![\"Hillary\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/717\/2016\/10\/Hillary.jpg\")
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Photo credit: Angela Radulescu<\/a> via Foter.com<\/a> \/ CC BY-NC-SA<\/a><\/p>\n \n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Hillary Rodham Clinton is probably going to be the next president of the United States, for better or worse.<\/p>\n I stand a lot closer to \u201cworse\u201d on that scale, and indeed I spent much of the Democratic presidential primary working hard to help Bernie Sanders defeat Clinton. \u00a0We failed, and the revelations that the DNC conspired to rig the primary<\/a> for Clinton made many Sanders supporters justifiably furious.<\/p>\n However, as a part of my ongoing quest to live a life centered in Jesus, I\u2019m going to practice what he commanded and try to love my enemies. \u00a0Hillary Clinton might stand against almost every ideology I hold dear, but that doesn\u2019t mean that there aren\u2019t some things I respect (and even love) about her. \u00a0Here they are.<\/p>\n 5.) \u201cHillarycare\u201d Was Actually Slightly More Progressive Than Obamacare<\/strong><\/p>\n Is this one cheating, considering \u201cHillarycare\u201d didn\u2019t actually become law? \u00a0I don\u2019t think so, for it shows the kind of person Clinton was before she became obsessed with obtaining power.<\/p>\n When her husband, president Bill Clinton, ran for president in 1992, he made healthcare a central issue of his campaign. \u00a0In 1993 he set up a task force, spearheaded by Hillary, to go about reforming America\u2019s healthcare system.<\/p>\n Hillary took to the job with gusto, and the way she handled herself in front of Congress stirred up popular support for the reforms and made her a national star. \u00a0For a time, it seemed as if healthcare reform was really going to happen, until (shockingly) Republicans and other special interests mobilized against it.<\/p>\n \u201cHillarycare\u201d as it became known was similar in some ways to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), such as the expansion of aid programs from the federal government to the states to cover low-income people. \u00a0However, its main provision was a mandate on employers to cover every single one of their employees, as opposed to Obamacare\u2019s mandate on individuals to seek care for themselves (this is a bit of an oversimplification, of course, but I am only describing the general mechanism of each plan).<\/p>\n Simply put, while Obamacare has forced individuals to become customers of private insurance companies, Hillarycare would have forced businesses to purchase plans on behalf of their employees. \u00a0It\u2019s still capitalism, and capitalism in regards to healthcare is still evil, but at least Hillarycare would have put most of the burden on corporations instead of individuals.<\/p>\n Hillary\u2019s role in trying to pass major healthcare reforms brings me to the next thing I love about her\u2026 Well, technically it was Eleanor Roosevelt<\/a>\u00a0who set the stage for a First Lady who\u2019s involved in her husband\u2019s administration, but Clinton definitely built upon this legacy and brought the role into the modern world. \u00a0She was mercilessly mocked for it by Republicans (and even some in her husband\u2019s administration, who viewed her as a wild card), but the very nature of marriage as partnership suggests that a president\u2019s spouse should<\/em> be at least somewhat involved.<\/p>\n Clinton famously refused to stay home \u201cbaking cookies<\/a>\u201d and told the United Nations<\/a> (while in China, mind you) that \u201cWomen\u2019s rights are human rights,\u201d as First Lady. \u00a0Statements such as these (and even the act of appearing before the UN as First Lady) did much to increase the visibility of women in positions of power and she should be lauded for it.<\/p>\n 3.) She\u2019s A Master Debater and Policy Wonk<\/strong><\/p>\n To be honest, I\u2019m really tired of hearing radio hosts and other pundits refer to themselves or others as \u201cwonks,\u201d because it seems like a vague compliment that is used to describe anyone with any interest in policy (which, shockingly, is most politicians).<\/p>\n But after three Clinton-Trump debates, she deserves the title. \u00a0Whatever you think of her policies, there is no denying that from a completely objective standpoint, she crushed Trump whenever it came to actual issues and policy.<\/p>\n I\u2019m speaking from the perspective of how clearly and concisely she illustrated her ideas, not whether or not you agree with them. \u00a0She made Trump look like a fool (not that he needs any help with that) and she also held her own during the debates against Bernie Sanders, who was much more correct than her on the actual issues (she even beat him a couple times on the strength of her debate skills). Bill Clinton\u2019s legacy has been somewhat tarnished recently, and for lots<\/a> of<\/a>\u00a0good<\/a> reason<\/a>s<\/a>. \u00a0Now, in general, I don\u2019t believe in attacking a candidate over their spouse (although it\u2019s a bit different when said candidate actively supported said spouse), but I want to specifically talk about Bill\u2019s extramarital affairs.<\/p>\n First of all, I believe that Bill Clinton is probably a sexual predator and not just a serial adulterer. \u00a0But I also believe that that in no way reflects on Hillary, and that any mistakes<\/a> she\u2019s made are forgivable lapses in judgment by a woman married to an asshole.<\/p>\n You can charge that she stayed with Bill solely for political gains, and I won\u2019t even try to convince you that isn\u2019t part of it. \u00a0But I believe a bigger part of it is the fact that Hillary comes from a generation when marriages stayed together. \u00a0I believe that she truly does love Bill, or did at one point, and the thought of leaving him never even crossed her mind. \u00a0Not for political reasons, but for personal (and honorable) reasons.<\/p>\n So while the right can hypocritically attack her for \u201cenabling\u201d Bill (I thought they were all about keeping families together?) and the left can accuse her of using Bill for her own career, I still respect Hillary for the decision she made after Monica Lewinsky. \u00a0Maybe it\u2019s my own recent divorce<\/a> that\u2019s coloring my opinion, but I\u2019m not sorry for it.<\/p>\n
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\n4.) The \u201cFirst Lady\u201d Role Would Not Be What It Is Without Her<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\n2.) She Stayed With Bill<\/strong><\/p>\n