AND EASE with which these events are being created. Billion dollar corporate campaigns can't compete with that, because...
"There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come."
Main Stream Media no longer dominates, it just doesn't. Not as it did in 2004 (with Dean) and most certainly not as it did in 1972 (with McGovern). The media world has changed. The world of 2015 embraces the social media and all the power of communication that goes along with it. We The People have far more power than the corporate oligarchy realizes, and We The People are just beginning to figure this out. Obama showed us how. He moved the ball down the road. Now we can take the ball to the goal line. We know how.
END GAME: Mate in five...
We own the mass communication turf, the grassroots movement does, which is why the political revolution that Bernie has spoken of is not just a possibility, it is a reality. If we are going to save our planet we need the support of everyone, democrat and republican alike; we must all be in alignment, to motivate and mobilize and truly inspire, which is what Bernie is doing. And this will affect our GOTV efforts in no small way, I believe. The refreshing honesty of just such an honest and ALIGNED campaign will inspire huge swaths from all walks of life to let go of their cynicism and apathy and get involved. To become informed. To help. Hell, we are fighting the good fight, why wouldn't they!? It's no wonder Bernie's campaign is so exciting.
And if democratic voter turnout is huge, I'm talkin' really huge, we could win back both the congress and the senate (with a supermajority) and this is definitely what is needed. And, if the rising infectious enthusiasm that Bernie seems to be generating thus far is any indication, it sure does feel like ANYTHING is possible.
In summary, and I hope this diary has not grown too long, let me share this comment, which I came upon about a week ago, because it summed up my own thoughts on Hillary rather well:
Clinton's biggest problem is credibility or trustworthiness. Clinton supporters talk about her huge battle chest as being a reason to support her. Actually it's a huge problem for her. It contributes to the conclusion that she's bought and sold and therefore that she can't be trusted. Clinton doesn't poll well on the issue of trust. That's the kiss of death in politics. So far I've seen neither her nor her supporters do anything to mitigate or address that lack of trust. Instead they make fun of those who distrust her and say they just don't know who Hillary is.
Bad, disastrous, move. She has to address this issue. Her campaign depends on it. There are a couple of things she can do:
1) Generally it's bad for a candidate to be specific on policy because it bores voters. Gore and Kerry both made that mistake. However, Clinton has such huge trust issues with respect to the banks and Wall Street that she has to go concrete on policy. She has to spell out exactly where she stands on each and every issue so she can show she's accountable. These empty populist platitudes have to stop (especially in the wake of how Obama used and abused vague populist platitudes).
2) She should start returning a number of campaign contributions to her bigger bank and business donors. In this way she'll show she's not owned by these interests and that she can act on the behalf of the American people at large and not a small set of interests.
Without such clearly stated positions on economic legislative policies and without Hillary's campaign focusing on them as her
central driving theme and narrative, I find it impossible to become inspired by her. Can you honestly blame me? And conversely, it is Bernie’s bold forthright words on these economic legislative policies that has inspired me (and others, I believe.) This is not about posturing one’s self as an "economic populist" with platitudes, these are six specific concrete economic legislative policies that the populace can and should and will (I believe) rally around (and already are rallying):
Legislative polices that we must address, to prevent a future disaster of catastrophic proportions, I believe. This is the reason Bernie is inspiring such a grassroots movement. It really is that simple.
Hillary’s campaign began with a "listening tour"... well then, please listen to me and I will promise to listen to her, to forgive the past, and soften my criticisms of her so that we can all work together to forge a healthy and prosperous future for all life on earth.
#6EconomicPolicies: MY ASSESSMENT:
The six economic legislative policies most affecting our future -> and the problems they address:
(1) #TPP --> ?Protect Our Interests?
(2) #TooBigToFail (#TBTF) --> Prevent another financial collapse.
(3) #GlassSteagall --> Prevent another financial collapse.
(4) #InfrastructureInvestment --> Revitalize economy/infrastructure/nation.
(5) #FreeEducation --> Invest in our nation's future.
(6) #CampaignFinanceReform --> End corrupt corporate control of government.
(suggested additions welcomed)
With the exception of the TPP (whose full text is unclear and whose full ramifications are unclear and whose affects might be causal in nature but not a "root cause"), my assessment is based upon a Root Cause Analysis of the overarching socioeconomic & planetary problems we are facing:
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a method of problem solving used for identifying the root causes of faults or problems. A factor is considered a root cause if removal thereof from the problem-fault-sequence prevents the final undesirable event from recurring; whereas a causal factor is one that affects an event's outcome, but is not a root cause. Though removing a causal factor can benefit an outcome, it does not prevent its recurrence with certainty.
We must enact legislation that addresses the ROOT CAUSES of the problems.
As Bernie likes to say...
ENOUGH. IS. ENOUGH.