Progressives Should Support Hillary Clinton

Progressives like to expound on the virtues of social equality, egalitarianism, and an expanded safety net. They may be right, but that's not likely to win this election. I claim that the current approach of selling progressive ideology is ineffective. Progressives should win by demonstrating case-by-case that progressive policies are good and beneficial to Americans. We also need to recognize that change does not happen quickly and will not happen overnight. If we refuse to support someone for their inability to actualize the change that we want, or because we think that they are not ideologically pure enough, we will find ourselves unable to support anyone. To do this, we need to united behind Hillary Clinton right now. 1. Donald Trump poses a clear danger to the United States and the WorldDonald Trump must never be allowed to become President of the United States. Donald Trump has incited violence, racism, sexism, and has bullied those whom he disagrees with. On a larger geopolitical scale, Donald Trump threatens America's reputation. The Economist Intelligence Unit notes: "Thus far Mr Trump has given very few details of his policies - and these tend to be prone to constant revision - but a few themes have become apparent. First, he has been exceptionally hostile towards free trade, including notably NAFTA, and has repeatedly labelled China as a "currency manipulator". He has also taken an exceptionally punitive stance on the Middle East and jiadhi terrorism, including, among other things, advocating the killing of families of terrorists and launching a land incursion into Syria to wipe out IS (and acquire its oil). In the event of a Trump victory, his hostile attitude to free trade, and alienation of Mexico and China in particular, could escalate rapidly into a trade war - and at the least scupper the Trans-Pacific Partnership between the US and 11 other American and Asian states signed in February 2016. His militaristic tendencies towards the Middle East (and ban on all Muslim travel to the US) would be a potent recruitment tool for jihadi groups, increasing their threat both within the region and beyond, while his vocal scepticism towards NATO would weaken efforts to contain Russia's expansionist tendencies. " [1]Hillary Clinton is the best change to defeat Trump. If we support someone like Jill Stein or Bernie Sanders, we risk having a repeat of 2000 when George W. Bush won Florida by less than 600 votes, thus giving Bush the presidency. 2. This may be a tipping point election2016 and 2020 will be among the most important elections in recent history. Among the issues at stake is the balance of the Supreme Court, control of the Senate, the Paris Accord, and the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme CourtIt is highly likely that the next president will appoint up to 3 or more justices to the Supreme Court. Justice Kennedy, Ginsburg, and Breyer will be over 78 years old by the time the next president is inaugurated. Scalia has already passed away and that seat will most certainly be a fight. [2]Should Donald Trump win, we will certainly expect an all out assault on important cases like Roe v. Wade, Social Security, the Affordable Care Act, voting rights, and the recent decision on same-sex marriage. The Affordable Care ActLike my opponent, I support a single-payer Medicare for all health care system. With the Republicans likely to control the House of Representatives (if not the Senate as well), passing a single-payer system will be impossible. Ever since it was first passed, Republicans have been promising a full repeal of the ACA. Former Representative Bill Owens notes [3]: "If you remove tens of millions of people from the rolls of the insurance carriers because subsidies are eliminated and Medicaid expansion is defunded [sic], if young adults ages 18 to 26 lose coverage, as well as those with pre-existing conditions, where do those who lose coverage go for care? As you might have guessed, it is your local hospital emergency room. This will result in tens of billions of dollars in uncompensated care being provided by our hospitals. Prior to the enactment of ObamaCare, uncompensated care provided by hospitals in our communities was in the range of $75 billion to $125 billion. "Would physicians continue to treat people who they knew had no coverage and no likelihood of being able to pay? That is another source contributing to the emergency room flood. .. The chaos that would ensue in the health care system by repealing ObamaCare is largely unimaginable, and I suspect not at all thought through by proponents of repeal legislation. " Although Obamacare is not perfect and needs serious modifications, an immediate repeal without a backup plan will be far more harmful than leaving the law as is. 3. Supporting Hillary Clinton is not apostasyIdeological puritans often point to the fact that Clinton is not a perfect progressive, and therefore, we should not support Hillary Clinton. However, I will argue that Clinton is in fact a progressive, and that ideological purity is not the proper way to go forward. When Hillary Clinton was in the Senate, she was ranked as the 11th most liberal Senator [4]. Among Clinton's progressive accomplishments are creating the Office on Violence Against Women, created the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide insurance for children, helped to enact the Adoption and Safe Families Act, [5] spearheaded investigations into the Gulf War Syndrome [6], and was vital in ensuring the health care for responders to 9/11. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders voted with each other 93% of the time [7]. If we were to take Sanders and Stein out of the equation, it is clear that Hillary Clinton qualifies as a liberal and arguablly, a progressive. As Jeff Stoehr notes [8]:"Bill is a genuine centrist. Hillary is not. On numerous issues, she sits to the left of her husband and of President Barack Obama. According to OntheIssues. org, a website that tracks the positions and public statements of political leaders, both presidents are "left liberals. " Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is a "hard-core liberal. " To put that in context, her "democratic socialist" opponent is placed in the very same category. "ConclusionHillary Clinton, while not perfect, is certainly far better than the alternatives. If we wish to see progressive policies enacted, we need to work within the Democratic Party to make that happen; therefore, we must unite behind Hillary Clinton. Sources 1. . https://gfs.eiu.com... 2. . http://www.cnn.com... 3. . http://thehill.com... pealed-obamacare 4. . http://fivethirtyeight.com...;5. . http://www.pbs.org...;6. . http://www.nytimes.com...;7. . https://www.washingtonpost.com...;8. . http://www.usnews.com...;