Warmest Holiday-Themed Sentiments From Hillary Clinton
Sisters and brothers,
This is the time of year when many of us celebrate holidays! I hope you are enjoying the one or ones you celebrate with any persons you hold dear. I know I am, with Bill and Chelsea and her husband Marc Mezvinsky. I'll tell you -- you haven't played Scattegories until you've played it with us. So much yelling, what a hoot! I still miss Socks, though, remember Socks? I do.
You know, another thing I like to yell about besides Scattegories, and sometimes Scrabble when Bill is taking forever to go, is the greatness of America. One of the things that makes this country almost as great as all the other countries that have elected a female leader is that a female like me could be our next leader if she decides she's running, which she hasn't.
For the time being, I'm just going to do my part as an American citizen, working hard to either get this country back on track or maintain its unparalleled greatness, standing with the president when it makes sense for me politically, and generally being supportive of things that are broadly popular in a vague kind of way that doesn't scare people. This is my promise.
Right now, the president is doing a job. I think there's a case to be made that he's doing a fairly acceptable job under the circumstances, but I won't be sure until about midway through 2015. I do want to thank the president for giving me the chance to serve my country as the first female Secretary of State named Hillary Clintonand the first white secretary of state since Madeline Albright.
What an honor, and a gift. Speaking of gifts, I'm sure you'll want to donate to Chelsea's awesome Kickstarter, "Will My Mother Hillary Clinton Run For President?" ("WMMHCRFP?") It's a short film! Back this project for $10 and I will send you a personal email explaining that I have not yet decided whether to run for president. $25 will get you a free download of Bill's new audiobook, "Why I Tell My Wife Every Day That She Should Be President". And $100 will get you the soundtrack to Sister Act , which I enjoyed.
It is my sincere hope that your festive season is blessed by the spiritual or secular phenomena you appeal to in your darkest hours.
XXOO,
Hillary
During both of her campaigns for the Senate, Bill helped out but always resolutely stayed out of her spotlight. She was very much in charge both times. And during her tenure as a Senator we never heard from him at all. During both of her campaigns Hillary Clinton did something that no Democrat had done in generations: she won the upstate vote. In fact, she totally dominated in the upstate region. She even kicked ass in the rural counties, which was completely unprecedented for a Democrat. She did so because she reached out to people all across the region, met with them and really listened to their concerns. In the past Democratic candidates had relied on the NYC vote to win elections but Hillary pursued a campaign to win everyone's vote, including those in some of the most solid and steadfast Republican counties in NY state. And she succeeded!
She began the process that resulted in my very red district (which had never elected a Democrat in its more than 150 year history) turning blue. She was the first Democrat to truly break through here; people in this region really liked her and they still do.
And she didn't forget about us once she was elected, either. In many ways she did more for the upstate region as a Senator than she did for the metro region; she was as much "our" Senator as the was theirs, a feat that no politician from any party had ever pulled off in New York in anyone's memory. I think that Hillary Clinton would be incredibly great as President of the United States.
During the 2008 primary campaign, more people cast votes directly for Hillary Clinton than Americans have ever specifically cast for any other woman candidate in the history of this country. Way more. In contrast to either Geraldine Ferraro or Sarah Palin, she wasn't running alongside a man who occupied the top of the ticket; she ran alone, campaigning as a candidate entirely in her own right. Millions upon millions of people nationwide voted for her. Think about all that for a minute or two.