2016 Election Endorsements, Part One
From President to Props, Our Picks for the 2016 Election
Here is the first installment of The Independent’s 2016 Election Endorsements. Over the next week we will be publishing endorsements for other races both online and in print. As always, we urge you to vote, whether you agree with us or not. To give access to the polls for individuals with disabilities and frail seniors, Easy Lift will provide accessible transportation; call (805) 681-1181 before November 7 to make a reservation.
President: Hillary Clinton
Never before has the choice confronting American voters been so perilous. On paper, the outcome should seem obvious. In Hillary Clinton, we have one of the most supremely qualified and thoroughly prepared candidates ever to run for the nation’s highest public office. She served as secretary of state, New York’s senator, and First Lady. By contrast, we have in Donald Trump a candidate whose life history betrays no pretense at public service and whose private accomplishments were achieved chiefly by fraud, deceit, and white-collared thuggery. For reasons both real and exaggerated, however, we recognize some of our readers are less than enamored of Clinton. Whatever your misgivings, think of all the human suffering that will unfold if Trump — an explosive genius for self-idolatry and hate — becomes the most powerful man in the world. And this could truly happen. Believe it.
We understand that Hillary Clinton, with her long history in the public eye, leaves a record that is not perfect. She has made mistakes. But such considerations should not obscure essential realities. In Hillary Clinton we have a time-tested, seasoned political leader of phenomenal strength and determination who has relentlessly pushed to expand the protective touch of health care. She has been an unwavering champion for women’s equality and reproductive rights. And from her earliest years she has worked to expand civil rights for all. Contrary to popular political folklore, these struggles for human equality are not “settled” but remain vulnerable and incomplete.
