Why Can't I Vote for Hillary?

I support Hillary Clinton for President in 2008.


Why can I not say that without sparking an argument with one of my friends from Morehouse? Why is not acceptable for me, a black woman, to support the Senator from New York in her increasingly successful presidential campaign? Why does the fact that I share the same race with Barack Obama obligate me to vote for him?


The fact is this: I’m not supporting Hillary Clinton because she’s a woman. I’m supporting the Senator because she’s the most experienced candidate. I’m supporting Hillary because she’s the smartest candidate. I’m supporting Hillary because she’ll do the best job when she takes office in 2009.


Hillary spent eight years in the White House and has served as a U.S. senator from New York for seven years. She’s on the Armed Services Committee, and has become keenly associated with military issues. She handled the 9/11 attacks with poise and class, and now she is ready to lead the country with equal strength.


Despite all this, my male friends in the AUC can’t seem to understand why I would possibly support this qualified woman for President of the United States. In actuality fellow students should not berate me for supporting Hillary-instead, such critics should become a little introspective and question why they’re supporting Barack Obama over Hillary.


Senator Obama, while certainly intelligent and talented, is just not ready to be President. His campaign has been driven largely by hype instead of substance. He’s faltered in the debates, appearing unsure of himself. He’s only been in the Senate for two years and before that he was an Illinois state senator. In a time of chaos and danger, Obama just does not have the experience we need to be President right now.


Furthermore, people have hyped Obama up just because he’s a black man. This should have nothing to do with race. I fear that a lot of young people want to vote for Barack Obama because they think he’s just like them-especially black men here at Morehouse support him because of his race.


Now, Obama often calls for change, but can he really bring true change? Male leaders tend to think of everything in terms of their ego and domination, while women think of think of things in regard to logistics. A prime example of this male personality complex is George Bush. After 9/11, he wanted to show everyone what a powerful man he was and now we’ve ended up in Iraq.


Electing Hillary Clinton, a woman, can take us away from a policy dominated by the inclination towards military action instead of diplomacy. Now, some may start yelling that Hillary helped put us in Iraq by voting for the war. If we want to be honest, Hillary likely voted for the war because she-like everyone else in the country-wrongly thought that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.


Now, Hillary can’t apologize for that vote in the midst of a heated campaign season. It would leave her open to attack as weak and waffling.


The only thing Democratic primary voters have on Hillary is the Iraq War, but what those voters should realize is that Barack Obama didn’t have to make the tough choice to vote for or against the Iraq resolution because he wasn’t even in Congress in 2002.


Most important for the Hillary critics to take notice of: Barack Obama cannot win an election. If we put him against Rudy Giuliani for President, he will lose. Then we’ll be stuck with a mayor as President.


Who wants that?


On the day I finished writing this editorial, I had another heated discussion with a Man of Morehouse who also couldn’t understand why I was voting for Hillary. He brought up a number of arguments, and I refuted each. Eventually he became frustrated and said something to the effect of: You’re black! I don’t understand why you won’t vote for Barack. Why do you hate black men?


Honestly, would the dynamic of our country change if a black man were elected? Yes. Is America ready for a black man? Yes. Do I think Barack Obama is that man? No.


The election of 2008 isn’t about race, or gender, or religion, or class. It’s about choosing the person who will do the best job, and I believe Senator Hillary Clinton is the most qualified individual for the position. It’s quite simple.