"Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion." - Hillary Clinton in her announcement video
As I am long on record,
Hillary Clinton has my vote. I like and respect Hillary Clinton in many respects. And, assuming that she will be the next Democratic nominee, then
as Paul Krugman rightly pointed out, I also have no plausible choice but to vote for Ms. Clinton. The ideological differences between the parties are so great that it is inconceivable for me today to imagine a Democratic nominee that would not get my vote. But, as I said, I
want to vote for Ms. Clinton, and to be proud of that vote.
So, why don't I trust her? Certainly not because of Benghazi!, or emails, or etc. Simply: I don't trust that Ms. Clinton is ready and able to be - in the famous "pejorative" directed at FDR - a "traitor to her class." I don't trust - to use her words - that she is authentically committed to be a champion for everyday Americans.
Why? Because every time I look up I find her (and, yes, her husband) waist-deep, basking and mired, in the sycophantic pool of big money - - and their attendant money-grubbing. I think any Clinton supporter, if they were honest, would admit to this fact, without the need for a litany of embarrassing, supporting links. But I will give one telling example to me. If, like Ms. Clinton, you are already wealthy and retire as Secretary of State in 2013 - knowing that you very likely will be the uncontested next Democratic presidential candidate just two years later - what in the world are you doing shilling yourself - deplorably - on the Goldman Sachs speech circuit, racking up as many $100k and $200k speeches while you still can? This is my "champion"? Does that sound like the behavior of Bob Reich? Or Elizabeth Warren? Or anyone credible on the real struggle ahead that would be required to reverse systemic income inequality and the finance sector's takeover of the economy?
It doesn't to me. It just is not credible. The most charitable defense I can raise is that her behavior has been tawdry.
So, on the central issue facing the country, Ms. Clinton does not remotely have my trust. Who cares what I think? (An always valid objection.) Well, despite constant fawning about Democrat's supposed demographic advantages, this election - like most others - is going to come down to motivation and turnout. If Ms. Clinton wants to be my and other's champion, I think she needs to recognize and show that she has become a different person than what she has been to date.
If Ms. Clinton wants to be my champion, she needs to grasp that what I talk about above is not a political problem to manage, but an embarrassment.
11:51 PM PT: From Politico tonight:
Indeed, many of the financial sector donors supporting her just-declared presidential campaign say they’ve been expecting the moment when Clinton started calling out hedge fund managers and decrying executive pay all along — right down to the complaints from critics that such arguments are rich coming from someone who recently made north of $200,000 per speech, and who has been close to Wall Street since her days representing it as a senator from New York.
http://www.politico.com/...