As a person of faith deeply committed to the common good, I am supporting Hillary Clinton in the 2016 race for president. In 2008, I supported Barack Obama over Clinton. Why support Clinton now? She is the most progressive candidate in the race with the experience to bring opportunity to this nation.
In 2008, I seriously considered supporting Clinton. But her vote for the Iraq War, along with support for a controversial welfare reform bill in the 1990s that did nothing to alleviate poverty, made me change direction and sign on as a surrogate for Obama for America's outreach to faith voters.
Since then, as secretary of state under President Obama, Clinton has once again demonstrated the remarkable skills that have always made her an effective leader. At the State Department, she made issues related to the human rights of women and girls a priority in a way no secretary ever has before. Clinton helped lay the ground work for the historic Iran Deal, a deal that will keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon anytime soon and make the Middle East a safer region.
As for the Iraq War, she rightfully said:
I thought I had acted in good faith and made the best decision I could with the information I had. And I wasn't alone in getting it wrong. But I still got it wrong. Plain and simple.
Cynics will question the motives for her apology but I deeply admire those who reflect on experience, see mistakes, and chart another course. Robert F. Kennedy was this kind of leader. As an advisor to his brother, President John F. Kennedy, he supported the start of the Vietnam War only to be one of the war's harshest critics. Clinton helped oversee the end of combat operations in Iraq.
As members of Congress threaten to take away all funding from Planned Parenthood or -- no joke -- shut down the government, there is not a more effective voice for the equality of women on the national stage.
At a time when we face long simmering issues of racial injustice, Clinton has advanced the most compressive ideas for reform. Many know she grew up in a Republican family. But when her youth minister took her to hear The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak it awoke in Clinton a sense of call to be an advocate for social change. She took that message to heart.
Clinton took that message of reform to the Urban League this past week where she boldly took on GOP candidate Jeb Bush's campaign slogan: the "Right to Rise."
"People can't rise if they can't afford health care," Mrs. Clinton said to applause from conventiongoers, a dig at Mr. Bush's opposition to the Affordable Care Act.
"They can't rise if the minimum wage is too low to live on," she said, a jab at his opposition to raising the federal minimum wage.
"They can't rise if their governor makes it harder for them to get a college education," she said, a critique of Mr. Bush's decision as governor to eliminate affirmative action in college admissions.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, is Clinton's biggest challenger for the nomination. He told the Urban League that their theme - "Save Our Cities" was their theme, not his, and he would talk instead about the corruption of money in politics. This was just after, as The New York Times (no Clinton ally) noted that Sanders referred to "Latinos as 'your people' before the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce." Sanders has also come under fire for his support of comprehensive immigration reform, being accused of using GOP talking points, while Clinton has made this important moral issue, endorsed by people of faith across the political spectrum, a center piece of her campaign.
All candidates have flaws, Clinton and Sanders included. I'd put President Obama on that list too, despite my deep affection for the president. There have been times over the years where I have been critical of the policies both he and Clinton have championed, such as the use of drones and the high civilian death count they bring. If needed, I'll challenge a President Hillary Clinton just as I have sometimes challenged President Obama.
As I have said before, as a minister in the United Church of Christ, I trust deeply in the Constitutional principle of separation of church and state and my endorsement is therefore a personal one and does not reflect on Pacific University, where I serve, or my denomination. But as a citizen I believe that all Americans must engage in the political process as individuals for democracy to thrive. So I choose to add my voice today with millions of other Americans concerned about the direction of this nation.
Hillary Clinton has the best chance to create a winning national coalition that allows us to further promote the common good of our nation. Unlike her GOP opponents, she acknowledges climate change and has announced ambitious goals to fight this international crisis that will impact our national security and the lives of this generation and the next. Perhaps no issue is more important. From Pope Francis to local churches in U.S. communities, people of faith have been demanding action on climate change and Congress has done everything possible to deny or delay responsible reforms that will protect God's creation.
No candidate besides Hillary Clinton has the diversity of experiences that would make her a successful president. Her election would signal to girls across the globe that no goal is out of reach. As a father of two young girls, who wonder aloud why their nation has never seen fit to entrust the presidency to a women, I recognize the historic importance of Clinton's candidacy.
For these reasons and more, I support Hillary Clinton for president of the United States.