I have voted in every general
election since 1972. I have had candidates win and candidates lose, but I have
never regretted the decision I made at the time. Each election is a chance for Americans
to select the candidates we believe will help create our vision of this
country. This election is more important than any in my lifetime.
American politics has always
been a rough and tumble affair. It has sometimes been very challenging in the
past to create a “more perfect union.” But we have made our way forward. We
used the words of our founding documents to help steer us to a place where our
citizens can find satisfaction and security. In the past our candidates have
made the case for their vision and we have decided among them. At its core,
this election is no different. We must decide which candidate will lead us to
the kind of country we want. Fortunately, Hillary Clinton is perhaps the most
qualified candidate America has ever nominated. And it isn’t just that the Republican
candidate is so completely unqualified to be President and that his campaign
has been so deceptive and degrading. Hillary Clinton has the credentials and
character to be President of the United States.
I was raised to believe you must
work hard to find success. Hillary Clinton earned her way into Wellesley College
and got a law degree from Yale. While at Yale, Hillary Clinton did all the
things we expect a dedicated, conscientious student to do. She was an excellent
student and very active in the student government. Her work with organizations
dealing with struggling families and children, migrant works, and indigent
citizens is well documented. As a father, I can only imagine how proud Hillary
Clinton’s father must have been when his daughter’s college commencement speech
was reported in Time magazine!
You can read about her career in
Arkansas and her work as First Lady. You can see the list of awards and
recognition she received. You know she successfully served TWO terms as the
first women Senator from New York and had the highest praise when she served as
Secretary of State. As numerous government historians have suggested, Hillary
Clinton is eminently qualified to be President. She has been endorsed by 229
newspapers. 229! Including the most prestigious papers in the land AND a number
of newspapers who have NEVER endorsed a Democrat before. (The Republican
candidate has received 9 newspaper endorsements.) Dozens of former GOP National Security
officials have condemned the Republican candidate as unqualified to be
President and many are voting for Hillary Clinton. These are FACTS. The vast majority
of people who have a clear understanding of Presidential qualifications say
Hillary Clinton is more qualified. Still, what is most compelling to me is what
her colleagues have said about her and her work. Jon Favreau, President Obama’s
former speech writer, shares this story:
During the 2008 campaign, I wrote plenty of less-than-complimentary
words about Hillary Clinton in my role as Barack Obama’s speechwriter. Then, a
few weeks after the election, I had a well-documented run-in with a piece of
cardboard that bore a striking resemblance to the incoming Secretary of State.
It was one of the stupider, more disrespectful mistakes I’ve made, and
one that could have cost me a job if Hillary hadn’t accepted my apology, which
she did with grace and humor. As a result, I had the chance to serve in the
Obama administration with someone who was far different than the caricature I
had helped perpetuate. The most famous woman in the world would walk through
the White House with no entourage, casually chatting up junior staffers along
the way. She was by far the most prepared, impressive person at every Cabinet
meeting. She worked harder and logged more miles than anyone in the
administration, including the president. And she’d spend large amounts of time
and energy on things that offered no discernible benefit to her political
future—saving elephants from ivory poachers, listening to the plight of female
coffee farmers in Timor-Leste, defending LGBT rights in places like Uganda.
Most of all—and you hear this all the time from people who’ve worked
for her—Hillary Clinton is uncommonly warm and thoughtful. She surprises with
birthday cakes. She calls when a grandparent passes away. She once rearranged
her entire campaign schedule so a staffer could attend her daughter’s preschool
graduation. Her husband charms by talking to you; Hillary does it by listening
to you—not in a head-nodding, politician way; in a real person way.
This same story has repeated itself throughout Clinton’s career: those
who initially view her as distrustful and divisive from afar find her genuine
and cooperative in person. It was the case with voters in New York, Republicans
in the Senate, Obama people in the White House, and heads of state all over the
world. There’s a reason being America’s chief diplomat was the specific job
Obama asked Hillary to do—she has the perfect personality for it.
Your eyes are rolling. You don’t often see or read about this side of
Hillary. You don’t doubt her fierce brilliance when she’s debating policy with
Bernie Sanders. You don’t doubt her stamina or tenacity when she’s sitting
through hour eleven of the Benghazi Kangaroo Court. But when it comes to nearly
everything else, Clinton can seem a little too cautious and forced—like she’s
trying too hard or not at all, preferring to retreat behind the safety of
boilerplate rhetoric and cheesy sound bites. It’s a tendency that can’t just be
blamed on her opponents or the media, though I wonder how many of us would be
so brave and open in our public personas after being subjected to 25 years of
unrelenting and downright nasty criticism of what we say, what we do, and how
we look....
The long resume, the years of
exceptional service, the endorsements, and the compliments of her colleagues makes
her the best choice for President, but there is one final, historic reason to
support Hillary Clinton. It is time that America catch up with most of the
other developed nations in the world and elect a woman to be President. As the
father of FOUR daughters, I know the election of a woman as President will affect
the dreams of millions of little girls across America. Another glass ceiling
will be shatter and we should acknowledge the importance of such an historic event.
Hillary Clinton is to be admired for raising a successful and accomplished daughter
and for weathering the ups and downs of a long marriage. She should also be
admired for forging a path that will make it easier for those to come.
It is clear that Hillary Clinton
is the best candidate to be President. I hope you will join me and vote for
her. America has always been a beacon of hope for the world and there is no
doubt they will be watching us on Tuesday.
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