I am compelled to write this diary because Obama supporters continue to make this false claim that if Hillary is going to refer to her 35 years of experience she must take responsibility for all of the legislation passed during Bill Clinton's presidency.
Here is an example of the type of comment I am referring to:
"Also, Clinton's message has serious flaws: She said she had 35 years of experience, which includes her time in the White House when NAFTA was signed by her husband. But she is acting like she is not responsible for NAFTA. She wants it both ways. The truth of the matter is that if she claims the 35 years experience, then logically NAFTA is part of it. She must take responsibility." by maymok
I've been trying to respond to these arguments individually but too many are making the same claim -- it has become a BO talking point -- and so I wanted to explain the fallacy of the argument.
Women who are married to man who hold high positions are not responsible for the decisions and actions of their husbands. Hillary Clinton does not thing NAFTA is a good trade bill and didn't, in fact, like it at the time that Bill, her husband, was signing it into law. That she held a different opinion from her husband does not invalidate the experience she acquired as First Lady of the United States. When Hillary refers to her 35 years of experience she is not claiming that she has experience as president of the United States, but that she has experience as First Lady of the United States. I don't know why this is so difficult for people to understand.
As first lady, Hillary had an office in the west wing and she had an agenda of progressive causes that she worked to accomplish, she visited nations and heads of state, she worked day in and out to advance the cause of women, children, minorities and the sick and disabled.
She also had the experience of seeing, first hand, what is required of the office of president of the united states. We are fortunate to have a candidate who fully understands the job which she is campaigning for and will be more able to take office and get started than someone less informed about the responsibilities of the president.
And, lastly, Hillary opposes NAFTA, wants to change it. She always has although as First Lady she confined her disagreement with the bill as a republican economic package to personal conversations with her husband. (As noted in two different biographies done on Hillary.)
What most disturbs me about the frequent claims by BO that Hillary can't claim experience for the years she was First Lady is that it is, at its very core, a sexist perspective. The wife has no identity or experience of her own. The fact that people repeat this argument, oblivious to the way it erases women's experience and their identities is deeply troubling. Apparently we feminists have much more work to do to establish the right of women to exist and have experiences all their own.
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