Weekly Opinion Editorial
CLINTON
HAS IMPRESSIVE RESUME,
BUT
SHORT ON ACCOMPLISHMENTS!
by Steve Fair
On
Sunday, Hillary Clinton announced she is a candidate for the Democrat Party’s
nomination for President. It came as no
surprise, since she has been hiring campaign staff and mapping strategy for
quite some time. “I’m running for
president,” she said with a smile near the end of two minute video. “Everyday Americans need a champion. And I
want to be that champion,” Mrs. Clinton said. “So I’m hitting the road to earn
your vote — because it’s your time. And I hope you’ll join me on this journey.” Clinton is the presumptive nominee of the
Democrat party and leads VP Joe Biden in early polls 65% to 12% among primary
voters. For those in the Republican
Party who think that Clinton can’t win the presidency, consider the following: 53%
of the voters in the 2012 election were women.
Women turn out and vote. In the
last eight presidential general elections, women have a higher turnout
percentage than men. Hillary is touting
her gender this time around, unlike when she ran against Obama in 2008. Women tend to vote more readily for
women. Clinton has a built-in definitive
advantage simply because of her gender. She
also has the ability to raise massive amounts of money. It’s reported she plans to have a 2.5 billion
dollar campaign budget. But while
Hillary can win, she does have significant negatives.
First, a recent CNN polls showed the
public don’t view her as “honest and trustworthy,” after it was revealed that
she has used a personal email address and home-based server to conduct U.S.
State Department business. Hillary’s
excuse that she used one email account so that she could carry just one phone
for ‘convenience,’ is inconsistent with what she said just two weeks ago. She is quoted as saying she now ‘carries two
phones.’ Hillary also claims she didn’t
send any classified information over her personal account during the years she
was SOS, but that can’t be verified because she will not allow an independent
examiner look at the server that stores her email because it also has Bill
Clinton’s on it. Reportedly, Bill
Clinton doesn’t use email at all, so that story is inconsistent.
Second,
the killing of four Americans at the U.S. Embassy compound in Benghazi in 2012
while Clinton was Secretary of State is viewed very negatively by the general
public. Clinton’s lack of a timely
response to a request by the American ambassador for more security resulted in
Congressional hearings where she was viewed as condescending and arrogant. That might play well with her base, but the
general public saw her as heartless and dismissive to legitimate questions from
members of Congress.
Third,
Clinton’s political shelf life is close to expiration. If elected, Hillary would be 69 when inaugurated. That would be the same age Ronald Reagan was
when he was first elected, but Hillary isn’t Reagan. She doesn’t have his charisma or
communication skills. Reagan was in
great physical shape for a man his age- Hillary has experienced numerous health
issues. Younger voters are not going to be energized by Hillary and
increasingly milleniums(voters between 18-26) are becoming a critical
demographic to winning an election.
Hillary isn’t ‘new’ and that is an important characteristic for a successful
political candidate. She has been on the
political scene for 25 years and that is an eternity in politics.
Fourth,
Hillary is dull. She is boring. Of all her negatives, this may be the one
that will hurt her the most. Her body
movements are calculated and she shows little spontaneity. Her speech pattern is monotone. That is why Barack Obama was able to beat her
in the 2008 primary. Being more engaging
and fun is vital in today’s social media driven campaigns.
Clinton has an impressive
resume, but her list of actual accomplishments is short. Conversely, her list of scandals is long. Republicans
have multiple candidates more qualified and trustworthy to be POTUS.
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