I don’t care that Hillary Clinton fumbled on how to use the New York City subway system. I don’t care that she doesn’t drink cheap light beer, and probably doesn’t watch football on Sundays. I don’t care that she can’t tell a joke, that her smile is awkward, and that she has all the charisma of a garden slug.
Like her or not, Hillary Clinton is somebody who knows how to be President. As President, she’ll spend more time reading policy briefings than playing golf. She’ll spend more time meeting with foreign leaders than with Jimmy Kimmel on late night television. She’s a serious person wanting to hold a serious position as the most powerful person in the world’s most powerful country.
Democrats need to stop thinking with our hearts, and use our heads. As much as some people dislike Hillary Clinton, she’s a million times more likable than Ted Cruz, and an infinitely more serious human being than Donald Trump, who is caricature of a human being playing a caricature of a politician. Bernie Sanders is great in many ways, but he doesn’t have a track record of making critical decisions in a position of power. Hillary Clinton has 12 years of experience in the White House inner circle and she’s ready to be President on day one.
Hillary Clinton isn’t like everyday Americans. She will never be an average, ordinary person. The fact that she is trying so hard to pretend to be one of us is the fault of her advisors. Hillary Clinton doesn’t need to be humanized. That’s Bill’s job, although he doesn’t always do a great job of that.
When people ask me why I voted for Hillary Clinton, my response isn’t that she’s relatable or likable or even honest. My answer is that she’s smart and capable and ready for the job. Hillary Clinton has a never-ending need to prove that smart policy-making can make a huge difference. She wants to prove that she can do this job well. She’s going to be the Steve Jobs of government. She’ll be very demanding of perfection and very difficult to work for, but only because she won’t accept failure for the country. She actually wants to fix the mess we are in because she actually believes in the power of policy solutions. She’ll listen to think tanks and experts and will have very smart people around her. She doesn’t want bubbles. She doesn’t want massive increases in unemployment. She doesn’t want to see long term trends increasing debt, lower wages, and America deteriorating into a second tier nation. She’s smart enough to know that rising income inequality is a death blow to the U.S. economy.
I agree she has needed Bernie Sanders to remind her she is a Democrat. No matter how smart she is, like too many politicians, she’s had too many wealthy elitists placating her ego for years. Speaking to Goldman Sachs for $225k per speech and having dinners with heads of state and corporate leaders may have led to complacency towards her liberal principles. Bernie Sanders is bringing her back down to earth. And she has now committed to things in this campaign that are far more progressive than ever before.
Hillary Clinton is more concerned with her policies working than catering to special interests. It is not that she isn’t friendly with corporate America; it’s that she isn’t dumb enough to let them take down the economy with financial malfeasance, corporate inversions, massive environmental pollution, and outright fraud. And if she does make irresponsible choices, we can protest and raise hell and hold her feet to the fire. Hillary Clinton may actually care what we think because she wants her policies to succeed. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump don’t give a flying piece of monkey poo what we think or whether the country actually succeeds.
Therefore, I urge the Clinton campaign to change its slogan from “Hillary for America” to either of the following:
Hillary Clinton: She’s got it handled (an ode to ABC’s Scandal)
Hillary Clinton: Way smarter than the rest of these clowns
Hillary Clinton: If you were Vladimir Putin, would you want to mess with her?
Hillary Clinton: The only competent, experienced, intelligent, sane, and rational person who actually wants to be President
Hillary Clinton: A real life Claire Underwood might not be so bad
Hillary Clinton: Would you trust Trump or Cruz with the nuclear codes?
Hillary Clinton: This isn’t Denmark, it’s America
Hillary Clinton: This isn’t Texas, it’s America
Hillary Clinton: She won’t put her name on freaking everything
Hillary Clinton: Was already Co-President for eight years
Hillary Clinton: A woman willing to clean up the mess left by 44 men
Hillary Clinton: 26 years in the national spotlight and the best they can do is her e-mails?
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