Why doesn't Hillary simply say she represented her constituency?

[Onlooker]

Hillary hardly needs to defend her individual votes. She represented either New Yorkers or an administration. She voted and acted accordingly. She's actually no different that Sanders in that regard. Maybe it's because she's a woman that she's put so much under the microscope since we all know that women can't be trusted. But, really, is her record that much worse than Sanders? No.

Like Hillary, Sanders is a representative, but he represents Vermont. In that capacity, he can be quite liberal, but on some issues he veers right. Probably because Vermont is a rural state, he voted against the Brady Bill 5 times, earning him an endorsement by the NRA. He voted for the Stealth bomber, because that trillion dollar boondoggle will generate jobs in Vermont. He even helped start the Iraq War probably because the country was in a paranoid frenzy back when. In 1998, he voted for the Iraq Liberation Act that supported the policy of removing Saddam, and in 2001 he voted for the Authorization Unilateral Military Force Against Terrorists that gave Bush carte blanche in attacking anyone he determined was involved in 9/11. He supported NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia, and faced protests by leftists in his own state for that. He even supported the 1994 crime bill that Hillary is often criticized for. Like Hillary, he has his excuses, but the most important one I think is that he's a good representative.

Hillary by every measure is not much more conservative than Bernie. She played a different role, in representing the state of New York that is vastly more diverse and complex than Vermont, and she represented two administrations in times when there was a need to deal with the reality that Republicans had a lot of power. Despite that, her record is nearly as liberal as Bernie's, and so far a majority of voters recognize that. That's why she leads among minority groups. Her record is good, sometimes against the long odds of the religious right and the far right. After all, she coined the phrase "vast right wing conspiracy," for which she was roundly attacked, but now you have Bernie supporters actually feeding into it by doing all they can do discredit her. The combined left-wing/right-wing attacks on Hillary are certainly having an impact. It's a testament to her toughness that she's in the lead.

Bernie is primarily the candidate of white Christian liberals, younger people, has about a 9 point lead among men, and I would guess leads among rural progressives. Hillary is a the candidate of most minorities (religious, racial, and LGBT), older people, has about a 5 point lead among women, and leads among city dwellers. Both Hillary and Bernie are doing good jobs representing their constituencies, and the proof of that is the support they have from their constituencies. Both Hillary and Bernie are politicians, doing what good politicians do.

Source:
Just posting this link because it's the only one I could find that showed how Hillary and Sanders are doing among some religious minorities.
http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/.premium-1.709293

[uponit7771]

1. He voted against the Brady bill cause he's a gumper, same for gun corps immunity.

I don't see the votes or the support Hillary has gotten from wall Street relative to the support Sanders has gotten or given to NRA causes.

[Onlooker]

4. Part of Hillary's constituency was Wall Street

She was a Senator from New York. She represented them in the same way Bernie represented gun rights, not too much. She should own up to her votes and make it clear that she was a representative, but she represented Wall Street in a liberal way, not a conservative way. She wasn't active on Wall Street issues, almost never cosponsored Wall Street legislation, and her voting record was mixed. Her Wall Street votes are part of the reason she ranked as among the most liberal senators at the time. If she was more pro Wall Street, she would have ranked lower.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2016/01/16/clinton-record-wall-street-laissez-faire/Z2a3iOsj40wryeRN2iT6qK/story.html

[uponit7771]

6. What votes?!? Sanders was asked the same thing... What votes did walk Street get from her relative .

To the NRA for Sanders!?!?

[TheDormouse]

8. the 2004 bankruptcy bill, for one

http://billmoyers.com/story/elizabeth-warren-recalls-a-time-when-big-donors-may-have-changed-hillarys-vote/

[uponit7771]

12. Her vote was even more nuanced than Sanders crime bill vote but even

.... If she's dinged with that one I don't see a string of actions like this for wall Street as I've seen Sanders for NRA

[TheDormouse]

9. this sht again?

[uponit7771]

14. Facts?! Yes, facts again... to some people facts are shit

[fourcents]

2. Check where her money is coming from now + your statistics will change now that we are...

Check where her money is coming from now plus your statistics will change now that we are out of a lot of the red southern states. Do we need to tell you who are the people running her campaign? I have news for you the media and most politicians are so far right of the populous you think Hilary is moderate. Bernie is the moderate inline with the populous. Respectfully you sound naive that you think money does not influence the candidate this is why it is so incredible what Senator Sanders is doing.

[Onlooker]

5. Well, duh!

Obviously Wall Street prefers her to someone who favors democratic socialism. I'm not saying Hillary is a leftist, but she's not bad. If money influences elections, then you are saying that Bernie will represent primarily young white males with a Christian background, since after all that is his primary voting block. Is that a fair comment on my part?

[KPN]

3. Her constituency?

Wall Street. That's why she can't and won't say that. Capitalism is out of control; in its present form, it's an existential threat to democracy. Saying she simply represented her constituency would simply spell the end to her presidential aspirations.

[HumanityExperiment]

7. HRC is republican light...

her constant shifting of policies over the years to the left validates that point...

her making a statement that she's 'progressive' is a slap in the face to any and all us progressives

she shifts for political expediency and it's sickening to watch for any liberal / progressive Democrat

[treestar]

10. Very true.

The demonizing and deifying his way out of hand.

[beam me up scottie]

11. Your post is not only factually incorrect it's full of bullshit.

Probably because Vermont is a rural state, he voted against the Brady Bill 5 times, earning him an endorsement by the NRA.

The NRA endorsed Bernie during his 1988 race even after he announced he supported a ban on assault weapons, after he made good on his promise they rated him an F five years in a row. He voted against the Brady bill later because he believed background checks could be done at the state level.

Sanders voted against the pro-gun-control Brady Bill, writing that he believes states, not the federal government, can handle waiting periods for handguns. In 1994, he voted yes on an assault weapons ban. He has voted to ban some lawsuits against gun manufacturers and for the Manchin-Toomey legislation expanding federal background checks.

http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Bernie_Sanders_Gun_Control.htm

Yet there is an explanation. It’s consistent and simpler than many pundits think. And it’s in Bernie’s own words dating back to the campaign where he was first elected to the U.S. House—in 1990—where he was endorsed by the NRA, even after Sanders told them that he would ban assault rifles. That year, Bernie faced Republican incumbent Peter Smith, who beat him by less than 4 percentage points in a three-way race two years before.

In that 1988 race, Bernie told Vermont sportsmen that he backed an assault weapons ban. Smith told the same sportsmen’s groups that he opposed it, but midway through his first term he changed his mind and co-sponsored an assault rifle ban—even bringing an AK-47 to his press conference. That about-face was seen as a betrayal and is the background to a June 1990 debate sponsored by the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs.

I was at that debate with Smith and three other candidates—as the Sanders’ campaign press secretary—and recorded it. Bernie spoke at length three times and much of what he said is relevant today, and anticipates his congressional record on gun control ever since. Look at how Bernie describes what being a sportsperson is in a rural state, where he is quick to draw the line with weapons that threaten police and have no legitimate use in hunting—he previously was mayor of Vermont’s biggest city, and his record of being very clear with the gun lobby and rural people about where he stands. His approach, despite the Nation’s characterization, isn’t “open-minded.”

http://www.salon.com/2015/10/10/what_bernies_gun_control_critics_get_wrong_partner/

Next:

He even helped start the Iraq War probably because the country was in a paranoid frenzy back when. In 1998, he voted for the Iraq Liberation Act that supported the policy of removing Saddam, and in 2001 he voted for the Authorization Unilateral Military Force Against Terrorists that gave Bush carte blanche in attacking anyone he determined was involved in 9/11.

Bernie voted to peacefully support regime change in Iraq under a Democratic administration, when Bush and Hillary lied about Saddam being a threat he voted against the war and implored others to do the same. To claim he helped start the Iraq war is so absurd it borders on delusional. Either you don't know the facts or you're lying about his record.

He supported NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia, and faced protests by leftists in his own state for that.

He voted to stop a genocide in Bosnia, you refer to that as "bombing" Yugoslavia, does this mean you supported ethnic cleansing which resulted in the slaughter of over 100,000 Muslims?

He even supported the 1994 crime bill that Hillary is often criticized for. Like Hillary, he has his excuses, but the most important one I think is that he's a good representative.

He only voted for that bill because of the Violence Against Women act, he was extremely outspoken about the parts that the Clintons promoted:

Finally, by claiming Bernie is the candidate of straight white Christian males you are dismissing every woman and minority who supports him, and what's worse you're exploiting us deliberately to tarnish his campaign.

Why don't you stick to promoting Hillary and stop trying to smear Bernie and those of us who actually do support him?

[Hekate]

13. She has mentioned her New York City & New York State constituencies, only to have her words twisted

"Ew, Wall Street, eww, Goldman Sachs; she's a corporate shill, they pay her off, none of her actual people died at the World Trade Center, no actual vital industries were harmed in the collapse of the Twin Towers, she voted for the Iraq War because she likes seeing women and children slaughtered."

The way anti-Hillary DUers carry on, they might as well be using those exact words -- in fact some of those words are theirs.

To people who hate Hillary, both on the far left and the far right, nothing she says or does will ever be taken as truthful nor make a difference. Fortunately, most of the country is neither.