Hillary for 2016?

I saw a TV segment today that made me start to think about the realities about Hillary Clinton running in 2016. Is she a fantastic choice for President and probably the most well known female politician for the past thirty years, yes! But, does that mean she should run again for the Presidency? I can say that after watching the TV segment (link below) that it made me highly question my previously unfaltering support of Hillary for 2016. In the segment Krystal Ball talks about some of her own reasons for not supporting Hillary Clinton's run including some of her anti-union stances and her inside the beltway attitudes. I can say that I don't agree with all of her own reservations for not backing Hillary but I do understand many points she makes. Hillary Clinton is a wonderful person and someone that all young women in politics look up to. However, we, as Democratic women especially have put Hillary Clinton on podium that is higher than many others because she is a powerful woman, she's been on a stage for many many years, and when she's in charge she can get shit done. However, she might have missed her time. 

There are other drawbacks I have about Hillary. I think that there is always a benefit to running someone who is outside of the beltway, Hillary isn't but Obama was.  Obama was an outside candidate that came with a different yet very good background and did very well against those who were very much beltway candidates. Not that I would put Obama at being the "best" example of a outside Washington candidate but I do feel like because he wasn't the well known, very rich, beltway mold of many Presidential candidates he did better than some others who were competitors of his in 2008, including Hillary Clinton. I also have a reservation with how well known she is, with a favorability rating of 66% before even deciding whether she is going to run or not. This can be a problem when there are many great "new" politicians that are coming in with "new" faces and beliefs that might back out if they assumed they would loose to Hillary. If Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Julian Castro, or even Martin O'Malley would decide to run, I might back any of them before Hillary because to be honest, especially Warren and Booker represent to me what Democratic politics is all about. I would like to see some information about Hillary's stances on many issues especially if she was running against a Warren or Booker. I mean honestly if you haven't seen some of the pure awesomeness from Elizabeth Warren, you need to because she is one of the greatest "new" faces of the Democratic Party. Her messages about gender and tax equity and her own sense of the "we're all in this together" politics are spot on and these are the issues that need more media attention than the issues are presently talked about. And though she says at the moment she wouldn't run, the question is whether if she was put in that position to truly decide to run...would she? Then there is everyone's favorite bachelor...Cory Booker, who has made democratic ideals sexy again. He has used social media as his jumping block to show constituents and others around the United State what he is doing moment to moment. He has also embraced an "all politics is local" ideal and has incorporated an open door policy, putting out his daily schedule EVERYDAY.

So as you can see there are many many great candidates who might not want to run if Hillary Clinton does because it already seems like Clinton has the entire election won even before anything has started. There are very important issues at hand. Even in this next election cycle, Congress is looking at having a very high turnover: there are 470 elections this year with 114 seats being highly contested. There are big issues at stake as well. To just name a few: there is the war on everyone's voting rights by conservative majority who are trying to take away anyone's right to vote at every turn, there is huge problem of America's failing infrastructure which is making us pay more taxes to repair the less impressive technology of the 90s versus looking forward to create the newest technology of the 2020s, and biggest problem facing the world: climate change which the South and East coasts are experiencing this winter. These problems are the current issues that will be talked about in the upcoming 2014 and 2016 as well as Obama's minimum wage and America's inequality problem. In the meantime, we can all hope for a little less gridlock in Congress as the Republican Party of our parents' is falling apart in front of our eyes as well as feel very patriotic watching the United States compete in Sochi.

Don't Run Hillary: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/02/11/msnbcs-krystal-ball-to-hillary-clinton-dont-run/ 

BEST Penn State Essay EVER!

Schreyer’s Honors College Essay

Question 3: You are a top Presidential advisor and are working with him to draft his remarks for the State of the Union. What would you advise him to include as his top three initiatives for the country's blueprint for the next year and why?

My Answer: 

To:  Barrack Obama, President of the United States of America

As you prepare for your State of the Union address, I would like suggest three issues that are of utmost importance to our country and specific initiatives to address these issues.  The three issues are 1.) Reduction of the National Debt, 2.) Global Climate Change and 3.) Equality for All Americans.    

#1 Reduction of the National Debt.  The United States needs to increase revenue as well as enact spending reductions to end the growing debt.  Without a plan to reduce our national debt, it will be impossible to adequately fund important programs and services in our future.  Based on the difficulty we have faced in getting bi-partisan support, I would recommend a combination of tax increases and budget reductions.  There is no way to reduce our national debt without raising taxes on the top earners.  So, we should raise the tax rate on individuals making over $250,000.  The budget cuts should be made to the defense budget and through reforming the tax code.  In the area of defense, we should propose a minimum 25% overall reduction in spending.  And, in the tax code, we should eliminate mortgage interest deduction and close other loopholes.

#2 Global Climate Change.  As a nation, we need to come together to accept that Global Climate Change is a very real thing and we need to take immediate steps to help prevent any more damage to our world.   In the near term, I would recommend supporting legislation that includes a 20% reduction of fossil fuels across the board, incentives to use reusable water bottles, and an increase in funding for the development of affordable cars that are hybrid or completely electric. Americans simply cannot stay idle much longer because the world is being destroyed with every new car, every thrown away plastic bottle, and every ounce of fossil fuel emission that is lifted into the atmosphere. Examples such as Hurricane Sandy and the tornadoes that ripped across the Midwest again this year will serve as compelling evidence of the destructive changes in our weather caused by Global Climate Change. These are not just coincidental events, but things that have resulted from our stupidity, our denial and our carelessness toward the environment.  Without immediate attention to Global Climate Change, we are likely to face new problems in the future including wars over lack of clean water, fertile land, and other specific resources as well increasing natural disasters and destructive weather.

#3 Equality for All Americans:  In order for all Americans to succeed, we need to discourage discrimination and remove barriers to equal access.  When people say that there are no more caste systems in the United States, it is simply not true. There are still huge inequalities that need to be resolved.  This year, I would recommend two initiatives focused on equal access 1.) Legalizing same-sex marriage in all states and 2.) Initiating national standards for voter registration including the elimination of state laws requiring photo identifications for voters.  On the issue of same-sex marriage, this past election the American people showed their readiness to accept same-sex marriage through initiatives passed in Maryland, Maine, Washington and Minnesota. These first steps combined with an upcoming Supreme Court decision show that now is the time for our administration to take a lead on this issue. As for insuring all people have the right to vote, I believe our administration should advocate for consistent and fair voter laws including the repeal of state photo ID laws for these laws are unfair to the average voter, a form of discrimination, and potentially unconstitutional.

           

Post-election....now what?

       After a complete day and a half after the election, the election coverage is still going crazy. But it has officially been called finally in Florida and the final numbers are...332 to 206! In the end, it wasn't close and I think that was a complete surprise by many, especially Republicans...but not me and not to the Obama campaign. As been reported by CNN and MSNBC, the campaign starting on Monday night, started to understand that what was going to happen the next day. We knew early that we were going to beat Mitt Romney and his Republican friends. Though the Republicans continue to hold the House of Representatives, Democrats did gain a great advantage in the Senate 53 Democrats +2 Independents versus the Republicans who picked up only 2 seats and had to deal with only now have 45 in their favor. Though the Senate, seat wise, was a big win, that is not only the real reason it was so great. Now for the first time in history there will be 20 women senators and that is a big deal! For the first time, women are really stepping it up and showing the men that they to can stand their own ground and do well. The biggest races of the night continue to be the ones in Massachusetts where Elizabeth Warren stood her ground to incumbent Scott Brown and was able to defeat him by a large margin. She was able to stand up to his hypocrisy and his anti-women views as well as his strong Republican views on health care and the environment. She became the first women elected to the senate from Massachusetts as well. Another key race was another woman from Wisconsin. Tammy Baldwin is another great woman who has now been elected as the first female senator from Wisconsin, but not only that but the first openly gay senator as well. This progress toward a more accepting nation is critical and was shown in a HUGE way in the election. Not only did Baldwin win, but also 3 state have now publicly confirmed that their state will allow for same-sex couples to be married. This is huge because not only did the three states affirm their marriage laws but it was done by the general public not in Washington, the everyday person was able to go cast their vote to make this legal and that is showing the growing progressive nature in our world. Lastly, I must mention that OBAMA WON!  Obama won four more years in the white house and this is going to be great. Not only did he win, but he won large, across the board both in the electoral college where he completely destroyed Romney and in the popular vote where he won by 3 million votes and counting as Washington and Florida are still counting exact votes. This is a great win and it shows that people still do believe in the hope and change that Obama has started and will continue to fight for in his second term.
       But now... what happens?? Many politicians and news anchors have said that nothing will change, Congressional leadership will not change and therefore nothing will continue to get done. No matter what nothing is going to go anywhere. However, what does that mean? Does it mean that we're just going to do nothing for the next four years? Probably not!We can't just wait around actually, there are many things that need to be dealt with now. The "fiscal cliff" is coming and it is approaching quickly and we need to rethink our budget, we need to find a system to replace the end the Bush Tax Cuts, we need to deal with global warming and hopefully after having Sandy more people will accept it and help find a solution, and finally we need to deal with our wars and decide SMARTLY which ones to pursue, which ones we wont and then with the money not spent on war, we need to do some nation building including education, medicare, and social security. But on the optimist side, there are somethings that are going to get done no matter Congress, biggest one being that Roe vs Wade will be completely upheld and so will Obamacare. It will be an exciting next four years and I can't wait to see what Obama can get done in this next term!
       I will leave you with a few things one, Obama's closing argument for his re-election, in his speech he said two things, the first about elections "That's why we do this. That's what politics can be. That's why elections matter. It's not small, it's big. It's important. Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy", and secondly he ended with, "I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn't matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try". And lastly, a video which I have had on repeat not only for the past 36 hours but for the last three weeks of the campaign. I think it really gives the full message of this campaign and of the Obama presidency as well. Well, until next time, happy democracy and go Obama!