By Nicholas Riebel || Staff Writer
Well, Hillary Clinton may not be quite so inevitable after all.
As a student of political science, I understand the importance of “conventional wisdom” in politics. I understand people saying, “OK, this time, Hillary Clinton is definitely inevitable, definitely going to win.”
I suppose, in my heart of hearts, I didn’t think Senator Bernie Sanders could win. At least, not at first. But, over the Summer and as he’s spread his message, he didn’t just convince me to support him; he already had my support, and my vote, no matter how well he did in the polls. What happened was that he began to change the minds of other Democrats, many of whom had been settling for the former Secretary of State.
“Ready for Hillary” was seen everywhere, but who was excited for her? Who wanted her? She may have some die-hard supporters, but many of her supporters are more enthusiastic about her because she is a woman than because of her politics. I don’t want to elect someone in order to make history. I want to elect someone who will be a great president and leader. And, I think the rest of America is starting to see the light.
Hillary Clinton, time and time again, has demonstrated she would not be a good president or leader. She and her Clinton Foundation accept money from governments which are decidedly anti-women (http://cbsn.ws/20jR3jk). She says she supports women’s rights, but it may be less of a priority for her overseas if it is in her economic interest to ignore them.
That is what is most troubling about Clinton: she represents what people hate about politicians. She is in the game for her ego and to make money, not to the nation become better and finally recover from the Great Recession. If you take out what would be an interesting historical footnote: “Hillary Clinton, first female president of the United States”: what do you really have? Do you truly have a fighter for your interests?
As I am not a woman, it is fair to say I may not fully understand the former Secretary’s appeal. But, I think it is safe to say that Bernie Sanders would also be a strong fighter for women’s issues and rights. As a progressive, a liberal, and yes, a democratic socialist, he is strong on every issue of interest to men and women, to our young and old, to our soldiers and veterans, to our workers and businessmen.
This is because Bernie Sanders knows that to fix our other problems, we need to fix our government. We do this by getting big money out of politics so that the wealthy can’t hide their taxable income overseas, so that companies create jobs here at home, so that college students can afford their education without going into exorbitant debt, so that you can raise a family working only one job. That’s what Bernie Sanders stands for.
As for Hillary Clinton, who knows? She makes millions of dollars from the wealthy and powerful, who use their influence to corrupt our government, our society, and our economy to accrue ever-more wealth and power to themselves. This is unsustainable, and eventually it will lead to the collapse of our nation. Even the mightiest empires fall when their emperors bleed their subjects dry. And this isn’t big government, this is corrupt, bad government. If elected, Bernie Sanders will reduce or eliminate the influence of Wall Street and other corrupt interests as much as possible, so we can then focus on other pressing issues, such as combatting global warming, making sure our police don’t get away with murdering people, and making health care available for everyone. Bernie Sanders will fight, no matter how “hard” or “politically impossible” it is. Hillary Clinton won’t.
She shifts with the political winds. When gay marriage became popular, she decided to “evolve” on the issue, many years after Bernie Sanders knew that marriage equality should be the law of the United States. She opposes a single-payer health care system, which almost every other developed nation has, because she’s afraid of a fight with the GOP and the health care lobby (she wouldn’t want to lose campaign donations from the insurance lobby, after all). She opposes getting big money out of politics, and is paid handsomely by Goldman Sachs for maximum Wall Street influence in government, at the expense of the rest of the nation.
Bernie Sanders will fight when it isn’t easy or a guaranteed victory. He won’t be beholden to interests that devastated America financially in the Great Recession and continue to do so by keeping health care and education prices artificially high. He’ll crack down on corrupt bankers and police, lead the fight against global warming, pass common sense gun control safety measures, and he will be the person who will make America greater than it was before.
You can trust Bernie Sanders to fight for you. On the other hand, you can trust that Hillary Clinton will fill her pockets and abandon her principles and promises for the highest bidder.
Junior Nicholas Riebel is a staff writer. His email is nriebel@fandm.