Hillary: Do Not Cheat

Hillary: Do. Not. CHEAT.

I declared myself a feminist in 1967 (age 12) in Fort Wayne, Indiana where I grew up. It pains me greatly not to vote for a woman for president at this time but I am appalled at Hillary Clinton. I place honesty and integrity above race and gender. Last night I heard Mrs. Clinton's speech in Ohio include the words "And that is what we've done. We've won Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, Arkansas, California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Tennessee".

Hillary, you did not 'win' Michigan or Florida. The rules before the election in Michigan and Florida were that they would not count. Those are the rules and as a Democratic candidate you agreed to abide by them. Changing those rules now is cheating. Ask any 5 year old - if you change the rules in the middle of a game in your favor of winning - you will be kicked out of the game. No group of children playing Kickball, Tag, Crazy 8s or any other game would let you play if mid-stream you start changing the rules in your favor.

Stop it. I am embarrassed that as a woman you do not want to uphold the standards that I think are of greatest importance in how we play the game of life - honesty, integrity, and compassion. You have an opportunity to lead our country and every step of the way you need to reflect these moral standards. Winning is not all that matters, it is how you play the game.

Please take to heart the lessons learned as a child and be a model for youth and all of us around the country. Play by the rules and play with integrity, honesty and compassion. If you win the election by playing fairly, we all win.

Comments

[grrrfren]

Thank you for this piece. I am a 56 year old white woman, the type of voter some call a Hillary supporter. But I am an Obama supporter and I am so disgusted with Hillary's tactics and attempts to cheat by subverting the will of the people and stacking the deck with crony superdelegates that I could never vote for her now under any circumstance. I can't stand the way she is running her campaign and don't want her to be the leader of this country. I have never voted for a Republican, but at this point, if Obama doesn't get the Democratic nomination, I will support McCain. At least I won't be ashamed of myself as I would be for supporting the unethical Clinton.

[april4president]

Thanks for this piece, Susan. I am appauled at Hillary's (Rove-ian whisper campaign/religious slander, etc... ) tactics as well. If she wins the nomination I'm not even sure I could vote for her, especially if she manages to seat the Florida/Michigan delegates. Obama wasn't even on the ballot! The only fair course of action would be to have another primary in both states.

And NO, Obama would NOT do the same. He has show over and over that he chooses to take the high road.

[TIME]

Please, this is politics. Do you think Obama wouldn't do the same thing? It's not cheating to convince the party to change its position. Hilary can't force the party to do it. Dean will be put in a position to make a decision, and he will have to answer to the pressure of the party, whatever they want to do. Maybe it's an example of how to move intractable positions. If you think other politicians (Obama, McCain) are free of dishonesty, or egotistical self motivation; you are dreaming.

[CPS9]

If, If, If.... well Sen.Obama hasn't tried to change the rules in the middle of the game. And yes it is cheating. If, If, If, Hillary were winning with a greater number of delegates she and her campaign would not try to convince the DNC to change the primary rules agreed upon by candidates.

[Rule Of Law]

And that makes it, what? Ok? It's thinking like this that got us started down the slippery slope to where we are today!

[blueraven]

"Do you think Obama wouldn't do the same thing?"

Since he withdrew his name from the Michigan ballot, yes, he would do it differently. He already demonstrated this fact.

[altohone]

After all these years of Bush, Hillary's ends justify the means mentality is all too familiar.

She can run away from her Bush-supporting record while using his fear tactics, her establishment and corporate funding, her DLC anti-union policies buried under pandering...

... but she can't run fast enough to escape the fact real Democrats aren't so willing to abandon principle in favor of power.

Hillary's negative campaigning, lying and distorting show her disdain for the party and for everybody hoping for an end of that era.

Using a flawed and disavowed leaked document from a conservative Canadian government official may have been a first in an American primary battle, and the media diligently reporting somebody elses words interpreted via a foreign national and conveniently leaked just in the nick of time sure looks like Rovian politics is on a globalization trip.

(BTW- the whole debate suggesting that trade with Canada is responsible for American job losses is a joke, and to suggest implementing labor and environmental standards would hurt that trade is laughable considering the Canadians could probably teach us a few things... the idea that they would seek or need reassurances from us when the real job suckers like China are as big a threat to their economy as ours, and a unified approach from North America would be the best way to deal with the China's of this world... the whole REALITY makes this fake scandal look like a manufactured hit job.)

Hillary was for NAFTA before she was against it.
Hillary was for a radical departure from US policy to launch pre-emptive war of choice sold on lies she repeated on the Senate floor before she was against it.
Hillary voted for the corporate written bankruptcy bill before she was against it.
Hillary was for coercive interrogation before she was against it.

The ignorance of voters is astounding.

[lynnn]

Where are all those feminist decry hatred today? I think those women represent the people who vote on race and gender. Let's not play, those women would still vote for Hillary over a female Obama, and experience has nothing to do w/it.

[hopeless277]

I think she has shown America exactly what her definitions of honesty and integrity are. To her they seem to mean win at any cost. Don't we already have a president with those beliefs? It saddens me greatly to once again see a sizable portion of the American public ignore issues of basic character and fair play. This nation once stood for liberty and equality, now it seems to stand for win at all costs. If either Billary of McCain win the presidency, I will attempt to stick it out. If her campaign is in any way like her presidency would be, then I will be forced to flee my homeland. I will be forced to be another refugee made homeless by American hubris.

[grendl]

This country means too much too Hillary not to cheat. Do you want to make her cry again?

It's time to send up the bat signal, calling forth the superdelegates from their super lair, to swing the nomination her way, and all she has to do is replay that " 3:00 a.m." commercial over and over and over. That's her Michael Dukakis in an army helmet ace in the hole.

Of course the brilliance of the commercial is the slyness, and subtlety of linking home invasion with our national security. Because all those housewives and husbands in Texas and Ohio biggest fear regarding getting such a call in the morning has nothing to do with Al Qaeda, it has to do with crime. And was that supposed to be part of the purpose of the commercial, that Hillary could keep criminals out of the rooms of our children better than Barack Obama.

Fear of a black man was what that commercial was about, playing into racial stereotypes, and for those who dismiss such a claim, who populates this nations prisons, commits the more violent crimes, and has more of a bone to pick with this nation for past offenses, black men or white women.

That commercial was brilliant in its evil inception, managing to evoke both the nightmare of another terrorist attack and personal break in of a family home. It touched on peoples innermost fear, that they can protect their children. And for those who say "no" it was just about national security, I have a question for you.

Since when does a terrorist orgnanization strike at "3 a.m. " in the morning. 9/11 happened in broad daylight, the Barcelona train bombing as well. They do things out in the open, unlike the back room shenanigans of the superdelegates, and their ridiculous inception.

So congratulations Hillary campaign on this evolution in becoming the enemy. You managed to scare a bunch of families away from Barack Obama, and his message of hope. Here's hoping you haven't abandoned it yourself, just to get back into the White House.

[lamarguerite]

I am with you Susan. Hillary is playing dirty politics. And I frankly think she is an inferior candidate to Obama. Divisive, old school, without a real vision, and not an exceptional leader as is Obama. Plus, she shows extremely bad judgment regarding Iraq, and that we should not forget.

Another feminist who will not vote for Hillary no matter what!

http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com

[drkazmd65]

But,... if Hillary trys to play fair,... she is likely to lose.

And,... that would be wrong - she has to win even if by cheating. Exactly what is wrong with our society is what is wrong with Hillary Clinton's run for President. Win at all costs attitudes is exactly what got us 8 friggin' years of G.W. Bush.

I am by no means a staunch Obama supporter. But at least he plays a fairer game. I still wish Kucinich was running, or that Gore or Feingold had run.

[timm0]

Too late for that, isn't it?

[cktirumalai]

The "winning is everything" approach has, regretfully, conquered many areas of life.