Hartford Courant - Senator Clinton For Democrats

[Clinton Crusader]

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Sen. Clinton For Democrats
January 27, 2008

The Democrats have had a tendency over the past quarter-century to
nominate presidential candidates who were better suited to holding
Cabinet posts. This year the party has two candidates — U.S. Sens.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama — with presidential timber.

We believe Mrs. Clinton is the more seasoned and better prepared of
the two, and endorse her in the Feb. 5 Connecticut presidential
primary.

The 2008 Democratic contest is a remarkable coming-of-age for the
party and the country, with the first viable female and African
American candidates and, though he has bowed out, a highly qualified
Latino candidate in Gov. Bill Richardson. The door is finally open,
mirabile dictu, but it is still ability, and not the accidents of
race and gender, that should be the basis on which we select our
leaders.

Sen. Obama has brought an inspiring energy to the contest, a youth-
and-vigor excitement reminiscent of John F. Kennedy's campaign in
1960. But Mr. Kennedy also brought the experience of 14 years in
Congress. At a similar career point, if not before, Sen. Obama will
be a force to be reckoned with.

Former Sen. John Edwards deserves credit for raising good issues, but
his neo-populist attacks on corporate America are not particularly
helpful. This age-old tactic — playing on the country's ambivalence
toward large corporations — appears to be working as well for Mr.
Edwards as it did for William Jennings Bryan. Like them or not, large
corporations are an integral part of the American economy and are
evolving into the sinews of the global economy.

Government at times must use its regulatory authority to offset the
power of corporations, as Mr. Edwards suggests, but also must help
them diversify and prosper. We aren't going back to some golden age
of small farms and village craftsmen, if that is the thought. The new
president has to deal with a new and nuanced world.

Mrs. Clinton is ready for this role.

The president at minimum must direct the country's foreign policy and
national defense. During five years on the Senate Armed Service
Committee, Mrs. Clinton has made herself expert in defense, and won
praise for it from colleagues and high-ranking military officers. She
is also a serious and pragmatic student of foreign policy. For
example, she condemns Iran for state-sponsored terrorism and supports
U.N. sanctions against that country, but would also keep a diplomatic
track open.

Voters who thought they were getting a fiscal conservative in George
W. Bush must be profoundly disappointed. Mrs. Clinton's positions
reflect the fiscal discipline her husband managed to effect in the
1990s.

Since her days at Yale Law School, Mrs. Clinton has had a particular
interest in children. We can expect this to reflect itself in sound
policy on children's health and in education. For example, she
supports the carrot — the federal funding — as well as the stick —
the sanctions — in No Child Left Behind. She has a sound record on
the environment, and can be expected to take a vastly more serious
approach to global warming than that of the current chief executive.

People often remember that she failed to reform the health care
system in the early 1990s. That is true, but it is not necessarily a
negative. One's mistakes can be one's most valuable assets. She
supports universal health care through both government and private
sources.

In addition to her obvious intelligence, there is a steel to this
woman. There must be. She has endured nearly two decades of intense
scrutiny and relentless criticism from the likes of right-wing talk
radio. Many gave her little chance to be elected to the U.S. Senate
from New York. That she survives and thrives speaks to qualities that
would serve a president well.

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