Why Mrs Clinton Deserves Our Respect

Posted on 29 January 2008 by Michael Callaway

Now, before I go on, let me tell you about me.  Those of you who know me may be shocked by my statement, those of you who really know me, probably think that I am being sarcastic.  
 
In August of 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned I cried like a little baby.  Mostly it was because I was a little baby; I was born about two and a half months before that fateful day.  While the big people that cared for me probably thought that I was upset because I was hungry or because I had a poopie diaper, I was really upset because I lacked the vocabulary to say what was on my mind.  “Nixon is innocent, Watergate is meaningless, he should have been elected back in 1960”.  However, what it came out as was just “Waaaaaa!!”

 
Next in 1980 when I was six, Reagan beat Carter. I remember asking myself, “Am I better off then I was four years ago?”  Of course the answer was no, so I was proud to see Mr. Ronald Wilson Reagan become the next President.  In 1984 at age ten I watched my first debate.  I must say that the very first Reagan/Mondale debate was a let down, my hero looked terrible.  But oh, that second debate, I saw the mythical Phoenix rise from the ashes.  I remember cheering with great joy to the phrase, “I will not, for political reasons, exploit my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
 
 In 1988 at age fourteen I worked for the Bush campaign stuffing letters to send to Colorado voters supporting then Vice President George Bush.  I worked ten hours straight and felt that my hard work turned the state Republican for President even though we had a Democrat Governor and elected a Democrat Senator that year.  Bush won that election in a land slide and eventually Mr. Gorbachev did tear down that wall like my hero said he should.
 
1992 was the most torturous year for me. George Bush at one point looked unbeatable and I was confident that another four years of Republican brilliance would continue.  This was the first time I ever got to vote and my years of keen political instincts told me that America would continue with the President.  Bill Clinton was not even the best Democratic to be President; several of them did not even try because they thought Bush was unbeatable.  To my great dismay, too many American’s were fooled by “I feel your pain.”
 
Whereas 1992 was my political low point, 1994 was my political high point.  The Contract with America was a Republican revolution that took back the House and the Senate and made Newt Gingrich (may he live forever) the first Republican Speaker of the house in over forty years.  The pretender President and her husband were going to out of there in two years and 1996 would be the year that all three branches belonged to the Grand Old Party.
 
Even on election night in 1996 I believed in my heart of hearts despite the polls, that Bob Dole would be President.  I was crushed once again that the President that I voted for did not win.  Oh well, at least we still had the House and Senate to keep this Liberal in check, 2000 would be a banner year to make our stand.
 
In 2000, while I liked George W Bush from Texas (I voted for him twice for Governor) I was a bigger supporter of John McCain and his straight talking express.  I would have voted for him in the primary (something that I have never done, it is always decided by the time it gets to Texas) but he had already dropped out.
 
I would support the Republican nominee whoever he or she might be.  The only good Democrat, in my opinion, was a politically dead one (I did not want to see them harmed physically of course, they are people after all, people who are just not worthy to be in American government).  Bush versus Gore did not have the drama for me that previous ones had, maybe it was because I had lost the last two elections (yes, I felt like I lost) or maybe it was just because I was older.
 
I used a vacation day on that Wednesday after the election so that I could stay up all night if need be.  At a little after one in the morning NBC (Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert’s coverage of Presidential elections is the best ever) declared that George W Bush won Florida and thus won the Presidency of the United States.
 
Of course, it was not complete that night, it kept going on and on.  Finally, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bush, even though he lost the popular vote (these are the same popular voters who felt like Clinton really did feel their pain) he won enough electoral votes to be President.
 
I still feel bad for Albert Gore to this day.  If just one thousand of his supporters in Florida had voted for him like they probably wanted to instead of Patrick Buchanan, he would have become President and I would have lost my third election (yes, I would have lost it).  However, if your supporters are too confused to figure out a voting booth, we probably do not need their opinion anyway.
 
So while Democrats felt like it was unfair and that Bush stole the election, my response is this: Kennedy was unfair and he stole the election so back off.  In 1960 several thousand dead Democrats all rose from their graves and voted for Kennedy in Texas and Illinois and helped him win those states and the election.  While we should not have won, being confused is no excuse so sit back and let the professionals take over from here.
 
September 11th really did change everything; there was a short period of time where Republicans and Democrats did not see themselves as enemies but as friends with different views.  I wish that mentality could have continued but it is human nature to break people into groups, us versus them.
 
2004 was a hard year for me; I had disagreed with several aspects of the war that I will not go into now.  While I felt like John Kerry would have made a fine President, I was afraid that if he had won all you would have was finger pointing.  Any time something went wrong Republicans would say “we were on the right path until Kerry took over and now it is his war.”  Of course, anytime things went wrong Democrats would say, “Things were going even more wrong until we came in, these are left over problems from Bush and there is nothing that I can do about them.”
 
This would have gone on for four years and I wanted to have someone either right about the war or wrong about it.  So, in 2004 I did vote for George W again and did watch him win.  Again, it was not the same excitement as before, but given the situation I believed it was the right move.  To this day I still believe it was the right move and would do it again.
 
Now that I have explained who I am, let me explain my title “Why Mrs. Clinton Deserves our Respect”.  While I can not imagine a scenario that would allow me to pull that D lever, if she wins it will not be the end of the world as we know it.  She has been able to over come several challenges that I never thought she could over come.  New York, like Texas is a proud state.  I can not imagine someone who is not from Texas coming here and getting elected as our senator, she was able to do that in New York.
 
I also never thought that the Clintons as a group could escape the scandals of White Water, Travelgate, and of course Monica Lewinsky.  I was watching the Today Show when Mrs. Clinton told everyone to just take a deep breath and blamed all her husband’s problems on some mysterious “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy”. I have to ask, “Why am I not part of this group?  I have been a right winger all my life and this is the first time I am hearing of this amazing group of powerful people who can just make up stories at will with no factual basis. Why was I left out?
 
It turned out to be true and because of the cover up (not the sex like Liberals like to say) Clinton was only the second President to be impeached.  While he was not convicted in the Senate (Nixon probably would not have been convicted either) he did commit a crime that was worthy of the impeachment hearings.  On top of all this you had the health care revolution that wasn’t and the fact that many union groups felt betrayed by NAFTA.  
 
With all that against her, Mrs. Clinton has been able to overcome and has become by all standards a respected Senator.  IF she is able to win the Democrat nomination (not an easy task, just ask Gary Hart) and prevail in a general election convincing one or two major “Red” States to switch over to her, she will have done something that no man or woman has ever been able to do.  If she can do that, she will deserve the title of Madam President and will be worthy of our respect.

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