Mrs. Clinton

Notes of Concern…

   …Jack Blair

MRS. CLINTON

The ever growing list of Republicans who want to be president raises in my mind the question: why?

At this point in time there is only one viable Democrat nominee, Hillary Clinton, and she has been given valuable time to secure her lead and ready herself for the general election while Republicans of all stripes attack each other, use up campaign funds, and call into question how they could ever reduce their field to one or two and get back in the real game.

Well most of these folks are not lacking in political savvy. And the people who give them money are not used to throwing money away.

So the GOP contenders and the money folks seem to know something the rest of us don’t…or at least suspect something the rest of us have not yet considered.

When I read the papers and looked online these past few weeks there may well have been some indications. 

Years ago what came to be called “Bimbo Eruptions” almost cost Bill Clinton his presidency. At least five of those women (none of whom seemed “bimbo” material to me, have risen to fight again all these years later. They are more mature, less afraid of the press and willing to speak to power. And they are determined. They are being interviewed, some have set up websites urging other ladies who may have enjoyed Bill Clinton’s company, to come forward with their stories, especially if any of them are post-impeachment stories. 

We have witnessed in the recent Bill Cosby accusations how the internet can make it very easy for those who felt damaged to present their story.

Mrs. Clinton released medical reports this week that suggest that at least one doctor finds nothing in her medical history or condition to disqualify her from serving. But it is a long time until the general election and she has had some close calls with her health.

Add to this Secretary Clinton  keeps releasing emails she should not have had on her private, in home, server but they are redacted and so far have not included the emails her detractors say contained classified documents. This might cause someone to suspect that somewhere down the line all the emails will come out and that they will hurt her chances. I imagine the Clinton campaign is in damage control on this one.

Then in the back pages of the newspapers is the less loud drum reminding us that the Clinton Foundation’s funds, those that came in while Secretary Clinton was in office  as Secretary of State, might be seen as an attempt on the part of donor countries and companies to buy favour with the U.S. government. We have no idea if such favours were granted but you can be sure research is being done as I write.

I don’t need to mention the Benghazi mess as we will continue to hear about it now that Secretary Clinton has agreed to testify again.

I am a fan of Hillary Clinton. She is smart.  I believe she was at the top of her class at Yale. While holding no elected office she actually did live with the Governor of Arkansas for two terms and when he became President of the US she lived with him in The White House. No one with any sense at all would question that she did not grow and learn and listen to all the major events in the world during those times. She was in the thick of it.

Then she went to New York and won a seat in the United States Senate. She worked hard. It is said her colleagues, both Republican and Democrat respected the quality of her mind and the work she accomplished.

She took a run at the presidency. She did not get the nomination but she had the experience of a national campaign with her in the driver’s seat, not simply accompanying her husband.

When her party won The White House she accepted the top cabinet appointment, Secretary of State, and held that job, sharpening her foreign policy chops.

Re-read the part of my column that mentions the “bimbo eruptions.” That has nothing to do with Mrs. Clinton and her qualifications for office. That has to do with her choice of a husband and her subsequent choice to stay in the marriage. No matter what Bill did or is doing has anything to do with the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

Rather, I think as Americans we should compare the years of experience Mrs. Clinton brings with her to the lack of anything close to that kind of experience in the successful candidacies of her two predecessors, the presidents Bush and Obama. And yet the American people gave those two men 16 years at the helm of our nation.

It is distasteful that people find it necessary to attack her candidacy at this time in these ways. She has earned the right to be a candidate. She has more experience than anyone  running on either side at the moment. 

It is perfectly acceptable to prefer a different candidate. It is perfectly acceptable that one might not share her views or that of her party. It is perfectly acceptable to vote for someone because in your gut you trust him or her more. And it is understandable that there are people who just simply do not like her, think she is power hungry, believe she has told lies, and find her the last person they would vote for to be president. All of this is part of reaching a decision before the election.

It is appropriate to want to know more about her use of emails and classified information as that would speak to her integrity.

It is appropriate to want to know if there is any evidence of influence peddling between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation.

It is appropriate to want to be assured she has no medical condition that could prevent her from doing an effective job.

It is appropriate to want to know what she knew and when she knew it and what she did or did not do about Benghazi.

The answers to these substantive questions is what we need to hear between now and the election and it is that kind of information that should ultimately permit us to decide if she should be president.

But let us not detract from her experience and preparation and try to bring her down with petty stuff that should not even be discussed. Everyone says they want politics to operate on a more honourable plane. 

We can make that happen.