Posted by
Andrews on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 10:04:13 AM
Please don't take this as a shot at our former First Lady, but what, really, are Hillary Clinton's (or Rodham-Clinton's, if you prefer) qualifications to be President of the United States?
As far as I can tell her career is as follows:
1. She went to law school
2. She was a practicing attorney
3. She married someone who became the governor of Arkansas
4. As the wife of the governor, her firm engaged in some questionable practices
5. She became first lady
6. She was involved in some questionable actions as first lady (missing FBI files, travelgate, Vince Foster, "vast right wing conspiracy" claims, etc.)
7. She headed up a committee charged with creating socialized health care, but which failed to do anything. Also, by all reports I have seen, she did a terrible job managing that committee, even those otherwise favorable to her have said as much.
8. She ran for the Senate seat the Democrats give away to favorites who can't run in their own state (eg. RFK), and almost lost to Rudy Giuliani. However, he dropped out, and she beat his last minute replacement in a seat long considered a democrat lock
9. She spent 7 years in the senate so far doing very little
10. She voted for a war she now sometimes opposes and sometimes does not oppose. (Though to her credit, she never claimed "I voted for [it] before I voted against it.")
And that's it.
So, yes, on paper, she has the bare minimum credentials to be a standard presidential contender. Though they aren't official requirements, most of our successful candidates have a legal background (though not all) and served in either the Congress or as a governor. So, she has the bare minimum, but what else? If all it takes is a law degree and time in public office, we have several hundred people just as qualified. She needs something to set her apart. (And not just being female. Any trait she shares with 50%+ of the population does not make her unique.)
And that is what I don't see.
Basically, Hillary is just another lawyer, whose husband was successful and who used her husband's friends to get her a secure seat in the senate. She really did nothing on her own since she stopped practicing law.
And even her senate career has been pretty lackluster. Can anyone name something she did in the senate that is worthy of note? Is there a Clinton Bill out there I missed?
Sorry, but Hillary fails to rise to even mediocre. Were it not for her last name (or half of her hyphenate last name) -- and maybe her lack of a Y chromosome --she would be running behind Kucinich.
Or am I missing something?