Hillary Clinton
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In her own right, she was elected to the [[United States Senate]] from the state of [[New York]], and mounted a prominent campaign to become the Democratic nominee for [[2008 U.S. Presidential Election|President of the United States]] in [[2008 US Presidential Election|2008]]. If she had eventually succeeded in winning this office, Bill would have been the first First Lady who is most definitely ''not'' a lady.<ref>Although many hatorz act like Eleanor Roosevelt deserves this honor.</ref> | In her own right, she was elected to the [[United States Senate]] from the state of [[New York]], and mounted a prominent campaign to become the Democratic nominee for [[2008 U.S. Presidential Election|President of the United States]] in [[2008 US Presidential Election|2008]]. If she had eventually succeeded in winning this office, Bill would have been the first First Lady who is most definitely ''not'' a lady.<ref>Although many hatorz act like Eleanor Roosevelt deserves this honor.</ref> | ||
| − | Clinton was then selected by President [[Barack Obama]] to be his Secretary of State, serving in this role throughout Obama's first term and for a small part of his second. At least she was a mild step above [[Condoleezza Rice|Condi]]. She announced her intention to resign after Obama's re-election, and [[John Kerry]] was ultimately confirmed to replace her. Though she has not formally declared her candidacy, many suspect she intends to take another crack at being elected [[President of the United States|President]] in [[2016 U.S. Presidential Election|2016]]. | + | Clinton was then selected by President [[Barack Obama]] to be his Secretary of State, serving in this role throughout Obama's first term and for a small part of his second. At least she was a mild step above [[Condoleezza Rice|Condi]]. She announced her intention to resign after Obama's re-election, and [[John Kerry]] was ultimately confirmed to replace her. Though she has not formally declared her candidacy, many suspect she <s>is the presumptive nominee</s> intends to take another crack at being elected [[President of the United States|President]] in [[2016 U.S. Presidential Election|2016]]. |
Hating Clinton is probably the one thing most [[Republican]]s can agree upon, even though she's a member of the [[centrist]] New Democrat Coalition and voted for the [[Iraq War]].<ref>Along with [[Chickenhawk/Iraq war vote|a lot of other Dems]].</ref> Their hatred for her has since been eclipsed by their frothy-mouth loathing of [[Barack Obama|that damn commie]]. | Hating Clinton is probably the one thing most [[Republican]]s can agree upon, even though she's a member of the [[centrist]] New Democrat Coalition and voted for the [[Iraq War]].<ref>Along with [[Chickenhawk/Iraq war vote|a lot of other Dems]].</ref> Their hatred for her has since been eclipsed by their frothy-mouth loathing of [[Barack Obama|that damn commie]]. | ||
==Early history== | ==Early history== | ||
| − | She was born on October 26th, 1947 in Chicago, [[Illinois]]. She majored in political science at Wellesley College. She used to be a Republican, and was the president of the Wellesley Young Republicans, but stepped down after her views changed regarding the [[Civil rights|American Civil Rights Movement]] and the [[Vietnam War]]. She described herself as having the mind of a [[conservative]] and the heart of a [[liberal]]. She left the | + | She was born on October 26th, 1947 in Chicago, [[Illinois]]. She majored in political science at Wellesley College. She used to be a Republican, and was the president of the Wellesley Young Republicans, but stepped down after her views changed regarding the [[Civil rights|American Civil Rights Movement]] and the [[Vietnam War]]. She described herself as having the mind of a [[conservative]] and the heart of a [[liberal]]. She left the GOP for good after attending the 1968 Republican Convention, realizing [[Richard Nixon]] was a jackass and everyone around her was pretty much a dirty [[Southern strategy|racist]]. |
She graduated in 1969 with a BA in [[political science]], and entered Yale Law School, where she met her future husband and future President of the United States, Bill Clinton. They eventually moved to Arkansas and married. Clinton would do a lot of groundbreaking [[law]] things while her husband was busy getting elected to things at the same time, like the Attorney General and Governor of Arkansas. She actually made ''more'' money than him during this period, which proves [[feminism|she wore the pants in the family]] (not that Bill wore much pants). At this time they started to invest in the Whitewater Development Corporation with Jim and Susan McDougal. This would turn into a scandal later on when they were in the [[White House]], and Clinton would personally murder [[Vince Foster]] over it and frame it as a [[suicide]], at least according to [[Rush Limbaugh|some people]]. | She graduated in 1969 with a BA in [[political science]], and entered Yale Law School, where she met her future husband and future President of the United States, Bill Clinton. They eventually moved to Arkansas and married. Clinton would do a lot of groundbreaking [[law]] things while her husband was busy getting elected to things at the same time, like the Attorney General and Governor of Arkansas. She actually made ''more'' money than him during this period, which proves [[feminism|she wore the pants in the family]] (not that Bill wore much pants). At this time they started to invest in the Whitewater Development Corporation with Jim and Susan McDougal. This would turn into a scandal later on when they were in the [[White House]], and Clinton would personally murder [[Vince Foster]] over it and frame it as a [[suicide]], at least according to [[Rush Limbaugh|some people]]. | ||
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Most see Clinton as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 Presidential elections. This could be her second time in the bid for the presidency, and without any real big names in the rest of the foreseeable field, it's likely that, if she runs for the presidency, she'll win the nomination, unless somebody does what Obama did back in 2008. | Most see Clinton as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 Presidential elections. This could be her second time in the bid for the presidency, and without any real big names in the rest of the foreseeable field, it's likely that, if she runs for the presidency, she'll win the nomination, unless somebody does what Obama did back in 2008. | ||
| − | By [[historical]] standards, age might be problematic. In a hypothetical victory she'd be 69 at the time of her inauguration, joining 65+ electees as the disastrous [[POTUS#Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)|Andrew Johnson]], [[POTUS#William Henry Harrison (1841)|William Henry Harrison]] (who literally [[wp:Inauguration of William Henry Harrison|spoke himself to death]]), and Mr. [[Ronald Reagan|Iran-Contra]]. | + | By [[historical]] standards, age might be problematic. In a hypothetical victory she'd be 69 at the time of her inauguration, joining 65+ electees as the disastrous [[POTUS#Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)|Andrew Johnson]], [[POTUS#William Henry Harrison (1841)|William Henry Harrison]] (who literally [[wp:Inauguration of William Henry Harrison|spoke himself to death]]), and Mr. [[Ronald Reagan|Iran-Contra]]. On the other hand, [http://deadpresidents.tumblr.com/post/96418010532/interesting-i-would-not-be-surprised-if-admiral this.] |
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 08:14, 7 November 2014
Hillary Rodham Clinton is a American politician from the Democratic Party. As the wifely appendage of Bill Clinton, she served as First Lady of the state of Arkansas, and later of the whole United States.
In her own right, she was elected to the United States Senate from the state of New York, and mounted a prominent campaign to become the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2008. If she had eventually succeeded in winning this office, Bill would have been the first First Lady who is most definitely not a lady.[1]
Clinton was then selected by President Barack Obama to be his Secretary of State, serving in this role throughout Obama's first term and for a small part of his second. At least she was a mild step above Condi. She announced her intention to resign after Obama's re-election, and John Kerry was ultimately confirmed to replace her. Though she has not formally declared her candidacy, many suspect she is the presumptive nominee intends to take another crack at being elected President in 2016.
Hating Clinton is probably the one thing most Republicans can agree upon, even though she's a member of the centrist New Democrat Coalition and voted for the Iraq War.[2] Their hatred for her has since been eclipsed by their frothy-mouth loathing of that damn commie.
Contents |
Early history
She was born on October 26th, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois. She majored in political science at Wellesley College. She used to be a Republican, and was the president of the Wellesley Young Republicans, but stepped down after her views changed regarding the American Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. She described herself as having the mind of a conservative and the heart of a liberal. She left the GOP for good after attending the 1968 Republican Convention, realizing Richard Nixon was a jackass and everyone around her was pretty much a dirty racist.
She graduated in 1969 with a BA in political science, and entered Yale Law School, where she met her future husband and future President of the United States, Bill Clinton. They eventually moved to Arkansas and married. Clinton would do a lot of groundbreaking law things while her husband was busy getting elected to things at the same time, like the Attorney General and Governor of Arkansas. She actually made more money than him during this period, which proves she wore the pants in the family (not that Bill wore much pants). At this time they started to invest in the Whitewater Development Corporation with Jim and Susan McDougal. This would turn into a scandal later on when they were in the White House, and Clinton would personally murder Vince Foster over it and frame it as a suicide, at least according to some people.
Clinton administration
She first came to the nation's attention during Bill Clinton's run for the presidency in 1992, which is exactly the time conservatives really started to loathe her. There was just something about her that set conservatives off like rabid dogs. For the "traditional values" lot, it probably had to do with the fact she wasn't the typical potential First Lady, actually being a postgraduate and having a career and all. During the campaign she said something about not wanting to stay home and bake cookies, which upset stay-at-home moms who baked cookies, and their husbands who'd come home to eat those cookies. Bill marketed them as a "buy one get one free" deal, and suddenly every point of view or position she held became open for political attack.
Once elected, Bill appointed her to head the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. She suggested pretty modest changes, but the wingnuts accused her of trying to impose a Communist-style government takeover of the US health care system (sound familiar?), and an ignorant mass of Republican voters got really nasty about it - to the point where she had to start wearing bulletproof vests at some rallies. They called the reform package "HillaryCare" (sound familiar?) and her poll numbers sank from the high sixties to the mid-forties over the issue. The reform was unable to pass in the House and Senate because of opposition from conservative Democrats, and the Republicans used the issue to win the midterm elections in 1994.
She continued to play an important policy role in the administration after that, though in a lot less public manner, since conservative commentators loved to use her as a punching bag.
Scandals
After Republicans managed to railroad her attempts to pass health care reform, she became an excellent boogey(wo)man for conservative voters. It started with the Whitewater controversy. The Clintons had invested in some real estate business that tanked, and there was a scramble to find out if maybe the Clintons had done anything illegal. The accusations ranged from Bill forcing someone to give an illegal $300,000 loan to one of their partners in the deal... to Hillary ordering the murder of White House counsel Vince Foster. Yeah.
They also accused her of being behind the illegal firing of workers in the Travel Office in order to fill it with her friends from Arkansas and that she had illegally accessed FBI background reports on Republican White House employees.
It is understandable then that she'd accuse a vast right-wing conspiracy of working against her and her husband when the Lewinsky scandal broke in 1998. Conservatives had been attacking her for the better part of six years by this point. This scandal proved to be true, however. Instead of divorcing Bill for his infidelity though, she stuck by him,[3] and he survived an impeachment attempt, ruining Republican wet dreams of removing him (and her) from the Presidency.
Senate
She ran for a Senate seat in New York in 2000 despite never having lived there before, and was accused of "carpetbagging" (moving to the state solely for political gain). She won the election soundly against Rick Lazio, 55% to 43%.
Her voting record fluctuates between her "conservative mind" and "liberal heart." On foreign policy she was much more hawkish, voting for the Iraq War and supporting the continuing war in Afghanistan, one of her main concerns being the condition of women's rights in the country. She also voted for the PATRIOT Act and its renewal. She was against an immediate withdrawal from Iraq unlike some liberal activists, putting her in the unique position of having conservatives hate her and a number of progressives not like her either. She would later oppose the "surge" in Iraq in 2007, and voted for a withdrawal plan set on a deadline which was vetoed by President Bush. It's important to note at this point she was preparing for a run for the Presidency and the Iraq War was extremely unpopular.
On domestic issues she sided with the Democrats more. She voted against the Bush tax cuts, the nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, voted for the Immigration Reform Act and against the Federal Marriage Amendment which sought to ban same-sex marriage.
She ran for re-election in 2004. She spent over $30 million on the race and trounced Republican John Spencer (not the actor) 67% to 31%, proving she had the seat locked.
Presidential nomination campaign
Clinton had been preparing for a Presidential run since at least 2003, and during the first half of 2007 she led in all the opinion polls among Democrats running for the party's presidential nomination; after actually having to deny she was a lesbian,[4] the media widely assumed she would win. Her main competitor was then-Senator Barack Obama, a relative newcomer and a fresh face versus Clinton's well-worn presence.
Primaries and caucuses
Clinton placed a dismal third in the Iowa caucus, shattering the perception she was a shoo-in for the nomination (Obama placed first and John Edwards came in second). Clinton won the New Hampshire primary (a reversal of post-Iowa predictions), which many attributed to sympathy for when she showed a rare moment of emotion during an interview. The two had a head to head battle throughout the Democratic primaries, threatening to split the Democratic base as the contest went on and on. Clinton won big states like New York, California and New Jersey on Super Tuesday while Obama won more, but smaller states. They roughly shared the popular vote.
Clinton wasn't prepared for the long slog though, having thought she'd won the nomination by Super Tuesday, and from there her campaign lagged behind Obama. Obama won a majority of the contests, but Clinton managed to win just enough to stick in, like the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries. She became a source of ridicule and was mocked as power-hungry, some pointing out it was almost statistically impossible for her to win now. She made several gaffes like claiming to have been shot at with sniper fire while visiting Bosnia as First Lady, despite video evidence showing differently. After a swath of superdelegates declared for Obama on June 3rd, his delegate wins in South Dakota were enough to push him over the 2118 delegates needed to secure the nomination. Clinton refused to immediately concede the contest but on June 7th she suspended her campaign and threw her support behind Obama.
Poor taste?
In an interview with the Sioux Falls Argus Leader editorial board, she brought up the 1968 assassination of presidential candidate Senator Robert Kennedy when asked why she was remaining in the race. Ostensibly, she mentioned the assassination, along with her husband's 1992 primary campaign to illustrate that previous primary seasons have run into June. However, one implication of mentioning Kennedy's assassination and her reasons for remaining in the primary race was the possibility of something bad (very bad) happening to Obama.
Investigation had shown that Clinton mentioned the 1968 assassination on at least four occasions in conjunction with her desire to remain in the primary race. Many pundits however considered it to be a major gaffe and the death knell of Clinton's campaign.[5] She "sort of" apologized "in case" anyone was offended.
Campaign conclusion
After the better part of seven months locked in an interminable campaign for the presidential nomination, she officially suspended her campaign and threw all her support behind Obama on 7 June, 2008, for which the Illinois senator was grateful. The numbers were clear that Obama would become the nominee even if Clinton had continued, but the Democrats were desperate to find a choice soon; Clinton possibly saw the sense of this, and bowed out after a historic run. From there, she had called for unity within the Democratic Party in order to defeat McCain-Palin in the general election. Until Joe Biden was picked many believed that an Obama-Clinton ticket was in the works, though reports and feelings on the issue varied.
DNC 2008
The moment of truth for Clinton came at the Democratic National convention in 2008. Slated as a guest speaker on August 26, everyone was ready for her to filibuster at the podium while her disgruntled supporters made all kinds of trouble. However, these expectations were shattered as she gave a rousing speech praising Obama, ripping into McCain and calling for unity in the Democratic Party. As if the speech wasn't enough, Clinton cemented her intentions firmly by calling for Obama to be nominated as the candidate by acclamation, only adding to the applause. She then pledged her full support to the Obama campaign, erasing any thoughts of ill-will from the minds of the voters and the Democratic Party members.
Secretary of State
In 2009, President Obama chose Clinton to be his Secretary of State (much to the revulsion of conservatives, and some liberals who hadn't gotten over the primaries). Rumors of a titanic power struggle between the State Department and the White House were quickly invented by right-wing pundits, reviving the beloved Clinton-Obama rivalry from the Democratic presidential nomination.[6] Didn't happen. She later resigned by the end of Obama's first term and was replaced by John Kerry.
Clinton once declared that she was "surprised and offended" by the decision of the Appeals Court of the 9th Circuit to find that the phrase "under God" was unconstitutional.[7] Uhhhh?
On marijuana
Unlike Bill, who "didn't inhale," Hillary Clinton claims she has never smoked pot and wants to "wait and see" what kind of results the legalization for recreational use of marijuana has on states like Washington and Colorado before taking a stance on marijuana legalization.[8] Clinton also questions the medical benefits of marijuana, arguing that there has been insufficient research.[9]
Future in politics
Most see Clinton as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 Presidential elections. This could be her second time in the bid for the presidency, and without any real big names in the rest of the foreseeable field, it's likely that, if she runs for the presidency, she'll win the nomination, unless somebody does what Obama did back in 2008.
By historical standards, age might be problematic. In a hypothetical victory she'd be 69 at the time of her inauguration, joining 65+ electees as the disastrous Andrew Johnson, William Henry Harrison (who literally spoke himself to death), and Mr. Iran-Contra. On the other hand, this.
See also
External links
- The Hillary Haters, GQ
- What Hillary Wants, Vanity Fair (from 1992)
Footnotes
- ↑ Although many hatorz act like Eleanor Roosevelt deserves this honor.
- ↑ Along with a lot of other Dems.
- ↑ Who knows why, he did get a blowjob from a 22-year-old, after all.
- ↑ Hillary Clinton: I'm not a lesbian, New York Daily News
- ↑ Clinton regrets RFK assassination remark, MSNBC
- ↑ For Clinton, ’09 Campaign Is for Her Turf, The New York Times
- ↑ Hillary Clinton on the Pledge of Allegiance
- ↑ Hillary Clinton Leaves Door Open On Marijuana Legalization, HuffPo
- ↑ 6 times Clinton sounded, acted like a candidate, CNN
| United States 2008 Presidential election articles on RationalWiki | ||
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| Topics: 2008 U.S. Presidential Election - Democratic Party - Debate:Religious beliefs and public office - Republican Party - Same-sex marriage - United States Electoral College Candidates: Hillary Rodham Clinton - Rudolph Giuliani - Mike Huckabee - John McCain - Alan Keyes - Dennis Kucinich - Ron Paul - Mitt Romney Running mates: Joe Biden - Sarah Palin Winner: Barack Obama |
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