Would You Like to be President, Little Girl?

I really, REALLY never wanted to talk about the election on this blog. I didn't want to do it because it's somewhat pointless. There's nothing I can say to you that's going to change your mind about how you feel about my candidate. There's nothing you can say to me that's going to change mind. The beauty of a republic democracy is that we can have different opinions on why some things matter and some things don't. The problem with that is that it can polarize people, because some of those beliefs stem pretty far. I don't mind confrontational debate when there's a point and a possibility of finding a middle ground. But I hate it when it's pointless and only serves to further push people apart from each other.

I'm going to go ahead though and post this entry. I'm going to post it because I'm tired of dodging the questions about how and why I'm such a huge supporter of her in person and via email and on an on. I am absolutely not going to get in a comment thread debate, so don't bother. If you email me to tell me why I'm supporting the antichrist, I will nicely email you back and tell you that I love you because we can disagree and I'm not engaging in this argument with you. Unless you are Pookie, and then that ship already done sailed. But if you're wondering what's in my head, here it is.

So, who would I like for my next President?

Well, I would like Al Gore or Arnold Schwarzenegger. But since neither of those are being presented to me as an option, I'll be picking from a pool of other candidates.

Mitt Romney: I Think Jihadism Is Not So Much A Word
Mitt Romney is whom I believe my next President will be. And, quite honestly, he's the candidate whose political views and platform most closely mirror my own. And to be honest, in the right match up situation, I would vote for him. But it would be unlikely because at this point I don't trust any Republican candidate (and I'm a registered Republican) to be able to shake off the puppeteers. That said, there is no circumstance in which you will find me in tears if Mitt Romney were my next President - the way I was in tears, literally, both times that Bush won.

I don't know that I think that looking at Middle East Jihadism (which I think may be a word he made up) as similar to the Cold War is completely accurate, but I do think that it provides a reference point that can be used to create a plan. His tax plan is a little scary given that cutting middle class tax savings is unlikely to actually encourage the middle class to become more fiscally responsible and more likely to just piss them off and send them to Wal Mart in droves, but his fiscal record of cleaning up messes is impeccable and I am not an economist. His environmental plan is laughable. I'm not even sure one can call "Invest in research" a plan. He has issues. He'd also probably be the most successful of the batch if elected. He's not who I wear a hat and shirt for, but I'm not going to complain too loudly, or at all, if he gets elected. And I think that he will.

Barack Obama: I Don't Even Buy Your Hope, And That's My Problem
Barack Obama clearly represents what I think leadership SHOULD be about. It SHOULD be about inspiring hope, and believing in what you're representing, and being honest, and admitting mistakes. It SHOULD be about genuinely wanting to create a world in which everybody can be taken care of to the best of the country's ability. But, I mean, we talked about this extensively after I read his most recent book last year, and his actual politics infuriate me in their idealism.

"I'm in this race to take those tax breaks away away from companies that are moving jobs overseas and put them in the pockets of the hard working Americans who who deserve it."

Oh, shut the hell up. I can't take you seriously, Barack, since you've never in your life dealt with the financial realities of the business world. You know what? You want to take corporate tax cuts away from companies that outsource? Do it. They'll all just actually move offshore. Go find me enough of those hard working Americans who want to work for minimum wage and take actual pride in their work to make that justifiable, and we'll talk. I'm hiring two positions right now. I'm telling you you'll find your candidates few and far between.

I think it's awesome that Obama NEVER wavered or "played the line" in not supporting the war in Iraq. And I don't pretend to know whether pulling our troops out or keeping them there is really the best move at this point. But I do know that whatever choice he made, it would be because he truly believed it. And that inspires me. Because I don't think that anybody knows what the right move is. And at the very least, it would be comforting to know that whomever made the decision believed in it and wasn't just doing it because he was out of options.

But we've talked about it. I just don't buy his idealism. If it's real, then I question his ability to ultimately be effective. If it's a show, then everything I believe about him is false. That said, it's the same as with Romney. You won't see me crying if Barack Obama is my next President. Though of the three candidates that I think are worthy, he's the one who actually gives me the most cause for pause and I have SERIOUS issues with many of his policy stances, I would be happy.

Hillary for President in 2008
Let me just say, I do not think that she is perfect. And I am largely campaigning for her for no other reason than that she is a woman. That I'm doing that in and of itself infuriates me a little bit. Because I never wanted this to be about the fact that she was a woman. Mitt Romney's campaign isn't about the fact that he's a man. You see where I'm going. And had there been a candidate whom I really, truly believed would make an amazing President, I wouldn't be so strongly supporting Hillary. But in the absence of that type of candidate, I'm selecting between three candidates whom I all consider close in value, I'm going with what's important to me, and that's the idea of advancing women. I know that you will tell me that a woman like Hillary does not advance women, but I don't believe that to be true. I believe that ANY woman breaking through a heretofore impenetrable ceiling advances women. I probably don't think that Hillary is as evil as you do, but just for the sake of argument, let's say she is. If not her and now, then who, and when? Who do you see as a female politician that could become President in the next 20 years? There's nobody in the queue right now. At some point, some point, don't we need to give our daughters and sisters somebody to aspire to be -- even if she is in many ways imperfect -- who isn't a knocked up, lingerie-wearing, barely able to carry on a conversation let alone understand international policy, pop star? This is an opportunity to break an important barrier. If some other candidate blew me away, I wouldn't think that was a priority. But absent that, there's no reason for it not to be a priority.

Firstly, it's not that issues aren't important. She has the strongest environmental policy of the group by far. It's one that could actually work and work WITHOUT alienating current business too badly. It does bother me that her education policy involves "reforming" the No Child Left Behind Act instead of just dumping it and creating something that works, and I know a thing or two about the education system. That said, her platform has always supported the more European-based ideals of creating a way for families to thrive while facing economic and social realities that I find so lacking in America -- and to our detriment. The Health Care Plan? I hate it. I think that it's possible to create a universal health care that doesn't penalize people who can afford better than standard care, and her plan doesn't do that. But at least it's a plan to get people covered. I happen to think it will do more harm than good. But we'll see.

And now, you are surely crawling telling me why not to support her. It's fine. I know a lot of people hate her and what she represents. Just apparently not the people of New Hampshire (ha). I'm going to address some of the big ones, just so you know that I've thought it through and I'm not just being female reactive. Don't pick a fight with me. You're not going to change my mind. I'm not going to change yours. It's fine. But here's what I think.

Hillary Has Created Too Much Antagonism To Ever Be Able to Be a Good Bi-Partisan Leader
Well, I agree with you. Barack's greatest strength is that people love him and that would help him impact change. Mitt Romney's is that he's almost clinically logical and it's hard to argue with that. People hate Hillary. Politicians hate Hillary. The media even seems to hate Hillary. Her Presidency would be a ridiculous cavalcade of politicians trying to boost their own standing by contradicting hers. Of her being criticized and press-stalked more than any President you'll be able to remember in our lifetime. She will create more controversy, second guessing, conflict and strife than any of the other candidates. And I don't love that. I admire her, because she is a smart woman and she clearly knows that what she is asking for with the potential of being President is a new kind of fresh hell unlike any she's experienced before. I admire it though it's not why I'm voting for her, because I, too, think that that natural state of confrontation that would come bundled with her is a drawback. I don't have an answer for you. I think it's a problem, too. It was one of the things that made me question whether I wanted to support her.

How Could You Vote for Her After That Bullshit Ploy With the Tears Before New Hampshire?
Well, I'll tell you. I think that anybody who makes an election decision based on ANYTHING that happens during a candidate's campaign pretty much gets what they deserve in the end. Look at voting records, history, statements of belief, plans and platforms. Anything else is just a marketing campaign. I mean, are those tears any more ridiculous than Barack's endless series of shots with his perfect family? Or anybody's holiday commercials? Were the tears fake? Yeah, probably. Do I care? No. Right now, all of the candidates are products in the hands of marketers. If you're going to make your decision about the next leader of the free world based on a speech at a podium on poll day, then, you know, as a country we get what we deserve for not taking a greater responsibility as a nation for making sure people understood the issues instead of the emotion. I give as much a shit about Hillary-Crygate as I do about Barack's ride on the Oprah Train. Neither of those things matter a snitch in relation to how those people will actually govern.

Any Woman Who Would Let Her Husband Treat Her the Way Bill Treated Her Shouldn't Be President.
And on this one I say...

If you have lived a perfect relationship in which nobody has ever done anything to devastate, break faith, hurt, embarrass or destroy the other person ...
If you have never had to face the choice between forgiveness and the alternative ...
If you really feel that you are 100% confident that, had you been Hillary Clinton in that spot, looking at everything behind you and everything ahead of you - in the MIDDLE of your husband's presidency no less, you would have really felt that, without a doubt, your best option for you, your career, your child, your family and the country, was to exit that marriage ...
If you honestly believe that you know in truth all of the facts of their relationship and how it operates ...
And most importantly if you think it matters one iota as to her ability to be President, then please, by all means, continue with your complaint.

Otherwise, shut the hell up. If it makes any difference, I wouldn't have left that marriage either. Sometimes individual actions are not as important as greater contexts.

I Don't Want Her To Be The First Woman President Because It Would Send A Message About Playing Dirty to Get There
Well, firstly, most men play dirty to get there, too. I'm not sure we need to hold her to a higher standard than we would a man. I think the fact that she's played dirty is more front and center because Barack is in the race. I think that one of the great things about having Barack in the race is that everybody is more accountable.

I don't want to make this about the fact that she's a woman, but I have news for you. There is no woman who was going to get a serious chance at the presidency just by having an amazing record as a politician/senator/public servant. If that was true, Diane Fienstein would have gotten a real look taken at her long ago. I don't mind the fact that Hillary had to scrap and do some questionable things to get here. Because maybe if she can get elected, the next woman won't have to. But I'm not going to hold it against her that she did. She's fought a battle that, to the best of my knowledge no woman reading this blog has. And if she wins her battle, it changes things for women whether you like it or not.

Because, listen, baby, I have news for you. It's still a man's world out there. If a male politician were to have stayed with a cheating wife, we'd be applauding him for being gracious and forgiving, not nailing him to the cross for being weak. If a male politician had made personal life choices (like staying in said marriage) in order to advance his career, we'd be saying that those are the sacrifices you need to make. I could go on, but you get my point. Part of the reason we find her so distasteful is because she operates in a man's world, like man (or at least like a certain kind of man). But the best way to impact change is from the inside, so I have no complaints that she learned to play their game. And better her than me. And at the very least let's give her credit for that.

At least if she got elected, she wouldn't have to deal with getting paid seventy cents on the dollar to her male counterparts. Last time I checked, the salary for the US President was set, regardless of gender.

Her Policies Don't Hold Up
Some of them don't. Please refer me to the candidate for whom that statement is not true. I will change my vote because they will clearly be supernatural.

She Took Money From Horrible Special Interest Groups Like NAMBLA
You know, I'm not a hypocrite. No, I don't love that. But here's the reality of my life: I make money by exploiting a known addiction to extract money from people in an activity that is barely legal in a city where our entire economy is based on encouraging you to act as hedonistic as possible. I spend money at Wal Mart, though I know that spending money there supports choices, activities and exploitations that I don't support. Those two things probably barely touch the surface of all the ways in which money changes hands in my daily life in ways that support things that, at base, I find morally, ethically and spiritually abhorrent. So I'm not going to say a damn word about how Hillary raises campaign money.

So there you have it. For me, right now, it is completely about wanting to advance women. And sometimes, moving forward is ugly and you have to put the biggest, baddest-ass running back in the game to break through the defensive line. And usually, if the NFL is any indication, that person is a steroid user and a felon. Later on you put the good kid who does charity work around town and was an honors student in after the defensive line has worn down. As women, in the category of national leadership, we haven't been willing to put our big, bad players in, and when they do step up to the line, we generally don't want to support them. Somebody has to bust through that defensive line at some point.

And if not her, then who? And when? And how long from now will the next opportunity happen? And how many little girls who could have been the female Presidential candidate that we all WISH we could have won't even consider it because there's nobody to have paved the way for them?