A Conservative Case for Hillary Clinton

The title may seem like an oxymoron, but I will explain my reasoning in this article. Ideally I'd vote for Mitt Romney for his executive experience and pragmatic business sense, or Ron Paul for his fiscal conservatism and commitment to constitutional orthodoxy. But realistically, only Barack Obama, John McCain, and Hillary Clinton have any chance of gaining the White House this year. From a pragmatic standpoint, Hillary Clinton may be the least objectionable of the lot.

John McCain is More Liberal than Hillary Clinton

As I discussed in an earlier editorial (How Mitt Romney Changed My Mind), McCain is a Republican-barely. He combines the worst aspects of both parties, liberal domestic policies with spendthrift interventionist foreign policy. Supporters of McCain's conservative credentials point to his 83% rating with the American Conservative Union. Those figures are distorted because they span a 30+ year career. If you look at his recent record, the numbers would be very different. McCain once said that running against Hillary Clinton would be a love fest since they had such respect for each other. With McCain's views on gun control, campaign finance reform, and immigration, McCain and Hillary Clinton are ideologically similar, with McCain tilting slightly to the left. If not for the war, McCain would be a Democrat.

Hillary Clinton is preferable to Barack Obama

Hillary Clinton is a party-line liberal, but she doesn't pretend to be anything else. You know what you're getting: high taxes and socialized healthcare. Hillary Clinton may be wrong, but at least she's consistently wrong. Clinton's supporters are reasonable. They tend to vote on issues over rhetoric, substance over style, content over presentation. Hillary Clinton's supporters don't treat her like the second coming of the Messiah.

Hillary Clinton may be more moderate than Barack Obama. As I discussed in my editorial (Vice President Al Gore), the original Clinton and Gore ran under a moderate platform. They cut spending on welfare and expanded free trade through NAFTA. How ironic that Hillary Clinton is a conservative's worst nightmare. On the Democratic side, the Obama camp has railed against NAFTA and Clinton/Gore's moderate record. Obama is more leftist than Hillary Clinton, but some conservatives aren't seeing it. Obama is the worst-case scenario, not Hillary Clinton.

Barack Obama purports himself as an independent bi-partisan fresh face, yet he's a straight-up party-line Democrat. Obama has the most liberal voting record in the Senate, more left than Hillary Clinton. At least ultra-liberals like Carter, Dukakis, and Kucinich were honest about where they stood. You knew what you were getting. They didn't pretend to play both sides. Obama has no baggage-but that's because he has no record. Obama has not even finished his first term in the U.S. Senate, and he has been absent for many votes during that time. Yes Hillary Clinton has skeletons in her closet, but at least we know about them. Obama is an unknown. Until he pays his dues and gains some experience, we don't know enough to be putting such blind faith in him.

Didn't Hillary Clinton vote for the war? Yes she did. So did John Kerry. So did most of the House and Senate. Going to war in itself was not a bad thing-it was the way we did it. Most of the House and Senate were voting under false assumptions and misinformation from an incompetent Pres. Bush. Under a more competent leader, this war might have yielded different results. It's easy for Obama to stand on his high horse and rail against the war. Obama wasn't even in the Senate when we went to Iraq!

John McCain stands a better chance against Hillary Clinton

Many Republicans have taken advantage of open primaries to vote for Obama, seeing him as they lesser of two evils. This is a strategic mistake. In a national election, Obama is a greater threat to McCain. While McCain is known as a maverick, Obama, with his rhetoric, has been able to sway moderates and even disgruntled conservatives to his side. Many moderates do not see through Obama's collectivist agenda. While Hillary Clinton will only have her liberal voting base, Obama could sway independent voters who might have otherwise gone to McCain.

With America in an unpopular war and George Bush struggling with low approval ratings, the GOP is on the defensive this election. I don't think McCain can win. McCain will probably get the brunt of anti-Bush sentiments. Since the Democrats will probably win in November, I hope Hillary Clinton will be able to make a comeback. Between her and Barack Obama, Clinton may be the best remaining option.