I'm about to say something that will make some people very, very unhappy.
I don't think I can bring myself to vote for Hillary Clinton, if she happens to run for the office of president.
I would dearly LOVE to vote for a female candidate, and there are women I would vote for in a heartbeat, but Clinton is not one of them. (I'd almost, and I'm not saying I would, but I'd almost vote for Condi before I'd vote for Clinton. Almost.) She seems to be the most opportunistic, power-grabbing sort of politician, trying to move to the center, and appear religious to get more votes. And I hate that. It's also why I would never in a million years dream of voting for John McCain--all his sucking-up to the religious right makes me want to puke.
That said, if I go to the polls in November of '08 and it's Hillary vs. some repulsive Republican, I'm going to have a hard time convincing myself to vote any other way BUT Hillary. It's not that I want her to win, right, but that I don't think I can stand another four years of Republican leadership, and I'm not quite certain the country can, either. I'm hoping and praying that I don't have to hold my nose and vote Hillary, and I'll vote away from her in the primaries, but I'll take the medicine if it's the only thing that will make me better.
(For a short time, I was very afraid that the Constitutional amendment to keep Presidential terms to 8 years was going to be overturned, and Bush would of course, make a play to be an emperor, but then S kindly pointed out that then Bill Clinton would run, and he would probably win. Phew, right? I don't love Bill C., but I think he was a more intelligent man that our current Pres. and more compassionate. Honestly, I know he did bad things, and I'm not talking about oral sex with an intern, because that's only between Bill and Hill. No, what swayed me, very recently, was a television program about AIDS. Frontline ran a four-hour special, 25 years of AIDS, and there was a scene that simply made me understand how much better a person? a president? Clinton was. First of all, he was giving a speech somewhere, not sure where, and a protester stood up with a gigantic sign, and he started screaming [SCREAMING] about needing more money for AIDS research, and that people were being condemned to death. He was SO loud, and so passionate, and the Secret Service hustled him out. All the while, Bill C. was saying things like, "It's okay, it's alright" in a very resigned, sad tone of voice. The look on his face was one only of sadness, and sympathy, and it's not really an expression I can describe. Just a look of weariness, of weight, of knowing that many, many people consider it your responsibility to do something, and you know you can't. Anyway, after the protester left, Clinton composed himself for a second, and said something to the effect of: we're doing what we can. We're working hard. And then he sighed, and said, "I just can't save everyone." And he didn't say it in a snotty voice, but a sincere one, and voice that made you think that he felt BAD that he couldn't save people. Whether or not what he said was genuine, it felt genuine. And his answer was eloquent, and spot-on, and HONEST.
I have never seen our current pres. act in any way like Clinton did in that two minutes. [S and I were riveted by the exchange--and we both immediately made the Clinton-Bush jump.] Bush never looks sincere, never sounds sincere. He doesn't even acknowledge protesters, and that stupid smirk seems to be his expression at every press conference/speech of his I've ever seen. He's never, ever been able to respond freely and intelligently to questions of any sort, unless the answers are scripted. Clinton, in that two minutes, made GW look like the biggest chump to walk the planet. The contrast was unbelievable. Depressing, as well. Depressing to think that we've sunk this far. Just disheartening, and sad. Sad that such an inadequate person is president.)
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