So what I intend to do is talk about each candidate individually over the course of the next few weeks, going down the list, starting with the most popular of these candidates and ranging to the least popular. The top candidate of the moment is Hillary Clinton, and there are very few candidates more mired with controversy than the former First Lady.
- Policies
Contraception
Hillary Clinton is currently the democratic moderate's choice, and thus holds many viewpoints that are very general to her party. The first of these is the issues of contraception and abortion.
The Democratic Party has made their general opinion on abortion clear, and Hillary Clinton slips right into that position. The argument they generally favor is that women should have complete control of their bodies, and therefore have the right to contraception, abortion, and other preventive measures if they so desire.
Hillary Clinton said that the Hobby Lobby decision in June of 2014 (saying that Hobby Lobby and corporations were people and therefore had religious freedoms, including not having to supply women contraceptive pills) was a "slippery slope" for women. In October of 2006, Hillary Clinton was one of the original co-founders of the Prevention First Act, which pushed to lessen the number of unwanted pregnancies. She also fought for several years to get the contraceptive pill "Plan B" on the market.
Her choices show a rather clear track record of being uneasy with abortion, hoping to lessen them greatly through other measures such as contraceptive pills and pushes for better family planning. However, she clearly supports the political idea that women should have free will to their bodies.
Economy
Hillary's economic standpoint is rather moderate in opinion, but extremely liberal in legislative record.
In 2008, Hillary stated that our current economic system is not favoring the middle class, and while most moderates would be inclined to agree, there's no doubt that this particular ideology is definitely one farther to the left. She voted to limit credit card interest rates to 30%, showing she has no concerns over government involvement in very precise economic regulation. She has also stated she believes corporations play very large roles over public welfare, and therefore require government oversight.
Civil Rights
This particular area of politics is one where liberals tend to thrive and gain popularity. While Hillary does agree with the Democratic Party's general social ideals, that has not always been the case.
In the Summer of 2015, Gay Rights activists made a big win when the federal government ruled that banning gay marriage was unconstitutional. Democrats considered this to be a social victory, however the Democratic Party's largest figures were not always on the side of this standpoint. Two of these figures are President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
In the 1990's Hillary Clinton was opposed to the gay marriage ban being lifted. However, in the early 2000's we could see her viewpoints shifting. This began with "military service should be based on conduct, not sexual orientation" in 1999, and ending with "I re-evaluated and changed my mind on gay marriage" in June of 2014.
While her viewpoint aligns with the moderate on this issue now, it is important that we keep in mind the wavering views of politicians, especially on issues like this.
Aside from Gay Marriage, Hillary re-introduced the Equal Rights Amendment in 2007, reinforced anti-discrimination and equal pay requirements in 2008, and co-sponsored a bill to outlaw flag burning in 2010.
Her recent confrontation with the Black Lives Matter activists was, actually, rather telling for both their sides. Clinton very bluntly stated that "you don't change hearts" but instead very factually stated that you must reallocate resources and move forward from there. The Democratic Party has not boded well with the group so far, and has gone as far as disrupting their campaigns to protest.
Clinton confronted the activists with the straightforward statement that if they wanted change they needed to suggest legislative changes that she could enforce, and that was the only way to make progress.
The Democratic Party has made their general opinion on abortion clear, and Hillary Clinton slips right into that position. The argument they generally favor is that women should have complete control of their bodies, and therefore have the right to contraception, abortion, and other preventive measures if they so desire.
Hillary Clinton said that the Hobby Lobby decision in June of 2014 (saying that Hobby Lobby and corporations were people and therefore had religious freedoms, including not having to supply women contraceptive pills) was a "slippery slope" for women. In October of 2006, Hillary Clinton was one of the original co-founders of the Prevention First Act, which pushed to lessen the number of unwanted pregnancies. She also fought for several years to get the contraceptive pill "Plan B" on the market.
Her choices show a rather clear track record of being uneasy with abortion, hoping to lessen them greatly through other measures such as contraceptive pills and pushes for better family planning. However, she clearly supports the political idea that women should have free will to their bodies.
Economy
Hillary's economic standpoint is rather moderate in opinion, but extremely liberal in legislative record.
In 2008, Hillary stated that our current economic system is not favoring the middle class, and while most moderates would be inclined to agree, there's no doubt that this particular ideology is definitely one farther to the left. She voted to limit credit card interest rates to 30%, showing she has no concerns over government involvement in very precise economic regulation. She has also stated she believes corporations play very large roles over public welfare, and therefore require government oversight.
Civil Rights
This particular area of politics is one where liberals tend to thrive and gain popularity. While Hillary does agree with the Democratic Party's general social ideals, that has not always been the case.
In the Summer of 2015, Gay Rights activists made a big win when the federal government ruled that banning gay marriage was unconstitutional. Democrats considered this to be a social victory, however the Democratic Party's largest figures were not always on the side of this standpoint. Two of these figures are President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
In the 1990's Hillary Clinton was opposed to the gay marriage ban being lifted. However, in the early 2000's we could see her viewpoints shifting. This began with "military service should be based on conduct, not sexual orientation" in 1999, and ending with "I re-evaluated and changed my mind on gay marriage" in June of 2014.
While her viewpoint aligns with the moderate on this issue now, it is important that we keep in mind the wavering views of politicians, especially on issues like this.
Aside from Gay Marriage, Hillary re-introduced the Equal Rights Amendment in 2007, reinforced anti-discrimination and equal pay requirements in 2008, and co-sponsored a bill to outlaw flag burning in 2010.
Her recent confrontation with the Black Lives Matter activists was, actually, rather telling for both their sides. Clinton very bluntly stated that "you don't change hearts" but instead very factually stated that you must reallocate resources and move forward from there. The Democratic Party has not boded well with the group so far, and has gone as far as disrupting their campaigns to protest.
Clinton confronted the activists with the straightforward statement that if they wanted change they needed to suggest legislative changes that she could enforce, and that was the only way to make progress.
- Controversy
And boy, is there a ton of it.
On March 2nd, 2015, the New York Times reported that throughout her time as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton used a private server for her official government emails as opposed to a government issued one. In fact, Clinton never actually had a state.gov email and used her own private one for all official business from her first day as Secretary of State.
Jason Baron, who is the head of litigation, at the National Archives and Records Administration, said that Clinton's email usage was "highly unusual" but not illegal. However, despite this, he also said in a different interview that he couldn't imagine a situation "short of nuclear winter" when a body would allow their cabinet level authority to send emails off a private server over official government business.
While the email controversy is undoubtedly big news, how horrific it is does not scale too high. However, the informality now surrounding her name does present the question of how well she would be president. Only time will tell how her campaign will play off, whether it ends in a presidency or a federal penitentiary. She is, as of now, the primary candidate for the Democratic Party, but admittedly not receiving the party's most press. On that candidate, I will post Monday.
That's all I have to say for today, but I'll be back Wednesday.
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln
On March 2nd, 2015, the New York Times reported that throughout her time as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton used a private server for her official government emails as opposed to a government issued one. In fact, Clinton never actually had a state.gov email and used her own private one for all official business from her first day as Secretary of State.
Jason Baron, who is the head of litigation, at the National Archives and Records Administration, said that Clinton's email usage was "highly unusual" but not illegal. However, despite this, he also said in a different interview that he couldn't imagine a situation "short of nuclear winter" when a body would allow their cabinet level authority to send emails off a private server over official government business.
While the email controversy is undoubtedly big news, how horrific it is does not scale too high. However, the informality now surrounding her name does present the question of how well she would be president. Only time will tell how her campaign will play off, whether it ends in a presidency or a federal penitentiary. She is, as of now, the primary candidate for the Democratic Party, but admittedly not receiving the party's most press. On that candidate, I will post Monday.
That's all I have to say for today, but I'll be back Wednesday.
"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" -Abraham Lincoln
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