How shocked are you to learn that Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton had no interest whatsoever in supporting the rights of homosexuals and transgenders until it became the politically expedient thing to do? In this regard, Clinton is no more hypocritical than Barack Obama, who also “evolved” on the subject of gay this and gay that. But since Clinton is not running against Obama this time, the comparison with him is irrelevant.
What does matter is whether this is grist for an attack by Donald Trump, who seems to have the courage of his convictions.
In a WikiLeaks email from March of this year, Megan Rooney, a Clinton speechwriter, tweeted out:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
OK everyone —
Here is a revised draft of a statement. It does include the words “I made a mistake” in the first line.
We need a strategy for getting her to approve this. I don’t know if that means someone who is traveling with her (Maya?) making the case… or something else.
File attached as well.
The “Maya” referenced in the email is probably Clinton senior policy adviser Maya Harris, who was executive director of the ACLU of northern California.
As Michael Sainato, of The Observer writes, Clinton was a late arrival to the bandwagon supporting gay rights, having had a history of supporting the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), signed into law by her husband. This seeming flip-flop posed a problem for her campaign staff, who had to defend the shift.
Back in late 2015, Amanda Renteria, another of Hillary’s advisers, wrote in another WiliLeaks-released email chain:
I’m not saying double down [on support for DOMA] or ever say it again. I’m just saying that she’s not going to want to say she was wrong about that, given she and her husband believe it and have repeated it many times. Better to reiterate evolution, opposition to DOMA when court considered it, and forward looking stance.
None of this is surprising, of course. Anyone with a serious interest in electing to high office Americans who will actually serve the entire country and not just their base understands that the Clinton candidacy is built on smoke and mirrors. The only option for those who are serious is to get the word out.
