Hillary's experience: PRESIDENT, Young Republicans; INTERN, Gerald Ford

[dailykoff]

and the Republican Caucus; and according to her own memoirs, ‘a Goldwater girl, right down to my cowgirl outfit.’

http://poligazette.com/2008/01/14/on-mlk-and-lbj-hillary-clinton-was-right/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17388372/

Isn't it touching that in this great country of ours, a "former" staunch Republican can be aggressively promoted by Republican interests and strategists as the future top of the Democratic ticket?

[DaLittle Kitty]

1. Fabulous Post! Koolaid Drinkers Do Not Want to Hear The Truth. John Edwards Only Choice!

:)

[DaLittle Kitty]

2. K&R For Edwards!

[Sparkly]

3. Wow, what else did she do before she was 21?

:eyes:

[Tesha]

4. She was 26 or 27 when she was a Republican staffer at the Watergate Hearings.

Of course, by modern Presidential standards,
"youthful indiscretions" are allowed to last
up until about 45 or so, so I guess even though
she was still a strong Republican at 27, we
should give her a pass and let her run as a
Democrat.

Tesha

[ElizabethDC]

6. She was most definitely *not* a "Republican staffer"

she was on the legal team that was making the case to impeach Nixon. And she was a Democrat by the time she was 20 or 21.

[Tesha]

34. How did she get to be on that legal team?

How did she get to be on that legal team?

From whom did her appointment originate?

(BTW, this is an honest question, not a "leading"
question. I don't know the answer, her Wikipedia
article doesn't say, and I haven't bought her
biography. So if someone knows how she made her
way onto the Watergate legal staff, with details
and references, I'd like to know.)

Tesha

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. We Know You Don't Like Her But When You (Lie) About Someone It Makes (You) Not (Them) Look Bad

Under the guidance of
Chief Counsel John Doar
and senior member Bernard Nussbaum,
Rodham helped research procedures of
impeachment and the historical grounds and
standards for impeachment.


By then, Rodham was viewed as someone
with a bright political future; Democratic political
organizer and consultant Betsey Wright had moved from
Texas to Washington the previous year to help guide her career

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton


Brian

[Sparkly]

9. She was NOT a Republican staffer. nt

[terisan]

26. You are telling a lie. Shame.

Incidentally in addition to working on the Judiciary Committee, she campaigned for George McGovern and earlier supported Eugene McCarthy.

Which other candidate has long term Democratic history like her history, stretching right back to the 1970s.

[OHdem10]

5. This gives her the wisdom to know how and when to fight

back against Republicans.

[Evergreen Emerald]

7. Did she snort coke and smoke pot too?

or was she involved in her community, and learning about the difference between dems and republicans? She evolved as she learned.

Conversely: Obama STILL hails Reagan and his polices that helped make the middle class suffer.

[TokenWasp]

10. Yes, she has grown, evolved and now has well-developed positions...

...that she has earned through experience.

Obama?.....he is still getting there - and could very well end up BEING Reagan when all is said and done.

[Essene]

11. Point 1: This is a silly smear about events 40 years ago

It's a political fishing expedition... of no real merit.

At best, the smear implies that she's just another privileged white girl who went from being a conservative to a lefty during college. She was a privileged "have" suddenly campaigning for the "have nots" in the 60s. For some, this does give caution on a personal level of trust (i.e. it's a class deep issue). For most, it means nothing.

[Tom Rinaldo]

12. Doesn't it even embarrass you slightly to so blatently cherry pick your chosen facts?

What is wrong with you? Don't you know how to conduct a real political discussion or do you simply not care?

By 1968 Hillary Clinton in the words of Wikipedia "left the Republican Party for good". But even before that you chose to skip some interesting developments such as these:

"In 1965, Rodham enrolled in Wellesley College, where she majored in political science.<15> She served as president of the Wellesley Young Republicans organization during her freshman year.<16><17> However, due to her evolving views regarding the American Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, she stepped down from that position;<16> she characterized her own nature as that of "a mind conservative and a heart liberal."<18> In her junior year, Rodham was affected by the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.,<8> and became a supporter of the anti-war presidential nomination campaign of Democrat Eugene McCarthy.<19> Rodham organized a two-day student strike and worked with Wellesley's black students for moderate changes, such as recruiting more black students and faculty.<20>"

Experience? Don't these count?:

"She also took on cases of child abuse at Yale-New Haven Hospital,<32> and volunteered at New Haven Legal Services to provide free advice for the poor.<31> In the summer of 1970, she was awarded a grant to work at Marian Wright Edelman's Washington Research Project, where she was assigned to Senator Walter Mondale's Subcommittee on Migratory Labor, researching migrant workers' problems in housing, sanitation, health and education;<34><35> Edelman would become a significant mentor to her.<35>"

Funny how you left out that Walter Mondale internship.If you are so interested in Hillary's Congressional experience, why did you leave this part out?:

"During 1974 she was a member of the impeachment inquiry staff in Washington, D.C., advising the House Committee on the Judiciary during the Watergate scandal.<49><50> Under the guidance of Chief Counsel John Doar and senior member Bernard Nussbaum,<32> Rodham helped research procedures of impeachment and the historical grounds and standards for impeachment.<50> The committee's work culminated in the resignation of President Richard Nixon in August 1974.<50>"


If you are so interested in discussing exectutive positions Hillary held, what about Hillary being appointed by President Carter to be the first woman to serve on the National Board of the Legal Services Corporation (going on to become the Chair)?:

"In late 1977, President Jimmy Carter (for whom Rodham had done 1976 campaign coordination work in Indiana)<67> appointed her to the board of directors of the Legal Services Corporation,<68> and she served in that capacity from 1978 through the end of 1981.<69> For much of that time<70> she served as the chair of that board, the first woman to do so.<71> During her time as chair, funding for the Corporation was expanded from $90 million to $300 million,<64> and she successfully battled against President Ronald Reagan's initial attempts to reduce the funding and change the nature of the organization.<64>"

I think being Chair of the Board of the National Legal Services Corporation is a little bit more significant than a partial stint as President of the Wesley College Young Republicans which she left in protest.

And if you are so interested in Hillary's student days, why did you ignore this?:


"Stemming from the demands of some students,<24> she became the first student in Wellesley College history to deliver their commencement address.<22> According to reports by the Associated Press, her speech received a standing ovation lasting seven minutes.<25><26> She was featured in an article published in Life magazine, due to the response to a part of her speech that criticized Senator Edward Brooke, who had spoken before her at the commencement;<8> she also appeared on Irv Kupcinet's nationally-syndicated television talk show as well as in Illinois and New England newspapers.<27> That summer, she worked her way across Alaska, washing dishes in Mount McKinley National Park and sliming salmon in a fish processing cannery in Valdez (which fired her and shut down overnight when she complained about unhealthy conditions).<28><29>".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton


Please keep calling attention to the issue of Hillary's prior experience. It was posts like yours that initially got me curious enough to dig around for some facts myself about Hilary's life and accomplishments, which really helped me solidify my support for her for President.

[dailykoff]

14. Let's see, she "left" the GOP and went to work as a WalMart board member

for six years. Check.

[Evergreen Emerald]

16. You should read about her time at walmart...it was quite interesting

if you really cared to learn the truth...or instead you can cherry pick facts and be a blow hard.

And I could stoop to your level: while Clinton was learning about the world, obama was smoking crack.

[dailykoff]

17. Your last sentence has a grain of truth:

minus the Hillarious distortions, Clinton was learning how to bust unions while Obama was helping workers organize. I'll take the organizer over the WalMart pimp any day of the week.

[Evergreen Emerald]

18. you have no idea what you are talking about

Clinton was no walmart pimp. I suggest you read about it. She was very vocal in making positive changes in Walmart. You are ignorant about the topic. And still it does not stop you from spewing nonsense.

[dailykoff]

19. "Clinton earned $18,000 a year on the Wal-Mart Board, plus $1500 per meeting.

That's nearly as much as the fulltime salary of legal services attorneys in Arkansas in those days -- and this was on top of Clinton's salary with the Rose Law Firm, for whom she performed legal work for Wal-Mart."

http://www.boomantribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2008/1/16/1170/59227

Yeah that shows real dedication to them poor families she supposedly spent her life toiling for. :crazy:

[Tom Rinaldo]

20. Yes please, check. People shouldn't be afraid to do their own research

This too is lame.

I left high school and went to work as director of a San Francisco homeless youth shelter. Ooops, maybe I left a few things out in between.

Her Walmart Board seat was one chapter in her very complex career and it certainly is open to debate. But start out at least with an understanding that Walmart was based in Little Rock and was probably the most important firm to the Arkansas economy at a time when the Clintons were working to hard to turn around a dismal economy in Arkansas. Here is the Wikipedia report:

"Clinton served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital Legal Services (1988–1992)<91> and the Children's Defense Fund (as chair, 1986–1992).<92><10> In addition to her positions with non-profit organizations, she also held positions on the corporate board of directors of TCBY (1985–1992),<93> Wal-Mart Stores (1986–1992)<94> and Lafarge (1990–1992).<95> TCBY and Wal-Mart were Arkansas-based companies that were also clients of Rose Law.<74><96> Clinton was the first female member on Wal-Mart's board, added when chairman Sam Walton was pressured to name one;<96> once there, she pushed successfully for the chain to adopt more environmentally-friendly practices,<96> pushed largely unsuccessfully for more women to be added to the company's management,<96> and was silent about the company's famously anti-labor union practices.<96><94>"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton


The only thing at all damning in that summary is the last sentence of course. But Walton hand picked his Board and he was fiercely anti-Union at Walmart. There was zero chance that Hillary could have modified his stance toward unionization while sitting on Walmart's Board if she tried. She would have been a lone internal voice of protest and completely marginalized in regard to her effectiveness dealing with any other company policies. She picked her fights and it is fair to find fault with her choices if one is so inclined. But I think it is worth noting that Hillary and Bill Clinton have both long enjoyed strong support from both Union members and local and international Unions, both before, during and after her days sitting on Walmart's Board. And don't think for a second that's because the Union movement in America is unaware that Hillary had that position once.

[dailykoff]

21. Sure. Here's a non-Wiki source

not that Wiki isn't awesome for seventh grade term papers:

http://www.boomantribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2008/1/16/1170/59227

[Tom Rinaldo]

27. Try again

Your link is broken. If you reread what I wrote I said that her time spent on Walmart's Board is open to debate, and I am not surprised that people do debate it. But what is being posted here on this thread isn't even at the third grade level if you insist on using elementary school analogies.

DU readers understand how political propaganda works, from every position about every political figure, not just Hillary. In reality things are not so black and white. The Wiki summary is a good starting point for serious debate. If you dispute anything it says than say so and why.

But I return to my point. If Hillary was guilty of such terrible anti organized labor activities she would be viewed as an enemy of organized labor. She is not. She is viewed as an ally of organized labor BY organized labor; the very people most impacted by Walmart's policies.

Walmart was always anti union organizing but it has changed for the worse in other areas since Walton died and Hillary left that Board. It seems to me that Hillary accomplished some minor good while she served on that Board, but I leave it to the Unions themselves to pass judgement on her, and they have. And that judgement isn't the same as yours.

[dailykoff]

30. The culinary workers judgment is the same as mine.

Yes, I imagine Hilly snagged a few union endorsements when she was being aggressively promoted as "inevitable," but that changed when she tanked in Iowa, which is the only state besides New York that's had a chance to closely scrutinize her since she's been in the Senate.

And New York hasn't voted in this primary -- yet. ;)

[Tom Rinaldo]

32. You left out New Hampshire, but...

I will say this to hopefully end on a positive note. I think it is healthy for the Democratic Party that we are having a serious campaign that wasn't over in one or two contests. I think it is helping voters learn more about our canididates and how they respond to pressure for there to be a real contest. I think it is better for our candidates also to have some serious sparring in preparation for the main bout in November.

[Essene]

13. Point 2: President of COLLEGE republicans. Ford intern during JUNIOR year (i.e. not a girl scout)

She was the PRESIDENT of the college republicans.
She was an intern with Ford in her JUNIOR year of college.

It wasn't until her senior year in college that she made the move away from the GOP.

While nobody should deny her sharp turn towards lefty activism, it's dishonest to pretend she was just some little girl scout waving a goldwater flag. No, she was a college activist on the republican side.

Honesty about this history is useful if we all want this silly issue to vanish.

[dailykoff]

15. Hard to find evidence of that sharp left

and take it seriously when she's sitting on the WalMart board of directors for six years. :shrug:

[Tom Rinaldo]

24. Because you refuse to seriously look.

Do you think you know something that all the Unions who have supported her throughout her career do not?

I commented at greater length about Walmart above, but it just pisses me off how moroonic the level of discussion people attempt to pass off as politics on DU has become, so I am using your post to urge people to actually get beyond knee jerk string yanking he's bad/she's bad posts like this one.

[dailykoff]

25. If you can't beat 'em, give a little sermonette

on etiquette, and then as soon as Carville's oppo team turns up another idiotic gem like the Reagan line, hop back in the swiftboat. Gotcha.

[Tom Rinaldo]

28. I'll let readers decide who has contributed more constructively to this thread n/t

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

22. Forgive her...she eventually saw the light!!! n/t

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

23. Forgive her...she eventually saw the light!!! n/t

[burythehatchet]

29. I'll never vote for a Republican

[LeFleur1]

31. Tearing Down Democratic Candidates

Anyone who is tearing down democratic candidates by twisting truths and outright lying, by using Swiftboat tactics exactly like the neocons, IS voting Republican. Maybe not with an X on the ballot (so to speak) but with an X on character.

The tactics used here against Hillary are exactly, exactly the tactics used by the Roveites. And I know no true Democrats who would use such tactics.

[bvar22]

33. One of the things I admire about Hillary.....consistency!

The values of a Goldwater Girl Republican are entirely consistent with the values of today's Clinton Democrat (DLC).

*Free Trade
*Welfare Reform
*Deregulation
*Privatization of Commons
*Welfare for RICH corporations (Subsidies for the Helath Insurance Corporations)
*Imperial Wars
*Consolidation of Power & Wealth
*INCREASE Defense Spending
*Pardons for War Criminals (dropping investigations and prosecutions)
*BIGGER Business (fuck Mom & Pop)

Hillary hasn't changed.

The Democratic Party has changed!







"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone

[AJH032]

35. I really just do not understand this

Why must her current positions on issues be assumed identical to those she held when she was in college ~40 years ago?

Last I checked, we're not voting for a college student.

[tritsofme]

36. Maybe Obama was confused when he made his Reagan comments and thought he was still a Democrat

Since you know, you apparently can't change your mind about anything, anytime, ever, in your life.