Woody Bassett: The case for Hillary Clinton

Presidential choice about more than the candidates

The race for the presidency has sunk to shameful depths, leaving us disappointed and dispirited. It's unfortunate for the country and our democracy an electoral process so important to our collective future has been reduced to a dreadful televised spectacle. It seems common decency and simple civility have largely vanished from our politics and public discourse.

Yet, lost in all the noise and fury of recent months is the plain truth there's one candidate who has the potential to be a very successful president. Her name is Hillary Clinton.

While many are dismayed by the choices they have for president, it's not just the names of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on the ballot. What's really at stake in this election is the direction of our democracy and what our country stands for and represents, here at home and abroad. Despite the rancor and hostility of the campaign, whoever wins will have to govern and navigate a divided nation through troubled waters. Clinton has the capacity to do that but her opponent doesn't. A vote for Clinton is a vote for hope over fear, for safety over danger, for competence over reckless incompetence, for good will over anger and for order over chaos.

I'm for Hillary, not because she's a woman or a friend, but because she's the best candidate. I believe she will be a fine president and do the job well. She's highly qualified and broadly experienced, a purposeful and brilliant person who understands the issues and problems confronting our country. She has the temperament and steady judgment to be commander-in-chief and leader of the free world. She's prepared and ready to be a responsible president; her opponent isn't.

A superb and unflinching advocate for others, Clinton has been in the public arena for decades fighting for the things she believes in and has the scars to prove it. Though disliked and distrusted by some, Clinton's shortcomings aren't deal-breakers, while Trump's are disqualifying and make him unfit to be president. The trials and tribulations Clinton has endured through a lifetime of public service have instilled in her resolve and resilience and prepared her well for the loneliest, most stressful and highly scrutinized job in the world. This is how an article in the National Observer put it: "If Hillary stands on the doorstep of history today, it's because she aimed high and fought for it with fierce intelligence and fearless determination. It took steel and guts to get where she is. It took wisdom, clear-eyed realism and the toughness to fail and get back up, over and over again. It took a cast-iron stomach and the skin of a rhino. It took every quality a president needs."

Clinton has said herself she's not a natural politician like her husband and Barack Obama. She's a workhorse, not a show horse. She understands there's a big difference in running for president and being president and knows what really counts is how she performs as president for the American people. With an idealism tempered by time and hard experience, Clinton will be a realistic and moderate president. As a United States senator and later as secretary of state, Clinton established a well-earned reputation for hard work, a willingness to listen to diverse views and the ability to get things done. Likewise, she demonstrated a willingness to work with Republicans because she knows that's the best way to make our political system work for all Americans.

After years of toiling in the public eye, some have made Hillary into a caricature, not the real person who was my law professor in 1974 and not the real person who has honorably served our nation in numerous roles and tirelessly fought the good fight for families and children. The real Hillary Rodham Clinton is the one who is liked and trusted by those who actually know her and who has lived her life believing in and carrying out a quote that reflects the spirit of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, for as long as ever you can."

Hillary Clinton has fought her entire life for the right of women to make their own choices, including the choice to vote against her for president. It's women like Hillary who've done the most to knock down barriers for women younger than them. The White House is one of the last ones and generations of American women will finally get the chance to elect the first woman to be president of the United States. That, alone, will make Election Day a profoundly meaningful moment in our nation's history.

Commentary on 10/27/2016

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