Election Covereage '08: Hillary

I've always found Hillary to be a fascinating person. She is one of the most divisive figures in politics, yet she very well may be our next president. For purposes of full disclosure, let me just say upfront that I'm a fan of Hillary's and as of right now, she's got my vote. Though I reserve the right to change my mind considering it's over a year until the actual election. But I just wanted to get that out there, so feel free to stop reading if you wish. But I hope you'll indulge me and read on.

I am not registered with either party and consider myself pretty independent. Certain views I have are pretty conservative and certain views I have are pretty liberal. You can call me a liberal Republican or a conservative Democrat, though I tend to identify myself as a Democratic-leaning independent. It's funny because back in Arkansas I felt like I stuck out as being too liberal, yet out here in Cali I definitely stick out as being too conservative. I went from one extreme to the other. But that's the problem with America. We've become a country of extremes and only want to fight with each other rather than work for the common good.

But I actually came here to talk about Hillary. I encounter many people who dislike her, and I always ask why? The majority of time I get one of two responses: 1) Because she stayed with her husband for political gain, or 2) Because she's a ***** (I think you all know what I'm implying without me actually saying it). A good chunk that throw out reason #1 to me are fellow Christians. I find this incredibly laughable. We discourage divorce and encourage forgiveness, yet many of us continue to judge her for doing just that. And who are we to say that Hillary stayed with Bill for political gain? Maybe she did...or maybe she really loves the man and chose to forgive. It's something that only Bill, Hillary, and the Man upstairs know for sure, and I for one have no right to question. As for reason #2, this is where my feminist nature comes out. I don't really consider myself the bra-burning variety, but I'm definitely an encourager of women. I'm sorry, but if you believe that men and women stand on the same footing in this country, then you are sadly disillusioned. Any strong woman in a position of power is called a ***** at some point, but a man is considered a good leader and competent at his job. And since I don't know Hillary personally, I would never attempt to attack her character in such a vile manner.

I've written before about how annoying I find it when people are one issue voters. Many Christians vote Republican solely on the basis of the abortion and homosexuality issues. Many liberal factions vote Democratic using equivalent reasoning. And we'll see a new crop of that in the next election as I'm sure many women will vote for Hillary simply because she's a woman; or conversely, many black Americans will vote for Obama if he gets the nomination. But this is not the way to cast a vote. In this day and age, it's so easy to research the issues and each candidate's stance on them. So I encourage you to start today. Investigate, do some digging, see how they all line up on the issues, and then make your decision.

Here are some links to get you started:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/youdecide2008/platforms/index.html

I'm going to be honest, Hillary does not share my position on every issue out there, but she comes the closest of them all. I'm not going to give her my vote strictly because she's a woman, and I'm not going to withhold my vote because I question her motives for staying married. I'm giving her my vote because of all the candidates, she shares ideas similar to mine and I believe she is the most qualified and competent for the job at this juncture. As I said, I reserve the right to change my mind as the election unfolds. And I hope everyone can take their blinders off, do some research, and be open to change. We don't have to vote a certain way because someone told us to, and that's the beauty of America!