It is a common meme on social media these days by Bernie Sanders supporters to say that Hillary Clinton is not a progressive (liberal), and some have even gone so far as to say her stand on the issues is closer to those of the Republicans than those of liberals.That is absurd. These two charts are from ontheissues.org -- a web site that examines the stands of politicians on the issues. The chart on the left is that of Hillary Clinton, and the chart on the right is that of Bernie Sanders. They rate both Clinton and Sanders as "hard-core liberals". This makes sense since Clinton and Sanders agree on most issues, and while Clinton was in the Senate, they voted together 97% of the time.
Another study is reflected in the chart below. It shows that during her time in the Senate, Hillary Clinton was the 11th most liberal person in the U.S. Senate. That was at a time when Democrats controlled the Senate -- so that means she voted more liberal than at least 40 other Democratic senators. To say that Clinton is not liberal (progressive) is to say that other senators known for their liberalism (like Leahy, Mikulski, Durbin, Kerry, and Harkin) were not liberal (and voted like Republicans). Such a statement is ridiculous.
Is Clinton as far to the left as Bernie Sanders? No, and neither is any other Democrat. But that does not mean they are not progressive (liberal). They are, and they are to be commended upon their proud progressive voting record -- and so should Hillary Clinton.
Bernie's most vicious supporters would put a "purity test" on progressives (much like the teabaggers have done for conservatives in the GOP). They speak ill of any progressive who doesn't agree with Sanders 100%. That is a mistake because it drives a wedge between good progressives, and denigrates many good Democrats who have served their country well.
The "Bernie-Bros" are just wrong. Hillary Clinton is a progressive (liberal), and has been for more than four decades. To say otherwise is to deny the facts.
If Clinton was not liberal, why did Republicans illegally spend 100s of millions of our tax dollars in phony "investigations" and leaked falsehoods to Fox "News" to destroy her (without success)? Anyone these nefarious people fear and hate so much is my candidate for President.
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