My daughter Madeline with Senator Hillary Clinton at the Waterview Diner in Howard Beach, NY on November 6, 2006 (Election eve)The choice Democrats face Tuesday is both hard and easy. The party is offering two candidates with similar positions on many policy issues, but they hold dramatically different views of the presidency.
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York both offer today's most prized commodity: change. Both would quickly address a war without end, a sinking economy and a health-care system in crisis.
Obama presents an inspiring vision of how the nation can heal its polarizing partisanship. Clinton brings proven experience and knowledge to accomplish that goal. Democrats engaged in this election have distilled this argument down to a simple but essential question: Do you choose with your heart or your head?
It's a difficult decision, but in the end, we choose experience. Clinton has been an outstanding senator for this state and this Island. She's intelligent, hard-working, tough, passionate and has an enthusiasm for the important nuances of complex policy. Newsday endorses Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.
The contest between Clinton and Obama should not be diminished by the game of identity politics, however much their ardent supporters care about the possibility of the first African-American or female president. What matters at this critical time in our history is what each would bring to the job. While both are strong candidates, Clinton is better prepared to deal with the challenges the next president will confront.
When she launched her bid for the Senate in 2000, Newsday was skeptical. Indeed, we endorsed her Republican opponent. But Clinton tirelessly and carefully listened to the people of New York State. No gathering or concern was too small. In the Senate, she has worked hard and created a centrist record and bipartisan solutions. We endorsed her heartily in her re-election bid in 2006.
Those traits - hard work, smarts, bipartisanship, pragmatism and bulldog determination - are important for the next president.
Clinton understands firsthand the problems of New York and Long Island, whether our high cost of living, the deteriorating suburban infrastructure or the need for quality jobs. She would need no briefing book on the injustice of the alternative minimum tax, which chokes the middle class here, and she doesn't need a map to find Nassau and Suffolk.
Obama's considerable skills are defined by his ability to inspire, whether galvanizing young voters or bringing in the disaffected. This is important. The ability to unite the nation in common purpose is key after too many years of Swift Boat attacks. Washington needs to change how it does business in order to come to grips with issues such as balancing jobs and free trade, ensuring that health care and college and retirement are affordable, and slowing climate change.
Clinton could do with a bit of Obama's spirit in that regard. He has taught us that hope matters and that many in the nation are eager for leaders who will let them share in the movement for change. Fortunately, Clinton seems already to have abandoned the divide-and-conquer politics disgracefully displayed by former President Bill Clinton around her loss in the South Carolina primary.
Obama has the potential to rise to greatness. But two years in the Senate is not much seasoning. He has yet to show a sufficient grasp of the complexities of the job. She has the savvy and the strength to lead today. That's why she's our choice for Democrats in Tuesday's primary.
