I see a lot of concern trolls wringing their hands over this week’s polls. I’m over picking apart the Hillary shoulda’s and could’as. It’s done. I’ve had a lot of conversations about why I’m voting for Hillary Clinton this week and people are really interested in why to vote for her. GOTV calls are in our near future and some of us may need some help with what to say.
I voted for Bernie in the primary.
I’m supporting HRC for November.
I’m not doing it in half measures either.
I’m voting for Hillary Clinton.
This is why:
I have looked through Hillary Clinton’s taxes, the Clinton Foundation and CHAI and all I can say is wow. Past performance may not be an absolute predictor of the future, but it does give me a good idea of what to expect out of Hillary Clinton. She’s going to work for the public good like she has for the last 30 years.
I like the fact that Hillary Clinton can work will ill. It shows stamina. Unfortunately, it’s the American way. It shows she knows what’s important. As an asthmatic, I don’t tell anyone at work that I feel like crap either. I only wish she would find a better way to rest between events. I suspect she got the message. I’m good with her health. The best indicator is how often she’s seen in public and she’s been out there a lot. This GOP and media bit about her health is just another sexist ploy. I’m not buying it. If she was sick, we would have seen her collapse months ago.
I like the fact that Hillary Clinton can keep a secret. I like the fact that she went about her business the day the Seal Team 6 went after Osama bin Laden. I like the fact that Hillary Clinton goes about the business of governing without drama and don’t care if the media gets their nose out of joint because she snubs them. I don’t talk much to my frenimies either. The lack of transparency the media whines about, to me, is a non-issue. I see it showing her caution, wisdom and ability to function under stress. I trust Hillary Clinton over Chuck Todd and Maureen Dowd every day of the week.
Which leads me to the emails, yes, she can keep a secret. The private emails were not secret. The State Department’s classified communication system is secret. I haven’t seen anything that proves anyone died or ran into hiding because of these the emails. There’s nothing to the emails. I’ve seen conjecture and hand wringing. No, I’m not happy about it, but consider if her emails were on the hacked State Department server, well; the whole world would know what she wrote...oh, wait. The classified email is very complicated, but she never received nor sent anything properly marked as classified. I accept her explanation and apology. She’ll never do that again. Not inconsequential, not great, but also no scandal as much as many have tried to create one. No one has shown proof that private email server was hacked and I don’t buy the “we don’t know for sure” gambit, when we can definitively say both the State Department and DNC emails were hacked. If there was anything other than smoke in those emails, the media would have cheerfully stabbed her in the back with it by now.
Hillary Clinton has met more foreign dignitaries and is astute when it comes to world affairs. Her comprehension of global issues and how to resolve them is world class. I don’t always agree with her, but I do trust that she investigates, consults with qualified experts, considers each situation and carefully comes up with an approach, plan and roll out. She’s the only candidate who has actively sat in the situation room. She’s got the global chops and the global experience and she’s highly regarded globally.
She understands working families issues. She has plans. Lots of plans. They are there to read. No they are not boiler plate laws ready to be filed in congress. That’s their job. Her job is to lead. She will do that. Hillary Clinton is steady, reliable and she’s earned my trust which is no small feat considering just about the entire main stream media says I shouldn’t. They have no facts. Hillary has shown me what she will do and I believe she will make good on her word.
Whenever I say why I’m voting for Hillary Clinton, Trump supporters go off.
That’s Ok. I hear them out.
And, reply.
Here’s why I am NOT voting for Donald Trump:
- Donald Trump is unreliable. He flips and flops according to his listeners du jour. He pedantically states a view, then changes it sometimes several times within the same speech within 30 minutes depending upon how he reads his crowd. I can’t count on a single thing he says. I am going to vote for Hillary Clinton because she sticks to her points and when she does change it’s over a period of time and she explains her changes. Her past performance over the last 30 years tells me she is a known quantity I can count on.
- I care about the economy more than most issues. On the minimum wage he’s all over the place. First, the minimum wage is too high, then the minimum wage should grow through economic growth, then Trump said it needed to be raised. Later he said the federal minimum wage should be abolished and left to the states. Later still, Trump says he wants to raise it…. but it should be up to the states. Then later still, the states should raise it, but it will hurt the states. Trump is now settled on the minimum wage being a state’s rights issue. I’m not buying it. He wan’t do anything for people living on a poverty wage. Here’s what I know. Even if all millionaires lived at 90% of their income, which they don’t (they save most of their money because they don’t need it to pay day to day bills); they still would not be able to buy enough cars, electronics, consumables to budge the GDP much. So, then, look at investments, most of them will invest in the stock market on the secondary market which gives nothing toward new investments. Ok, maybe they buy some bonds which will be investments, but each purchased bond, it still won’t lead to enough job growth. How do I know that? Because this way of thinking has been around since Reagan and it doesn’t work. I can do the math and realize if we give the 77 million people on the minimum wage as little as a $3/hour wage increase for a 30 hour week and we’ll add about $23-30 billion (maybe more) in buying power to people who will spend the money, which will lead to real job growth. Give a $5-7 raise to the full 77 million and that could lead over a $100 billion pumped into an economy as increased demand will lead to greater sales and a greater need for more workers and the cycle chugs upward a lot more sustainably than relying on a bunch of stingy rich people to deign to spend their personal treasure. I’m going to vote for Hillary Clinton, because although she’s been slow to grasp raising the minimum wage will lead to sustainable economic growth; she’s not wavered in her commitment now that she’s embraced the issue. She knows what’s it’s like to live in a 1,800 square foot house and has worried about mundane things like paying for bills. She may not worry about money now, but that type of upbringing doesn’t leave you. I’m voting for her, because she knows how a lot of people live and I don’t believe she’ll turn her back on us on a whim.
- Donald Trump’s tax plan is a give away to his cronies, but they shouldn’t count on what he’s offering because he’s changed his mind on it a few times. First he said the wealthy have to pay more, then he couldn’t get big campaign contributiions out of the wealthy, so then Trump says, maybe not. The next “plan” calls for a slash of $10 trillion in taxes, .. oh, wait $3 trillion in taxes. Trump offers no analysis of what these tax slashes will do on the deficit or economy BTW. Then, Trump goes back to saying the wealthy have to pay more again, only to deny he ever said any such thing. Later, he again calls for the wealthy to pay more while posting a plan where the fine print in the plan released shows a different story and great benefits to the upper 5%. Meanwhile economists and “experts” show the plan to be bogus. I’m voting for Hillary Clinton because her tax plan is clear and responsible. It is NOT a moving target. Yes, she is going to raise taxes, but we have two unpaid for wars we started and haven’t paid for. Yes, wars are expensive. I don’t like taxes either, but I pay for what I buy and we need a responsible tax plan based on reality. Giving tax cuts to the rich hasn’t worked and our although out deficit is decreasing; we still have an annual deficit. I don’t know if Hillary Clinton is going to eliminate annual deficits, but I do know she is consistent with her plan and her plan has merit despite being a bitter pill for Grover Norquist to swallow (— a man who refuses to grow up IMO). Speaking of taxes, where are Donald Trump’s taxes? I call BS. If he wants to earn my trust, those taxes need to come out.
- Which leads me to things like paid maternity leave. Trump said years ago that pregnancy is inconvenient for employers with an implication that women facing discrimination on the job is her fault for continuing the human race. Lately, he’s called for paid maternity leave and gets his daughter to promote it, only to find out it’s only for married women birth mothers that excludes single mothers, gay partners and those who have children through adoption. I can’t get support that. That goof up is now probably being reworked and will be regurgitated next week with some sort of word salad that well be much the same. I’m going to vote for Hillary Clinton because her paid maternity leave plan is a real plan offered to all new parents regardless of circumstance.
- On immigration is Trump or is Trump not going to deport 11 million or more people? He doesn’t say how he’s going to pay for this deportation, nor does he acknowledge deporting all of these people will increase our safety net costs for the family left in the U.S. Trump says he’s for family values, but fails to realize that mass deportation rips apart families. Then, in a reassurance to his xenophobic base Trump tells them he still plans to have Mexico pay to build a wall that is already partially there and that there will be no amnesty. He wants to repeal the 14th amendment of birth right citizenship, but then Trump turns around and says he won’t rule out a pathway to citizenship for those already here (to appeal to the Hispanic community). I don’t know what he really is going to do. I’m going to vote for Hillary Clinton because she understands thatpeople here without papers are often exploitedand are forced to work for far less than the minimum wage, which hurts everyone. She understands the need for keeping families together and the need for security. She calls for a pathway to citizenship that is fair and not xenophobic.
- Does he want to ban all Muslims, or are some “ok”? At one point he said the ban was negotiable and at no point does he acknowledge that his position disrespects our first amendment rights to worship as we please. His current position is to ban all Muslims, plus people from countries with a history of terrorism and people who have hostile attitudes towards America. But don't say "Muslim" (just imply it.) I’m voting for Hillary Clinton because despite the GOP twisting her words, she has a better grip on the nuances of working with people of the Islamic faith and that we aren’t going to solve anything by denigrating 1.6 billion people who worship differently than I do. She believes in talking to people she doesn’t agree with.
- On ISIS first send in troops, take the oil. No, bomb the sh!t out of them and don’t forget the oil fields. No, bomb first, then send in troops. I know more than the generals. Get. the. oil. No, no troops, maybe some troops. Destroy the oil. I’ll ask the generals what they would do. I have no confidence he has any cohesive plan for what to do about ISIS. I do have confidence he will create chaos in the middle east and that’s how ISIS became a problem in the first place. Trump seems to look at the Middle East as a board game and fails to realize these are people’s lives, fails to recognize his mistakes and refuses to apologize for anything. I’m going to vote for Hillary Clinton because at least she learns from the mistakes made in Middle East policy. The problem in the Middle East is complex and multi-cultural and although I don’t agree with everything she does; I do know she has a plan (of sorts) and a far better working relationship with the power brokers in the Middle East than Donald Trump. She will apologize for her mistakes. Although she is more hawkish than President Obama, she has no appetite for endless war and will not squander our blood and treasure. True she seems to say she will use ground troops, then said she wouldn’t use ground troops, but I take that to mean she’s going to look and consider the consequences before she commits our blood in a fight and her first choice is to avoid committing troops.
- Donald Trump has no credibility with me. As I said, I don’t trust what he says, because he’s forever revising what he says, but more than that:
- As a risk manager I would advise anyone considering going into business with Donald Trump to get their contracts paid in full prior to purchase. There are too many examples of Donald Trump negotiating a deal, signing a contract; only to fail to pay or fulfill his signed contracts. There are too many situations where people have had to sue him to get him to make good on his word. Trump’s companies are party to six bankruptcies and counting. I do not trust Donald Trump with our nation’s treasure. Although he doesn’t realize it; he’s said he thinks he can renegotiate the terms on U.S. Treasury bills. That tells me a couple things. He doesn’t know how U.S. government debt is structured and that he has no clue about the market chaos even a threat of the U.S going back on paying their debts will have on the global markets. I’m going to vote for Hillary Clinton. True, she has faced enormous debts and has been slow to pay them, but she doesn’t deny her obligation to pay. There’s a difference between slow to pay and refusing to pay a debt. We have favorable analysis of Hillary Clinton’s economic plan and she’s smart about it. I’m with her.
- Donald Trump has no compassion for anyone but himself. It’s all about him. He’s feels insulted, so he childishly insults back. He’s an equal opportunity insulter. He’s insulted the disabled, women, black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Gold Star families and the press. His insults are deplorable. The people who defend those deplorable insults are deplorable. I have standards. I believe in respecting others even if I don’t agree with them. I am going to vote for Hillary Clinton because she believes every American deserves respect. Yes, she called racists, homophobics and xenophobics deplorable. I do too and will do it again.
I am not saying these statements always win the day, but years ago when I became politically engaged, I often found myself tongue tied. I didn’t know what to say. I hope these bullet points, although not short, give you some ideas.
Sometimes, making a statement isn’t as effective as asking a question, so here’s something to ask, if you don’t know what to say?
Reliability
Can I count on you to stick to what you say?
How often have you changed your mind on a major issue?
Do you have a position before or after you study a problem?
Minimum wage
I know I couldn’t raise a family on $7.25/hour could you?
How many cars, homes, cell phones could you buy if you got a $3/hr raise?
Keeping your word/ethics/paying obligations
How many times have you filed for bankruptcy?
Can you imagine what would happen if you refused to pay for a roof repair?
Can you imagine being able to tell the bank, “You’re getting too much money. Let’s renegotiate”?
How would you feel if you saw your Dad lose his business because some yuge business refused to pay?
Racism
Can you imagine if that Gold Star family was your cousin?
Wow! Did you squirm when Trump did that imitation of the disabled reporter?
Have you ever found it worked to tell someone to lose weight because they look like a fat pig?
How we talk about Hillary Clinton over the next 50+ days matters. I’m not saying I have all the answers. I have some answers and ideas. Please use the comment thread for solutions of what to say to help our nominee and what to say to get more support for Democrats down ticket.
Stay the course, folks.
We’ve got work to do.