Drum: The progressive case for Clinton

Kevin Drum isn’t pretending Hillary Clinton is a liberal’s dream, but makes a strong case that this is the way to go in this election.

Nobody should take this as an attempt to demonstrate that Clinton is perfect or to persuade you to vote for her. If you think she’s too instinctively hawkish—as I do—that might be reason enough for a liberal to vote for someone else. On some issues—supporting the Iraq War, supporting TPP, voting for the PATRIOT Act, etc.—she’s taken positions that might be flat deal killers. On other issues, you might think she’s not strong enough, or that it took her too long to get to the right place. Finally, on a personal level, she’s often over-secretive, overly lawyerly, and sometimes skates a little close to some ethical lines. She distrusts the press and withholds information too often. And she is, plainly, an establishment politician, with all the flaws that implies.

Drum lists 84 points. Here are the first 10:

1. In 1995, despite strong pressure from diplomats and White House aides to remain low key, she went to China and said, “Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.”
2. She worked her heart out for health care reform in 1993.
3. She now supports Obamacare, and supports expanding it.
4. She supports increasing the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour. This is good for workers, but less likely to have downsides than a national level of $15.
5. She supported comprehensive immigration reform in 2007 and continues to support it.
6. She was a prime mover behind the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, and was a key figure in finding compromises that allowed it to pass after partisan bickering nearly sank it.
7. Sen. Sherrod Brown: “As much as we want to move this country forward, you gotta cajole, persuade, work with, whatever it takes. And I think she does that better than about anybody I know.”
8. She supports LGBT rights.
9. She worked with attorney general Janet Reno to create the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women.
10. She was one of the prime movers behind SCHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, eventually signed into law by Bill Clinton.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.