For much of the past month commentators, politicians, and voters from both sides of the political spectrum have laid out a strong and compelling case for Hillary Clinton. This argument, however, rests more on the unacceptability of the alternative (Donald Trump) than anything to do with Clinton herself. It is less a case for Clinton and more a case against Trump. This is still a compelling argument, especially lately as Trump appears to be determined to alienate even the last vestiges of his support among women, minorities, and the Republican mainstream. However it raises an important question, one that is rarely discussed: is there a case for Hillary Clinton for President, not just against her opponent?
For now lets ignore the elephant in the room that is Donald Trump and just look at Hillary Clinton in a vacuum. In order to assess whether or not there is a case for Clinton we need to look at her policy proposals, her platforms, and what she would bring to the Presidency. It is important, however, to note that I am not trying to make Clinton out to be a perfect candidate or some sort of liberal messiah. She has her flaws and faults, that much cannot be denied. She is not perfect by any means but even in the absence of Trump she is still an eminently qualified with a compelling vision for the future of America.
Lets start with arguably one of the most important roles of the President: nominating Justices to the US Supreme Court and lesser Federal Courts. The 45th President’s appointments to the Court will influence American social and political life for generations to come (keep in mind that Justice Kennedy was appointed by President Reagan). It appears that Clinton’s nominees to the Court would be similar to thoughtful, educated, slightly left of center moderates like Chief Judge Merrick Garland. Her appointments to the Court would help curb the disastrous Citizens United Decision, uphold women’s healthcare and safety, and defend voting rights. We don’t need extremists on one side or the other. We need honest, dedicated, thoughtful Justices who will rule for the American people. Hillary has said from the beginning that those are the kind of men and women she would nominate to the Court.
How about the environment? The current climate crisis is getting worse and worse and America (and the world) needs strong, swift action if we are to make any significant changes. Hillary’s plan is both simple and extraordinarily innovative. She plans to reduce oil consumption by almost one third through R&D into cleaner burning, more efficient fuel and more efficient transportation, such as cars, ships, trucks, and rail. This investment is how the government works best. They don’t need to be involved directly, they can simply invest in R&D and innovation, incentivizing private industries to move in a different, better direction. She will also cut back on US corporate welfare to the oil industries, welfare that is wasted on these hugely profitable industries, directing it back to US domestic green energy industries, allowing them to grow and prosper. Finally she will back President Obama’s commitment to the Paris Climate Accords, a rare moment of unity between the US and China on the delicate issue of climate change.
Voting rights are one of the most fundamental rights that we have as citizens of the United States. Every other right, every other freedom, is guaranteed and expanded. Voting rights have been curtailed in recent years, with voter ID laws intentionally crafted to target minorities and the economically disenfranchised, cutbacks to early voting, prohibitively long lines at the polls, “poll watchers” intimidating voters in Democratic leaning areas, and the decision of the Supreme Court to invalidate a crucial enforcement mechanism within the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Hillary plans to enact automatic voter registration of all US citizens at the age of 18 (a key element of many European democracies) in which you don’t have to register to vote, you simply have to opt out if you don’t want to be registered, allowing for far fewer barriers to voting. She will work with Congress and the Courts to restore the elements of the Voting Rights Act that were gutted in 2013, updating the standard for federal review of voter law changes. Ensuring that every citizen has the right to vote as easily and quickly as possible is crucial, and Hillary will follow through on this pillar of American democracy.
One of the biggest problems that our next President will face is the issue of employment and Clinton’s platform does a fantastic job of hitting this issue head on. She plans to unify federal, state, local workforce development and job training resources as unified in concert with employer, including unions and trade groups, allowing for a more streamlined clearinghouse between employee, employer, and government workforce development. She will offer tax incentives and benefits for employers who invest in their employees through continued education, training, and job creation. Hillary will also offer a tax credit to businesses that offer apprenticeships, allowing businesses to benefit from discounted labor and a reduced tax burden while giving young people the opportunity to learn skills in fields crucial to the development of the economy. Consider this alongside her plan to increase investment in community colleges and trade schools and you have an economy that begins to expand from the middle out while simultaneously providing more opportunities for the people who need them most.
Hillary will guarantee that anyone can graduate from a public college or university free from debt. She will guarantee universal Pre-K to jump-start the American workforce. She will fight to close loopholes in our tax code that make it easy for firms to ship jobs overseas and offer tax incentives for those who keep jobs here in the US. She will guarantee paid maternity and paternity leave, as issue on which America is embarrassingly behind the rest of the developed world. She will protect LGBTQ rights, ensure the passage of common sense and moral immigration reform, protect a woman’s right to choose and defend her access to contraceptives, invest in American infrastructure and develop a cutting edge 21st century transportation system, provide for our troops both on the battlefield and once they get back home, and finally take long awaited action on criminal justice reform. I could go on and on.
Her platform is practical, pragmatic, and utilitarian, providing a middle of the road political approach that ensures American expansion and prosperity while keeping the American people at its heart. Again, Clinton certainly has her faults, which have been well documented in the media over the past 20 years, but on the whole the benefits of her Presidency would far outweigh any of those flaws.
Even when examined in a vacuum, without the looming specter of Donald Trump, there is a strong case for Hillary Clinton’s Presidency. Once you take that along with the caricature of greed, cruelty, stupidity, and intolerance that is Donald J. Trump the choice is clear, and on November 8th we will see if America believes in that choice as well.
