Things I Care About/Things I Don't with Hillary
Caveat: Bernie Supporter & Anti-Immediate Family of Presidents Running for the Same Job
Transcripts: Seriously, I don't care what's in them. Big Don't Care. What I do have a concern about is that the recipients of the speeches considered the exchanges more of an investment in relationship and actual influence in future legislation which may be inappropriate or not in the best interests of the rest of us.
Email: "Private server" and "classified emails" are also in the Don't Care category. I get tons of spam and irritated when I have Internet connection issues, so if that was deemed the best way to get stuff done, I'm good. As for the classified issues, open transparent government is kind of where I like things, so big "who cares?" My only real concern here (which has been alleviated) is that these emails are the property of the government for record keeping purposes, so I'm good and this is a non-issue.
Job Performance while Secretary of State: Not a deal breaker for me. If her boss (Obama) was happy, so am I. Did she hold different positions than he did in some areas? Uh, yes. I expect that she persuaded him to see things her way sometimes, and fell in line with his orders on others. Nature of holding down a job.
Mud Slinging: I am mostly okay with this, even the surrogate stuff, because I think it is important to see how Bernie handles it, and thus far I have been pleased. It is (to me) one of the unpleasant vetting things that need to happen - how do candidates handle it when their positions are misrepresented or their character is maligned? In this day and age, it is GOING to happen, so I want to see how it is handled BEFORE it is being done by Faux News or a world leader with a different agenda. To be candid, in Hillary's 25+ years in public life, she has done an excellent job of keeping her cool while being personally attacked on a regular basis. It's the nature of politics, so mostly I roll my eyes.
Lying: BIG DEAL. As noted, I am charitable about "didn't agree, but did it anyway" on issues while she was answering to a "boss" and I also think unintended consequences on what-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time don't count as lying, BUT attempting to mislead or spin depending on the audience just drives me crazy. There are issues where nuances matter, but this seems to be more pandering. I can't tell if some of it is people pleasing ("say what they want to hear"
or just contempt for other people's ability to understand what she is trying to say/do. Fracking is a perfect example - yes or no?
Lawyer Think: VERY BIG DEAL. I had originally included this in the "lying" category, but decided it was important enough to separate out because this really bugs me. Hillary has LAWYER mentality - she agrees with whoever her client is. Okay, that makes sense for lawyers (and I know that is part of their training - to advocate for their clients based on LAW and be able to switch sides at will) but that comes across as DISHONEST when I want to know HER OPINION. The real, true answer on fracking: she was okay with it, but that was because she was hyper focused on solving a different problem at the time (money for a local municipality) and wasn't thinking of the "big picture" of unintended consequences (like water in flames and polluted aquifers). Her value systems are flexible in ways I don't like - I want "come hell or high water, the answer is NO" on important things instead of "it depends" which comes across as her being a lawyer instead of a leader.
She's Not a Boy: Don't Care. She's smart and she's been working with powerful people for decades. She can play with them just fine. I don't like it when she starts going all war-crazy because she feels like she has to prove she's tough. She's a grandma, for goodness sake, and if she's a good one (which I expect she is because she was/is a good mom to her daughter Chelsea), there is NO ONE tougher than a Grandma looking out for her Grandbabies. Strong women have been taking care of business forever, and men have been scolding that "they don't do it right" forever. Vocal intonation, pant suit, hair style - none of that matters. She's smart, but as my mom always said, "it isn't how smart you are that counts, it's what you do with it that matters." Women are more traditionally "team builders"; I am not sure that is how I see her. Oddly enough, she always seems more "smart girl in the corner reading a book" to me. (Or maybe I am just seeing myself in her - lol!)
Her Plans to Fix Things: Big Problems here, because we are back to "lawyer think" and based on who she has been hanging out with for the last three decades, I don't think she understands the problems of "non-management" people, specifically Executive Level Types. I just don't see her as "big picture" start-to-finish problem solver. NAFTA has done a lot of good in Mexico, but the trade-off has been devastating to middle class America. That is an easy example - and with a manufacturing model that is simply not long term sustainable (remember, my personal background is heavy automotive), the idea of punishing companies for "moving jobs" versus declaring bankruptcy is simply ignorant because it ignores the problems with the entire business model. That is just one example, but it tells me she doesn't know where to look for innovative ideas. I mean no disrespect, but after being a big part of destroying the middle class, I don't see her being able to fix it especially because she doesn't seem to understand how it happened.
I think typing this out really helped me get some focus (outside of my "fear of corruption because of cronyism" on my real discomfort with Hillary.
She's a lawyer at heart. I expect my leaders to LEAD - "we're going to the moon, and that means science people will have to solve a whole bunch of impossible things - get to work!" At a certain level, a true leader has to be a MOTIVATED DREAMER who is willing to nag, push and cajole everyone else into making their dream come true. "I want to be President" isn't enough of a dream for the rest of us to support.
"I want civil rights for everyone."
"I want world peace."
"I want to wipe out hunger and disease."
"I want every child in America to have a great education."
"I want to go to the moon and beyond."
I think Hillary is more "administration" than leader and dreamer. I think she compartmentalizes beautifully, but doesn't do "big picture" with the people as part of the puzzle. It isn't a personal failing; it is just the way life is, and while I respect her accomplishments, at the end of the day, I am still a Bernie supporter.
