Obama passes baton to Clinton

President Obama is passing the baton of his legacy to Hillary Rodham Clinton, his former adversary:

After losing to Barack Obama in a devastating defeat in 2008, Hillary campaigned her heart out for him. She rallied her supporters behind him for the good of the Democratic Party and our nation, showing the world that adversaries can unite for the greater good — a classic tale of Democracy in action: 

Hillary is a team player and handled her loss to Obama with grace and dignity. Through the 2008 campaign, Hillary was able to put 18-million cracks into the “highest, hardest glass ceiling,” winning the popular vote against Obama:

After defeat, Hillary fought hard for Obama in 2008, knowing exactly what a Democratic President can do for America. Her husband created 23 million jobs, a balanced-budget and a surplus, and incomes rose at all levels during the 1990s. An era of peace and prosperity.

As First Lady, Hillary created the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), giving 8 million children health insurance:

After CHIP, the biggest expansion of healthcare came when Democratic President Barack Obama passed the Affordable Care Act, his signature accomplishment. Hillary will defend Obama’s legacy on healthcare, something Hillary has fought for her entire career. Not only did Hillary successfully reform healthcare as First Lady of Arkansas, she has the scars from trying to pass nationwide universal healthcare in 1993:

NANCY CORDES: “Secretary Clinton, back in 1994, you said that momentum for a single-payer system would sweep the country. That sounds Sandersesque. But you don't feel that way anymore. Why not...“

HILLARY CLINTON: “Well, the revolution never came. And I waited and I've got the scars to show for it.”

One of Obama’s struggles during his Presidency has been the loss of control on a state-level. His unpopularity in southern state’s has resulted in 37-state’s being controlled by the GOP on a local-level, resulting in the defunding of Planned Parenthood and attacks being made on gay rights.

Hillary has raised $18-million dollars for down-ticket Democrats. The only way we have a fighting chance in these state’s is if we reverse GOP control, building the coalitions we need to enact lasting change within our current system. We need the pragmatic Clintons.

Given the increasing attacks on Planned Parenthood, combined with Hillary Clinton’s stellar record on women’s rights, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorsed Hillary for President, the first endorsement in the organizations 100-year history:

Planned Parenthood realizes in 37-state’s, women’s healthcare is under increasing, brutal attack. And given the current political environment, the last thing we should being doing is talking about gutting Obamacare. Obamacare currently provides healthcare to 11-million Americans, many of whom are low-income, under-privileged women. Fixing Obamacare should be our top priority, not ripping it away. Hillary Clinton will defend Obama’s legacy on healthcare, one of the biggest reasons he is passing his legacy to her.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is taking the wrong political approach by entertaining the idea that we should start over from square-one and gut the Affordable Care Act:

Hillary Clinton understands the big picture. Yes — we need to get incomes rising for everyone like we did during the Clinton economy.  And we do this by investing in what worked during the 1990s. Things Hillary has advocated for her entire career — education, healthcare, children, and the under-privileged. 

But we also need to reverse the fact that 37-state’s are GOP-controlled and defend the progress we have made on healthcare. Planned Parenthood understands the reality of the situation on the ground and has endorsed Hillary Clinton for President accordingly. The Clintons have a long history of success in the south, and have the ability to fight fire with fire. There’s a reason billionaires are currently running ads against Hillary Clinton in the early voting state’s — they know she has the resources to fight them come the general election.

And despite the 24/7 Hillary-hate since the early 1990s (brainwashing a certain segment of the American public against Hillary) she still stands strong in national polls. Bernie may be up in some current head-to-head match-ups against GOP candidates, but remember — the Republicans are propping up Bernie to hurt Hillary in the general. The GOP is trying to sew discord amongst far-left liberals and Democrats, attempting to turn Bernie into the Nader of this election. The spoiler. 

However, despite all the attacks, Hillary is still ahead of her GOP opponents.

Personally, I don’t mind Socialism, but can you imagine if Bernie is the Democratic nominee? Think of all the older adults you’ve talked to that think Bernie is going to tax us into oblivion. Think outside of what you see on the Internet and what you see in progressive havens. Bernie will get slaughtered by the 24/7‘Fox-News-Rush-Limbaugh-Trump’ machine. A machine that has yet to stop Clinton.

“The other party doesn’t want to run against her. And if they do, they’d like her as mangled up as possible.”
—President Bill Clinton

Unfortunately for Sanders, he isn’t making in-roads among minority voters like Obama did in 2008. Outside of the Internet and progressive havens, Hillary continues to dominate among minority voters in the real world. This is an advantage Hillary will have in 2016 that she didn’t have in 2008, which is why Hillary is currently leading in 49 out of 50 state’s.

The Bernie campaign knows if they don’t win New Hampshire, it’s over. Being from the neighboring state of Vermont (which is to his advantage), Bernie knows he has to pull out a victory in New Hampshire, the state that gave both Clintons a “come-back” at different points in their careers.

Bernie is also using being from Vermont as an excuse for giving immunity to the gun lobby. Unfortunately, fellow Vermont Senator Leahy voted with Clinton and Obama AGAINST making the gun industry the only industry in America with immunity from accountability. Given the way Senator Leahy voted, using Vermont is nothing more than an excuse for standing in lockstep with the NRA.

As President Obama said, he will not campaign for anyone that doesn’t favor revoking immunity for the gun industry:

The NRA hailed the gun immunity bill as the 'most significant' piece of pro-gun legislation in the last 20 years. Obama and Clinton voted against it. Bernie voted for it. Clinton, not Bernie, will continue Obama's progress on combating gun violence in America. 

It’s also funny to watch Bernie supporters explain away his immunity vote when Bernie also voted against the Brady bill 5 times. Thankfully, President Bill Clinton was able to pass the Brady bill without Bernie's support and protect our nation from gun violence:

Bernie Sanders refused to admit his vote giving gun manufacturers immunity was wrong. 90+ die a day and 30,000+ die a year from gun violence. This is a huge issue in urban, African-American communities, something Bernie supposedly doesn’t recognize being from the 95% caucasian, heavily rural state of Vermont. An example of his white privilege.

Bernie just needs to admit he was wrong on the immunity vote. Why is it so hard? It seems as though Bernie wants to remain “consistent” despite evidence and facts to the contrary. Personally, I admire Clinton for changing her positions in-light of new evidence. Republicans, not Democrats, are the ones that refuse to change their position despite new evidence to the contrary. Given Bernie Sanders refusal to admit giving immunity to the gun industry was wrong, the Brady Campaign has endorsed Hillary Clinton. 

Not only does Planned Parenthood believe Hillary Clinton has the best political strategy for success, but the Brady Campaign believes this as well. 

As we have also seen, many local and international terrorists are taking advantage of our out-of-date gun laws, making our nation more susceptible to threats within our local communities. Hillary makes a great point linking increased domestic terrorism to our backwards, outdated gun laws:

• Gun violence has plagued communities of color, which is why Trayvon Martin’s Mother endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.
• Gun violence has plagued Americans through acts of local terrorism, which is why the Brady Campaign endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.
• Gun violence has plagued our elected officials, why is why Gabby Gifford endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.
• Gun violence has plagued Planned Parenthood employees, which is (yet another) reason why they endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.

Hillary will build on Obama’s progress with regards to gun violence. Hillary will build on and defend Obama’s progress with regards to healthcare. ​Hillary will work to reverse the fact that 37-state’s are GOP controlled. Hillary Clinton, not Bernie Sanders, is the candidate that raised 18-million for down-ticket Democrats. Hillary will build the coalition to achieve change and success within our current system.

As Hillary notes, Obama prevented an economic catastrophe and doesn’t get the credit he deserves for saving our economy from the mess created by the Republicans and George W. Bush. Hillary’s record of accomplishment and achievement proves she knows how best to battle within the current political landscape and raise wages for all Americans. She has the resources to build the infrastructure needed to continue Obama’s progress.

Rarely does a political party retain the White House after 8 years in power. We now have a chance to build on our progress with a Hillary Clinton Presidency. Let’s add to the 18-million cracks we made in 2008 and finally shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling in 2016!!