Hillary's Experience & The Scary Red Phone

Okay, I agree. This ad was not in good taste. It represented the pathetic politics of fear and manipulation that we're trying to get away from.

It wasn't horrible, it wasn't a deep, or unfair vicious attack, it was just beneath you Hillary.

Hillary, you shine on the higher road, so stay there. It's who you are. No matter how this campaign ends, you should walk away proud, knowing you were true to yourself, and us, not dirty from small and petty politicking that is beneath you.

That said, Let's talk about Hillary's experience. Let's talk about Hillary's transparency. Let's start to tell the truth about the sexism that is tainting every step of this campaign.

Experience: Well, Let's hypothetically say Hillary didn't have a long and successful career in law, public service, and politics before she became First Lady, of Arkansas, and The United States. Let's say she was an attorney, who married a politician.

Senator Clinton spent 12 years as First Lady of Arkansas, and 8 years as First Lady of The United States. I assert that in those 20 years, although Hillary did not have an official capacity, she had the opportunity to watch first hand, virtually everything that went on, she was able to absorb, to learn , to see what worked, what did not, to assimilate and incorporate all of that information into her own body of personal experiences. I assert to a certain extent this is probably true of many political spouses, and that women (the vast majority of political spouses) have long been underestimated, and undermined in this respect.

That said, Hillary distinguishes herself from the majority of First Ladies, and political spouses who preceded her in that she was / is a professional in her own right, with education and experience equal to not only President Clinton, but also to his key advisers. Hillary opened the door for all the political spouses of the future to be professionals, and trusted advisers in their own right. One can certainly assume this would be the case with Michele Obama should Senator Obama win the nomination, and ultimately the election. I suspect it would offensive to assume that Michele Obama is not learning, and expanding her depth of experience as she moves through this process as Senator Obama's wife, and partner. I would not, and do not insult Michele Obama in this manner, I give her full credit for being the extremely bright, and educated woman she is, and I am sick of Hillary Clinton's years of exposure and first hand education being discredited, sadly by men and women alike.

This morning I heard Mika Brzezsinski (MSNBC's Morning Joe) say that she felt it was valid for Hillary to claim credit for her experience, but that she also had to take credit for the results, good and bad alike, that to do otherwise was to try and play it both ways. I don't agree. Hillary did not have an official capacity, but even if she had, she could only give her advice and opinion, in the end decisions where the President's. Some decisions she agreed with, and supported, others she did not. She was not the President, and wasn't responsible in the end for his choices, but that does NOT invalidate what experience and education she gained by being privy to, and sometimes involved in the process.

For example: We know from those close to the administration that neither Clinton was wild about NAFTA, when they inherited it from Bush senior, and we know that President Clinton worked to increase labor and environmental standards with Mexico. James Carville has been quoted as saying he remembers Hillary being cool about the final result. Hillary has been consistent, and accurate when she says parts of it have worked, and parts have not, and that it needs reform. In the end, NAFTA was the President's accomplishment, good or bad, and not Hillary's.

Getting beyond the hypothetical, we are all well aware that Hillary used her tenure as First Lady to work tirelessly on issues that are at her core: Health Care, Child Welfare, Women's issues amongst others. When we speak of Hillary's foreign travel, it has been insultingly said that she ate cookies and drank tea with other wives, sadly even by Margaret Carlson yesterday on MSNBC... what they left out was that Hillary was meeting with Mohammed Yunus in Bangladesh, and exploring micro finance for women long before Mr. Yunus was a glimmer in the Nobel Committee's eye. amongst othet things. Bill Clinton writes in his book ( My Life, page 674) "... Hillary was off on another trip, this time to Latin America.... every nation wanted our attention, and it was in our best interest to give it. But I couldn't go everywhere... As a result both Al Gore and Hillary made an unusually large number of important foreign trips. Wherever they went, people knew they spoke for the United States, and for me, and on every trip without fail, they strengthened America's standing in the world." Does this answer your question Senator Obama? If you'd like more details, it's all documented, and on the record.

At home, Hillary was vilified by the media, and the right wing, attacked and criticized for every move she made, from headbands to health care. Ken Starr went on to spend 40Million dollars, digging, and unearthing each and every aspect of the Clinton's, and coming up empty. (yup, I consider a pathetic little sex scandal empty, and a horrible waste of time and money, so call me a liberal!)

Given these experiences, and given that each and every aspect of them is what I would call over documented, I would say challenging Hillary's experience, transparency, or the fact that she has truly been vetted is unfair, and insulting. (you know, unless of course, you were living under a rock, and missed the 90's, and early 2,000's...)

Most people in Hillary's shoes would have been happy to get out of Washington, and live the rest of their life in peace and comfort. But Hillary has never been about her own personal comfort. Hillary has always been an outstanding student. She took note, she learned, she incorporated it, and decided to run for office on her own. She succeeded, and went back to Washington, to the Senate, to put her life lessons into action, AND to continue to learn, and expand her depth of knowledge, her experience. By all accounts, on both sides of the aisle, she has triumphed. She has proven herself to be an extremely hard worker, very smart, quick thinking, able to cooperate, and find middle ground with her colleagues.

Hillary has experience, and it's legit. So, how important is this experience, especially the part about successfully negotiating Washington? Well, Bill Clinton says: (My Life p.516) "Al Gore helped me alot in the early days, ..., giving me a continuing crash course in how Washington works. Part of our regular routine was having lunch alone in my private dining once a week. ... We kept our lunch schedule for 8 years,...the lunches kept us closer than we otherwise would have been in the Washington pressure cooker, and eased my adjustment to my new life."

This coming from a man who had been Governor for 12 years, Attorney General, had been in politics his entire life, including working on Senator Fulbright's staff when he was at Georgetown. I guess experience in Washington is valuable if you want to be an effective President. (I'm sure Jimmy Carter would have liked to have been better prepared. Clearly the learning curve set him at a disadvantage, and prevented him from being successful and effective in the manner he envisioned. Who knows how much greener a life we'd all been living, if he had been successful?)

To say that Barack Obama is far less experienced is not going negative, it's simply accurate. It doesn't take away from Senator Obama's vision, and ideas, nor his long term potential, or even the life, and political experience he does have, but the simple and accurate truth is that he has far less experience, and that when you are looking at two candidates who stand so very very close in ideas, experience matters, it does make the difference, and it is fair to take it in to account.

We have 2 candidates with a lot to offer. They both represent similar values, and a change America is desperate for. One is older, and more experienced, the other is younger and less experienced. Sadly I think if they were both men, the choice would be obvious, but instead, The better qualified one is a woman, and she has to prove herself inspite of her vast experience against the younger, but bright and charismatic man. So now what? Will we dampen the extraordinary accomplishment of our first African American president, by having it reinforce the ultimate glass ceiling? I hope not.