Some may argue that she has altered her stance on specific issues such as LGBT rights. I would contend that confronted with reasonable requests she has reflected upon such issues, found no reason to exclude a swath of the population, and therefore expanded her embrace of equal rights for all. Example below.
Some may argue that she has taken politically convenient positions on policy such as trade agreements. I would contend that Hillary Clinton's metrics have always been based on what works best for Americans. Whether discussing NAFTA, which even in 2008 she questioned while reminding her fellow Democrats on the debate podium that she was not her husband and he was not standing there right then, or TPP today her ruler has always been the advantage these agreements hold for Americans.Hillary Clinton Grants Benefits to Same-Sex Domestic Partners of Foreign Service Personnel
June 18, 2009 by still4hill
Hillary Clinton has never been one to hold to policy for idealogy's sake. She is a pragmatist who looks to data and evidence as the foundation of good policy. If a policy benefits Americans, she supports it. If a policy results in proven disadvantages, for example a dual pay-scale system based on sex, she rejects it and proposes more even-handed rules.
That is the Hillary Clinton who has been there all along. That is the Hillary Clinton who worked hard for all Americans as a NY Senator. That is the Hillary Clinton who, as Secretary of State, won back many friends who had been alienated by the previous administration, and that is the Hillary Clinton who once again comes to us as an applicant for the hardest job in the land - the hardest one in the world. There is and never has been anything inconsistent about her.
That is why I continue to stand by Hillary.
As Hillary's second presidential campaign enters its second month, some are reflecting on the past race. Indeed that race is why this blog exists. I went through, as did many, the five Kübler-Ross stages of grief in the wake of the Rules and Bylaws Committee decisions of May 2008: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and finally Acceptance. During the DAB stages, I spent a lot of time at a variety of PUMA forums and blogs batting around my ball of grief with like-minded folks. It was during the depression stage that I started posting here, for solace (because no one on earth could possibly understand how bad I felt, so I blogged to myself). It was when Hillary accepted to serve as Secretary of State that I decided to shed grief and focus hard on her new job.
Having watched, very carefully and closely, her four year performance as Secretary of State and the past two years of her work as a private citizen, I remain steadfast in her corner.
Some of my/our fellow PUMAs have peeled off and gone in other directions, as the WaPo piece explains. I, myself, still have some issues around party unity, but I have been a Dem since my first presidential election in 1968 (I went into the booth with my pen - ready to write in Jesse Jackson that time - but finally pulled the lever for HHH) and have never changed my party registration or affiliation.
I am a Hillary Clinton Democrat and proud of it!
The PUMAs are back on the prowl.Hillary Rodham Clinton’s decision to run for president has stirred up old feelings for some loyal supporters who refused to accept her defeat in the 2008 Democratic primary. When other Democrats put away their swords and rallied behind Barack Obama, the resisters responded: “Party unity, my ass!” — hence the nickname PUMAs. After seven years in the political wilderness, some are ecstatic at the chance to help elect a candidate that they believe in, and to make history by putting the first woman in the White House. Others are excited but cautious, still haunted by the events of 2008.
And some have even turned against Clinton — instead of signing on for her presidential campaign do-over, they plan to spend this cycle working to defeat her.
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