Why I support Hillary Clinton
It is no secret that I support Hillary Clinton for president. I wanted to share why in advance of the important New York primary on Tuesday April 19th 2016.
I think Hillary is the most qualified candidate for president in my lifetime. There is no other candidate with the same level of experience. Not only does she know world leaders and the workings of congress, but she has experienced the fight from within the White House as she pushed for health care reform during her husband’s administration.
Part of that experience is pragmatism. It is extremely unfortunate that compromise is a bad word. We need to work together as a country and that means not labelling everything Wall Street as automatically bad but sometimes working with industries to regulate them. Bringing everyone to the table. Tom Wheeler, a former communications industry insider, has done wonderful work at the FCC for example. So the idea that we should ignore people with experience in business, or their advice is ridiculous. Wall Street does get criticized, and rightfully so sometimes. However, look at the big picture and layers of greed and lax regulations that allowed a crash to happen.
I think what can be most admired about Hillary though is her statement that we need more love, kindness and understanding. In comparison to everyone else on the campaign trail, I truly believe she shows it.
Yes sometimes she is learning what understanding is all about. She walked in the NYC Gay Pride Parade in 2000 yet she didn’t come out to support marriage equality till much later. But she famously said in 1995 at an address to the UN about woman’s rights, “Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights.” In 2011, Hillary perfectly said “Gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights.” As a gay man I’ve grown too. I had to come out of the closet and learn to love myself, as my upbringing had taught me to dislike gays.
I can’t demand perfection from her, because I’m not perfect. I grow, I learn to understand. I listen just like Hillary. I don’t think it is possible to be right on every issue, every time. What is important are the values.
She has throughout her whole life fought for more understanding and love. From her job at the Children’s Defense Fund all the way till now. Hillary understands the thirst for progress and knows that we have to work together to achieve results. Hillary is a fighter, able to talk to the other side. It is why she was able to help create the Children’s Health Insurance Program in 1997 together with Republicans. This is why I support Hillary Clinton for president.
“Now it might be unusual, as I’ve said before, for a presidential candidate to say this, but I am going to keep saying it: I believe what we need in America today is more love and kindness.” – Hillary Clinton
