The Desert Sun Editorial Board

Republican endorsement: Voters can still do the right thing

Democratic voters, this is Hillary Clinton’s time.

At this crucial moment in U.S. history it is imperative that the party unite behind Clinton and on June 7 California can – for the first time in a long time – be more than a footnote in the presidential race and vault the former first lady toward the November campaign.

The Democratic Party, like the Republican Party, has been roiled by an election season that has seen a groundswell of across-the-board voter discontent. Expressions of this anger, which quickly sunk to extreme depths among the candidates on the GOP side, must not be the destruction of our society. The airing of such grievances should only ever serve to make us stronger as part of the give-and-take that has always made ours the best system in the world.

The democratic process can be messy and chaotic at times, but the end result has always been the peaceful continuation of our way of life. Ultimately we are one people united by a system that respects, protects and cherishes all citizens.

This will remain true after the current political season ends this fall.

For the November election, California Democrats should unite behind Clinton as the best person to lead the nation moving forward. Her long record of service has rightfully inspired many to deem her among the most-qualified to ever seek the nation’s highest office.

In addition, it would be hard to find a candidate who has demonstrated Clinton’s mettle.

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Clinton has long fought for society’s most vulnerable. After graduating Wellesley College and Yale Law School, she went to work for the Children’s Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and served on the Nixon impeachment inquiry staff advising the House Judiciary Committee.

As Arkansas’ first lady for the 12 years of husband Bill’s governorship, according to her biography as a former first lady on whitehouse.gov, Clinton chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital, Legal Services, and the Children's Defense Fund.

Her long-running, highly public battles with detractors began in earnest with Bill Clinton’s ultimately successful candidacy for president in 1992. They intensified the following year when the president tapped her to revamp the nation’s health care system – an effort that would not succeed. Clinton’s long commitment to women’s rights was highlighted in 1995 when, as first lady, she led the U.S. delegation to the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.

Her time in the White House teed up her successful New York run for the U.S. Senate – the first former first lady to accomplish the feat. Peers in the Senate on both sides of the aisle have lauded her as among the most-prepared senator day in and day out, regardless of the business at hand.

After two terms she was a leading candidate for the White House in 2008, ultimately losing the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama.

President Obama made her his secretary of state and in her capacity as the nation’s top envoy to the world she visited 112 nations, establishing relationships with leaders and power brokers that will prove invaluable as commander-in-chief.

These credentials, however, have been shunned by many seeking an alternative to a political establishment they view with suspicion.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and his loud challenge to those in power across the political spectrum has enchanted many, especially legions of young Democrats that the Clinton message has struggled to win over. His calls for everything from truly universal health care to tuition-free education for all at public colleges and universities bring hope – sadly unrealistic and false – to these legions who feel they face a bleak, debt-filled future where only those that have thrive and those without are doomed to a downward spiral.

Sanders has done Clinton a favor in raising these issues. She has responded in a pragmatic way with realistic, attainable goals. Rather than promising the moon, pitching what actually can be done is the sign of true leadership. The primary fight – which went from collegial to almost no-holds-barred – has made Clinton a better candidate.

Those Democrats – especially the younger ones – who still can’t muster the faith should recognize there is much to celebrate in the positions Clinton has staked out. Here are just a handful of her more pragmatic proposals:

Supercharging “green power” through the installation of 500 million solar panels across America in the first four years of her administration, with the ultimate goal of having enough renewable energy to power all of America’s homes within 10 years.

A “College Compact” plan – costing $350 billion over the next decade and funded through cuts in tax write-offs and federal expenditures benefiting those in higher income brackets – that would provide grants to states to ensure students can attend four-year public institutions without going into debt. The funds would also enable lower interest rates for those who need to borrow to cover living expenses or costs for private college tuition. Under the proposal, students would be expected to work at least 10 hours per week and use their pay toward education costs and their parents would be expected to contribute as well.

Passage of “comprehensive” immigration reform legislation that includes a path to full citizenship. Clinton also vows to push to fully integrate those here legally under green cards by increasing naturalization efforts that will seek to make more of this estimated population of 9 million full citizens.

Work with Congress to pass the Equality Act to add gender identity and sexual orientation to the list of protected classes in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition, Clinton has vowed to work with Congress to prohibit federally funded child welfare agencies from discriminating against potential foster or adoptive families on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.

These ideas address particular concerns of key constituencies in our valley. California Democrats considering who should be their standard bearer should cast their votes June 7 for Clinton and hold her to these promises.

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For all her qualifications, Clinton can suffer at times by not being the “perfect candidate.” Decades of battles waged – both her own, including recent battles over the deadly loss of the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, and the FBI review of her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state as well as fights on behalf of her often-embattled husband – paint a portrait of someone guarded to a fault who sometimes plays by her own rules.

Clinton, by her own admission, clearly is not a grip-and-grin, retail politician in the mold of Ronald Reagan or her husband. She can come off as aloof.

That nature, at times, has hurt her, especially when her adversaries – particularly detractors from across the political aisle – sought more to tarnish her image rather than seek any “truth” in many of these ultimately debunked “scandals.”

Clinton has shown she can stand firm when viciously challenged. Her well-traveled tenure as secretary of state and her time in the upper chamber of Congress make her the best suited to get down to work with leaders on Capitol Hill as well as those in the world’s capitals.

California Democrats should give her their votes on June 7.