The Cape Cod Times endorsed Hillary Clinton today. Here is some of what it says:
There is another path to change. It involves diligence, experience, playing through pain. That is Clinton’s history. That’s why she deserves her party’s endorsement.
Take health care, her signature effort as first lady, a defeat that nevertheless raised all the important issues. Her position should be the Democratic Party’s position: mandatory universal coverage through simplified private and public plans that follow the model already used by federal employees. Portable plans, not tied to one job.
Obama’s plan is more tepid, leaving much to voluntary, job-based coverage. It does not make the necessary leap to universal care.
Both Clinton and Obama pledge to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, but Clinton’s view would be shaped by being a player all along. Votes that seemed right at the time can’t be simply undone.
And on the so-called likeability issue, the paper listened to the words of one of its readers and not Ted Kennedy:
Democrats must ask themselves how much of the Clinton back story is relevant to Tuesday’s choice, and how much is just the baggage that attaches to all ambitious, focused, talented (and powerful) political celebrities.
Sheila Edwards of Hyannis sums it up in a letter to the editor: “Why can’t people see Hillary for the wonderful, strong woman she is? It’s not about her husband. Hillary is her own person.”
Senator Clinton has endured humiliation and contempt on a Shakespearean scale. Yet she is still standing, still committed to the civic goals she first set for herself at Wellesley. That should tell Democrats something about the inner strength she would bring to the job.
Thank you Cape Cod Times for understanding that the next president should be the person best qualified for the job.
