Hillary Clinton - Why She's My First Choice

Let's start in 1974. Hillary was a member of the impeachment inquiry staff during the Watergate Scandal. Thanks, in part, to her research President Richard Nixon was forced to resign from office for doing that same thing that President George W. Bush would do 30 years later; only President Nixon did it on a much smaller scale. Not long after that, Hillary decided to move to Arkansas with Bill despite the fact that she had better job prospects in DC. In my opinion, a very respectable choice to put the idea of starting a family before political ambitions. Throughout the 70's, Hillary did pro bono work in child advocacy. A very respectable area of law. In 1979, she was first woman to be made a full partner of Rose Law Firm.

From 1982 to 1992, Hillary was the chair of the Arkansas Education Standards committee and successfully fought for state standards for curriculum and classroom size. She was named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal in 1988 and 1991. Hillary also served on boards for non profit organizations such as Arkansas Children's Hospital Legal Services and the Children's Defense Fund. Therefore, Hillary got quite a bit of legislative experience throughout the 80's and early 90's.

From 1993 through 2000, Hillary played a major role as First Lady of the United States. She was a quite active advisor to her husband during his presidency. Throughout Bill's presidency, Hillary was the chair of the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. Although she was unsuccessful in bringing about universal health care, I very much respect her efforts as I believe that getting equal (i.e. no disparity between the quality of health care a low income person receives versus that of a wealthy person) health care for a reasonable price is a right and not a privilege.

During her time as a U.S Senator for the state of New York, Hillary consistently voted for bipartisan campaign reform. She also voted for regulations on lobbying and donations. In 2003, Hillary voted against a congressional pay raise amendment. In 2007, she voted on legislation to bar immigrants with certain criminal histories. Also in 2007, Hillary voted for an Iraq troop reduction and an amendment thereof. She voted for alternative energy subsidies in June 2007. I am a strong proponent of stem cell research as I believe that it will help save thousands if not millions lives in the years to come. Therefore, I am proud to say that Hillary voted for the Stem Cell Research Act of 2007.

With her years of experience and her passion to get things done, I believe that Hillary makes a great presidential candidate. Nobody is perfect. although I was definitely against the Iraq war, I cannot wholly blame her for supporting it at first due to the bad information that she and everyone else was given. The fact that Barack Obama did not support the war doesn't hold much relevance when put into the context that he was a representative in the Illinois Senate at the time the Iraq war had been declared. Therefore, he had little to no influence as to what was decided on the federal level. I feel that Hillary is a strong willed, passionate person who will not back down on what she believes is right. The fact that she can relate to all sorts of people in different areas of the country is a good thing in my eyes, but the media and other sources like to make you think otherwise. I believe that Hillary will pick an effective vice president who will not be overbearing like Dick Cheney has been. Furthermore, I believe that her cabinet members will stick with her rather than resigning like several of GWBs cabinet members have because they lost respect for the him.

In closing, Hillary is my first choice for president because I feel that she has the experience, passion, compassion, and will to get things done and get them done right. Has she made mistakes in the past? Yes, but everyone does. Hillary is an intelligent woman and I believe that she would take action to correct any mistakes she makes; which is more than can be said about our current president.

Most of the information that I have provided here can be verified at the following sites:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/hc42.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton

http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=55463

Let's end on a lighter note. After all, I like Jack Nicholson.