"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"When he died, he left an enormous hole in my heart.
Then came Hillary Rodham Clinton who finally filled that hole. She more than filled it. She took Bobby's Senate seat. She filled that. She worked hard for her constituents - and we were all her constituents. She saw how starting with the tiniest among us we could renew a nation. Her issues were our issues. Equality. Fairness. Growth. Using the tools at our disposal, we could make everything that already was good even better.
When she ran in 2008, Hillary laid out amazing plans. She grabbed my heart with her dedication, good humor (a signature Kennedy characteristic no one had displayed since Bobby quite the way she did), and her persistence. God, I loved her! Yes! I wanted her. HER! SHE was the one! But that didn't happen. Not that time.
The turn things took could never have been predicted. The victor, he who won the nomination over her, made her his secretary of state. She served with vigor and honor. She won back friends we has lost and gained new ones.
With more than most ever carried in their saddlebags, after being a first lady in a state and of the nation, after serving as a senator and as secretary of state, she once again embarked on a presidential campaign. I winced. "Oh please, God! Don't let them crucify her again!"
She set out, as always, in her own methodical way. She met with small groups representing issues people cared about and began formulating plans and policies. It was brilliant and awesome to watch how a remark from a participant evolved into a plan and a policy. The result, after 16 months of campaigning, is a complex, broad, and deep agenda.
Factsheets
Issues
So now we are on third base. "I Don't Know" covers third, as we all know. The opposing team is out there bluffing.Trump has a plan for keeping you from getting shot walking down your own street. Everyone got to work and school in my neighborhood today without getting shot, but nonetheless he has a plan. What is it? He has a mythical band of police chiefs which he will empower on day one to implement their plan to rid us of terrorists and drive-by shooters. What is that plan? Well, it's a secret. But we'll find out when we elect The Great Donald Trump.
Trump also has a plan to beat ISIS. It's a secret plan, of course, but he gave a few hints in recent days. He has Generals! Oh yes he does! And on Day One he will order them to formulate a plan to defeat ISIS. That, ladies and gentlemen, is his plan. He calls himself the "king of debt." As president, he would be the king of outsourcing. Plan? Never mind. It will come.
Also on day one he will commence his immigration plan, which according to all we know, is not so much an immigration plan as a deportation plan and most closely resembles the deportation plan already in place and in practice by the Obama administration: fishing out the criminal elements and showing them the door. Very original and creative! Also, not exactly an immigration plan. Never mind.
Donald Trump "says a lot of things," according to Hillary Clinton. He does, and then again, he doesn't say much. He says he will "fix" things. We don't know what he means by "fix" and neither do we know the "things" he intends to fix. There is not a single plan with steps that he has outlined in any coherent or cohesive manner. His escape key here is that he likes to be "unpredictable." Now we should mind!
I always thought the purpose of political campaigns was to provide the electorate with information that allows people to make predictions. If I vote for you, you will ( fill in the blank ).
So the choice is between the lumbering, ignorant, evasive, nasty guy who speaks in terms kids should not hear and the woman with the Factsheets and Issues worked out for your information.
Trump's latest campaign effort is "lookist." We don't talk about lookism a lot, but there it is. In this case, the "lookism" is actually sexism since, unfortunately in this country, there is no female precedent against which to compare Hillary Clinton.
Trump contends that he looks presidential while Hillary does not. What a sad and sorry argument.
HFA Response to Trump Saying Clinton Did Not Look Presidential
The fury in Hillary's heart that makes her run and try to help us all be the best we can be is the same fury in my heart for her. She has the Bobby fury. It has always been there inside her. It was there the first time we heard her speak." ... we feel that for too long our leaders have viewed politics as the art of the possible. And the challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible possible."She dreams things that never were. So like Bobby. This is what a president looks like. Now. This time! For the fury in all of our hearts!
