Let’s not mince words. CityBeat is endorsing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for the nation’s highest office. But the seeming inevitability of our choice belies what a long, troubling trip the 2016 election cycle has been, our continued reservations about Clinton as a candidate and our worries about whether her party is the standard-bearer for those looking for fair, progress-oriented leadership in the future.
Let’s rewind to a more hopeful time for just a moment. Last year, 2016 looked as though it might be merely interesting instead of existentially terrifying.
Republicans had an astounding 17 candidates vying for the nomination, all of whom were clawing each others’ faces off in a highly entertaining battle royal. Eventual nominee Donald Trump — a reality TV star and, as it turns out, likely serial groper — was a curious sideshow at this point. It seemed likely Republicans would select a safe, if somewhat milquetoast candidate; perhaps former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush or Ohio’s own Gov. John Kasich. Regressive, Reaganite policy boosters both, perhaps, but not the kind of folks who might nuke a neighboring country over a late-night Twitter tiff.
Meanwhile, Democrats had their own highly charged battle going on. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders became a serious factor in the presidential race, but it happened. His grassroots campaign, which proved wildly more popular than his rumpled, kooky socialist uncle vibe initially promised, presented a serious progressive challenge to Clinton. Whether he ever stood a chance of gaining enough delegates to take the nomination, he had her sweating and pushed her toward policies we support — expanded access to higher education, increased efforts toward economic fairness and accountability for large financial institutions, police reform and racial justice initiatives.
But a couple things happened that changed the general vibe of this election from “grab the popcorn” to “get to the bomb shelter.” First, Trump took the GOP nomination after ascending to the top of the Republican pileup. As we reported this summer, his nomination in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention was disturbing. Trump repeated and intensified his nationalist, often racist and sexist rhetoric, whipping his supporters into a frenzy. Meanwhile, pro-Trump delegates and campaign employees were documented threatening his opposition — absolutely unacceptable behavior in a democracy.
The big surprise, however, was the even more contentious Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. There, Sanders supporters protested against Clinton and revelations that the Democratic Party actively worked against the Vermont senator in the primary.
It seemed unlikely that Sanders would win enough delegates or enough of the popular vote to ever gain the nomination. But the behavior of Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic Party in fighting against Sanders — revealed in a number of well-documented email leaks — look terrible on her and on the one-time party of the working class.
It was a distressing, if emblematic, end to the primary. On one hand, the GOP had selected a lewd, racist candidate with no governing experience. On the other, Democrats had selected a sometimes-autocratic candidate who often acted as if the nomination was her right while treating press and more progressive elements of her own party with disdain.
Make no mistake. Clinton is an incredibly experienced and capable politician and policy expert, and the fact that a female candidate is wielding that power is historic and inspiring. In fact, her time as senator and Secretary of State alone might make her the best-qualified candidate in history to run our current dark, Machiavellian political apparatus.
The problem is, we’d like to see that apparatus change. We’re encouraged by the moves toward racial and economic justice Clinton made in the primary. But we need more convincing that the person who in a 1994 speech described mostly African-American youth caught up in the drug trade as “superpredators — no conscience, no empathy” and said “we need to bring them to heel” can be the person who leads the law enforcement reform and racial justice efforts this country so desperately needs.
We’re also skeptical that Clinton will be able to “bring to heel” the same big banks from which she has received millions in campaign donations and speaking fees. Recent speech excerpts reveal she has praised large financial institutions like Goldman Sachs that largely caused the 2007 financial collapse, telling executives she sympathizes with them.
Finally, Clinton’s time as Secretary of State means she knows the worldwide geopolitical landscape. But it also implicates her in the Obama administration’s foreign policy approach — one marred by civilian deaths via bombings and drone strikes and other egregious oversteps by the United States.
Despite these and other serious reservations, it’s clear Clinton is the only choice. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson doesn’t know that Aleppo is a city in Syria and believes we shouldn’t worry about man-made global warming because the sun will someday engulf the Earth. Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s campaign is in such disarray that she flew to Cincinnati when she meant to go to Columbus. It’s clear neither is capable of treating this race, and the duties of the presidency, with the commitment and seriousness they demand.
And then there’s Trump, a man who so openly disdains women, immigrants, the media and the basic tenets of our constitution that he is unprecedented in the history of modern presidential electoral politics. He kicks protesters out of his rallies and encourages his crowds to commit acts of violence against his critics. He has suggested he will have Clinton jailed if he wins the election, and has stoked talk of revolt if he doesn’t. These are the hallmarks of a dictator, not the leader of the free world.
We endorse Hillary Clinton with the hopes that we, as Americans, can encourage her to use her exceptional abilities for the good of all people and so we can protest her when she does not. If Trump is elected, we may not get the chance to protest at all.
CityBeat Endorses:
• Denise Driehaus, Todd Portune for County Commission
• Hamilton County: Alan Triggs, Seth Walsh, Aftab Pureval, Jim Neil and Lakshmi Sammarco
• Congress and State House: Brigid Kelly, Catherine Ingram and Alicia Reece
This article appears in Nov 2-9, 2016.