Why I voted for Hillary Clinton
So tomorrow is Super Tuesday, and it seemed like the time to make this post. I probably won't change anyone's mind, but I want to put it out there.
I have several reasons for voting for Clinton, and an important one is that she is a woman. I won't apologize for this, and I don't feel the need to explain myself about it. I know identity politics have gone out of fashion, but I've never been quite fashionable.
The other major reason is that Obama just doesn't have me convinced. To me he seems like the Hallmark Card Candidate - he's got lots of flowery words about the audacity of hope, and making America believe again, but it just leaves me cold. Maybe I'm too cynical, or maybe I just know too much about the way our federal system works.
Obama won't be able to change America any more than any other Democratic candidate. There are limits to presidential powers, and you better believe that congress will act to limit presidential powers as soon as Bush is out of office. The Congress is its own independent body, and they will return to their role as a check on the presidency. A Democratic candidate will not end the genocide in Sudan, or pull out of Iraq within a year. They all need to say these things, but what presidents say and what presidents do are two different things. This is true no matter the party, and in the realm of foreign policy especially, what we have seen is not difference based on political party affiliation, but instead a continuance of policy. George W was an aberration from Clinton's presidency, but that doesn't mean he hasn't now set us on a path that future presidents will have a great deal of difficulty changing.
I guess this is a really cynical way of choosing a presidential candidate - that they fit my identity politics, and that the other guy doesn't offer that much that's compelling. But then again, I'm a cynic. What else do you expect?
I have several reasons for voting for Clinton, and an important one is that she is a woman. I won't apologize for this, and I don't feel the need to explain myself about it. I know identity politics have gone out of fashion, but I've never been quite fashionable.
The other major reason is that Obama just doesn't have me convinced. To me he seems like the Hallmark Card Candidate - he's got lots of flowery words about the audacity of hope, and making America believe again, but it just leaves me cold. Maybe I'm too cynical, or maybe I just know too much about the way our federal system works.
Obama won't be able to change America any more than any other Democratic candidate. There are limits to presidential powers, and you better believe that congress will act to limit presidential powers as soon as Bush is out of office. The Congress is its own independent body, and they will return to their role as a check on the presidency. A Democratic candidate will not end the genocide in Sudan, or pull out of Iraq within a year. They all need to say these things, but what presidents say and what presidents do are two different things. This is true no matter the party, and in the realm of foreign policy especially, what we have seen is not difference based on political party affiliation, but instead a continuance of policy. George W was an aberration from Clinton's presidency, but that doesn't mean he hasn't now set us on a path that future presidents will have a great deal of difficulty changing.
I guess this is a really cynical way of choosing a presidential candidate - that they fit my identity politics, and that the other guy doesn't offer that much that's compelling. But then again, I'm a cynic. What else do you expect?