La contienda presidencial continúa: Barack una caja vacía y Hillary no se da por vencida por Alfonso Zepeda Capistrán |
| Hace unos días recibí una caja que desde hacía varias semanas venía esperando. Se trataba de un premio de National Geographic que me había ganado en una rifa. Esperaba una gran cantidad de libros porque así me lo habían prometido. Pero cuando llegó la caja me sorprendió porque, a pesar de ser grande, no pesaba mucho. Corrí a abrirla creyendo que a lo mejor me encontraría con una tarjeta de regalo para intercambiarla después. La caja estaba repleta de bolsas de plástico llenas de aire. En el fondo, casi invisible, vi un paquete con dos libritos y una fotocopia de una guía para el maestro. Era un “teacher sampler” de los que las casas editoriales suelen regalarles a los maestros con el fin de enchufarlos para que se interesen y luego compren el resto de los libros en la serie. Consecutivamente me llegaron otras dos cajas con paquetes similares y un catálogo de libros. En ninguno de los casos venía una serie completa que es lo que esperaba y lo que, de haber tenido la opción, hubiera escogido. Ahora si quiero completar las series, tendría que gastar más dinero, pero sin la garantía de que sea lo que promete. No hay manera de comprobarlo a través del catálogo. Así es como me siento con la campaña de Barack Obama – muy decepcionado. Por eso prefiero apoyar a Hillary Clinton como precandidata para la presidencia. Apoyo a Hillary Clinton por varias razones. Una es por influencia de mi padre quien cree que ha llegado la hora para que una mujer ocupe la presidencia de Estados Unidos. Dos, porque simplemente no veo que haya mucha sustancia en el mensaje de la campaña de Obama. Tres, porque a pesar de no haber gran diferencia en las políticas entre los candidatos, sus años como abogada, los años como primera dama en Arkansas y en Washington, D.C., y sus años como senadora por Nueva York le dan una gran ventaja sobre su adversario, quien es un novato en cuestiones políticas. Hillary Clinton demuestra más conocimiento en general, doméstico e internacional. Además, las crisis personales que la han puesto a prueba, la hacen capaz de superar cualquier desafío. De Obama no se sabe mucho y no hay garantía de que vaya a ser un éxito. Hasta el momento, Obama no parece ser más que un gran hueco. Lo que no logro comprender es por qué tanta gente se ha dejado llevar por un mensaje “inspirador” pero esquelético de Obama. Aun el Presidente George W. Bush y el ex Senador Bob Dole, ambos republicanos, se han referido a él como un candidato sin materia. Así también lo ha dicho John McCain, el líder de los precandidatos republicanos. Quienes me piden que apoye a Obama no me dan razón para hacerlo. El actual gobernador de Wisconsin, Jim Doyle, uno de los superdelegados en apoyo de Obama no pudo responderle a Chris Mathews de “Hardball” cuando éste le pregunto por qué la gente de Wisconsin debía votar por él. Doyle se limitó a decir que Obama le recordaba a John F. Kennedy. Lo mismo sucede con los ex candidatos presidenciales Bill Bradley y John Kerry quienes se limitan a decir que “vamos ganando,” refiriéndose a la campaña de Obama. Si estos personajes de tanta sabiduría e influencia no pueden citar el legado de Obama, cómo quieren que yo vote por él. Para mí las palabras nobastan. A pesar de haber perdido las primarias de Wisconsin y de varios otros estados recientemente, sigo creyendo que Hillary Clinton tiene una trayectoria mucho más impresionante y una plataforma mucho más amplia. Why I Support Hillary Clinton for President By Alfonso Zepeda-Capistrán I called my father and asked him how he voted. “Clinton,” he said. “We have had too many men as presidents. It is about time we had a woman. Hillary Clinton is a good woman.” He then added, “Besides, her husband was a good president and I think she will do just as well. She has extraordinary talents, extensive experience as a public figure and has always had an affinity to the needs of our community. And, she has the best heath care plan in this campaign. We all [in my family] voted for her.” My father does not have a doctorate in political science, but at 79 years of age, he has extensive work-life experience having toiled the fields in Texas, California, Washington and other states. He has lived enough to know what he is talking about. My father has always had good judgment and I respect his opinion. He is one reason why I support Hillary Clinton. Early on in the campaign I was looking for Obama’s position on immigration and other issues. Since his website didn’t have any information, I wrote to his campaign and all I got was a generic response asking for a contribution. I was disappointed. When he came to Madison in the fall of 2007, he spoke as if listing items from a catalogue, carefully crafted to please the crowd. It sounded good -- better schools, better health care, accessible higher education, etc…all things that no one could disagree with. But, I came out thinking “what was that?” He had no substance to back any of his ideas. He offered no details, no solutions to any of them. I liked his energy, but I wasn’t convinced. He sounded like a motivational speaker, not like a president. I waited to see what he came up with before I made my decision who to support. To this day, I am still waiting for him to say something of substance. Inspirational speeches are not good enough for me. Another reason why I support Hillary Clinton. I find it hard to understand why so many people are led by Obama’s so called inspirational messages that carry nothing but skin and bones. Even George W. Bush and Bob Dole have noted that by saying, “yeah, but, where is the beef?” That is what I say. Many have urged me to support Obama, but, they don’t have much to say about why they support him. Even super delegate Governor Doyle of Wisconsin who supports Obama, when asked by Chris Mathews of “Hardball” couldn’t say why Wisconsinites should vote for him. Doyle talked about John F. Kennedy and how “when he spoke, I thought he was talking right to me, and I see the same thing with Barack Obama.” Compare these comments to those of an 18-year old senior at Madison West High School who was quoted on the Capital Times as saying, “I felt that I was the only one he was talking to.” Also, former Senator Bill Bradley and Senator John Kerry who endorse Obama couldn’t come up with much either. And even Ruth Conniff, political editor for The Progressive, said he was inspiring a lot of new voters with his optimist message. In contrast, of Hillary Clinton Conniff said she was tough, experienced and that she would run a tight ship. And even though she prefers Obama, Conniff recognizes Hillary Clinton’s strengths and criticizes Obama for his strong ties to the pharmaceutical lobbyists. Many have made bid deal of War in Iraq and say Obama opposed it. But, Obama wasn’t even in the Senate then and there is no way to know how he would have voted if he had been there. He has admitted that if he were in the Senate, perhaps things would be different. In May of 2007 he said to an ABC news program that perhaps the reason why he thought it was a bad idea was that he didn’t have the benefit of U.S. intelligence information. Before he joined the Senate, Obama also said he would oppose funding the war. But, since he has been in the Senate he has voted for every single funding bill for the war. When it comes to pulling out of Iraq, Obama is vague. During the South Carolina debate in January, when Moderator Tim Russert asked the candidates if they would promise to end the war and pull out by the end of their first term in office, Obama responded that “it would be difficult to project” and that it would be “irresponsible,” to pull out. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, immediately stated that it would be her goal to pull out completely by the end of her first term and that she would start bringing the troops home immediately after her inauguration. While Obama went around the bush, Hillary Clinton was firm on her response. Hillary Clinton is clearly the candidate with the experience and the knowledge to run this country. She is the one with the substance that matters on health care, education and the economy. She has a superior understanding of the issues, international and domestic, and is better positioned to be the most effective president from the start. |
