Does Hillary's past as a "Goldwater Girl" affect your opinion of her?

[kentuck]

Of course, no one was more "Republican" than the Goldwater conservatives. They preceded even Reagan. It has been widely reported that as a young girl, Hillary was a strong supporter of Goldwater. Do we ever really lose the beliefs, political or otherwise, that we learn in our formative years? Is Hillary still a "conservative" at heart? Did her politics affect those of her husband, who was much more conservative than most Democrats with his policies, as opposed to his speeches? Does Hillary's past as a conservative affect your viewpoint of her today? Or do you think she is transformed and is a strong "liberal"?

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Goldwater, if alive today, wouldn't be considered a conservative...

...at least by today's definition of the word.

[kentuck]

5. He would not be considered a "conservative" by todays standards...

The Radical Republicans have changed that definition. I think Goldwater would be considered a conservative but most of the Republicans now in power would not be called "conservatives"...

[MADem]

15. Yep, he didn't care about all of these foolish "social" and "values" canards at all NT

[wakeme2008]

2. No it's her I will tell you anything you want to hear

that upsets me.

[Fabio]

3. No.

Goldwater had some ideas that I dont agree with, but his strong libertarian leanings, demand for fiscal responsibility and non-adverturism overseas is ok by me.

[Hepburn]

21. Hillary and I are about the same age...

...and back when Goldwater ran, I liked him. I did not know that much about politics then ~~ I just liked the man. I was in my teens...and like with Hillary, that was a hell of a long time ago and before I really understood politics that much. LOL, when I was a kid, I liked JFK and when he ran, I was in elementary school and went down and volunteered to work in his campaign....of course, my Republican parents were HORRIFIED, tho!

I don't care for Hillary ~~ but I sure would not hold anything like this against her. Now, with a degree in polsci and a law degree under my belt and status as a senior citizen, I see things a lot differently than I did when I was a teen-ager. The VN war sure woke me the hell up on politics. However, I still think of Barry Goldwater as a good man ~~ and a REAL conservative and not like the RW nut cakes running around today who think the Bible is superior to the U.S. Constitution.

[meegbear]

4. Widely reported by whom?

Info? Links?

[leftchick]

6. no, her present as a warmonger does

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2007/February/theworld_February53.xml§ion=theworld

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. Goldwater was 33 years ago. Yes, we do lose....

... the politics we had in high school. 'Drop by drop, through the awful grace of god, comes *wisdom*.'

More alarming is the Hillary of 2007 and the Hillary of 2000-2006. I don't think she's a strong *anything*... least of all a liberal. She's a chameleon, chanding hues to fit the background of the ever-changing political environment.

It's in fact her unpredictability that is both her greatest strength and biggest liability. I won't support her 'cause she stands for, and has accomplished ,next to nothing.

Others will because they are projecting their hopes onto a political blank slate.

[William769]

8. I was a very Conservative Democrat most of my life.

Now I am a very liberal Democrat. So are my younger years to be held against me?

[kentuck]

9. Why did you change?

and when?

[William769]

10. 2001

Need I say more?

[beaconess]

11. No!

That was 40 years ago!

Her parents were Republicans, she was a Republican.

And then she grew up and went to college.

Jeez!

[Tanuki]

12. She was barely 17 years old, for crying out loud.

HRC was born in October, 1947, and Goldwater ran for president in 1964. So she would have only been 16 for most of the campaign. She hadn't even been to college yet, and a lot of kids are still very much influenced by their parents' beliefs at that age. This is such a non-issue, I can't believe it would trouble anyone.

[kentuck]

17. I was born in the same year as Hillary...

and I supported JFK in 1960. I never changed my basic democratic beliefs.

[beaconess]

22. Ronald Reagan was a Democrat for part of his adult life - do we give him a pass because of that?

[Telly Savalas]

29. Well, good for you.

Of course anybody who changes their mind about anything over the course of 40 years is a flip-flopper who shouldn't be running for president.

Some Democrats are going to try to distract from this by trying to fixate our attention on "problems" like Iraq, Global Warming, and Health Care, but I agree that the focus should be on what our candidates believed back in the early 60's.

[etherealtruth]

13. No

What a person does in high school does not define that person

[Missy M]

14. No, we all change as we go through life....

if we don't change we don't grow. Every candidate hopefully has changed as they grew older. If not you end up with someone like George W. Bush, he will never change.

[MichellesBFF]

16. So was Thom Hartmann

But he changed. I like Hillary, but I don't like her support of the Iraq War.

[Hieronymus]

20. Hartmann said this past week that his father died with a picture ..

of George Bush on his wall.

[abluelady]

18. Nope

Jim Webb, My senator, was a Reagan Republican. He's certainly not a strong liberal, but he's doing a good job. Whenever a Republican "sees the light" we should revel in it. Jmho.

[MH1]

19. Not at all, there are plenty of current reasons to distrust her.

I think that we retain a lot of the values that we grow up with, but hopefully as we get older we grow wiser in our understanding of how those values can best be achieved.

I don't know what it means in terms of their values if a person was a "Goldwater Girl" early on, other than that they saw politics as important. And in this case it's a trap to suggest that the "conservative" of Goldwater's day had the same values of the people calling themselves "conservative" today.

No, I have plenty of other reasons to dislike and distrust Hillary, and to fervently hope that any one of the other candidates (none of whom I am especially enthusiastic about at this point), prevent her from becoming the Democratic nominee.

As much as I want Dems to reject Hillary in the presidential race - only, her Senatorship is wholly up to New Yorkers - I think this would be a bogus reason. Almost on a par with someone wanting to support her only because she is a woman.

[caseycoon]

23. No, because I just recently read about that.

I didn't care much for her when she was First Lady & the more I see of her the less I like her. What she did as a teen is not nearly as important as what she is doing now.

[JohnnyLib2]

24. No, changes across that time span don't bother me.

I find comfort in people who are able to revise their opinions, especially once away from home.

Personally, I've always been a Democrat, growing more liberal. And I found much to admire in Goldwater the man, particularly in the Nixon end-game.

[CTLawGuy]

25. No

I just question her triangulation strategy and her war vote.

[LeftishBrit]

26. Certainly not!

She was a teenager at the time. People change their political views; and in their early years, are often unduly influenced by their parents' views. Our former MP Tam Dalyell, a very good long-serving Labourite, was president of the Cambridge University Conservative Association when he was a student. At the other end of the scale, should we excuse Reagan everything because he started life as a Democrat?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. No; I couldn't care less. Same goes for all the others.

Doesn't matter if somebody voted for a Republican 20 years ago; the only thing that matters is what they stand for now. People can change their beliefs over time, and we're just stupid if we refuse to accept "converts."

That said, I don't care for Hillary -- but that's only because of what she's been doing and saying lately.

[Doctor_J]

28. No more than these 10-times-daily "Hillary - yes or no" threads

:eyes:

[blm]

30. No. Her RECENT past siding with Bush2 for the last 6yrs bothers me - that and her

husband spending his 2 terms covering up for Bush1 on all the outstanding matters left in IranContra, Iraqgate, BCCI and CIA drugrunning.

Looks like Bush2 needs a Clinton2 to cover up for his crimes of office the way Clinton1 did for Bush1.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

31. No- actually it makes me more impressed.

That as at young girl, or young woman, she was involved in the political process... and it's not just something she picked up when she met her husband. I respect people who take a strong interest and love in helping their country.

[nevergiveup]

32. I was 17 at the time

and had my 1953 Chevy plastered with Goldwater/Miller bumper stickers. I am not a Hillary fan but it certainly isn't because of her political whims when she was a teenager.

[bklyncowgirl]

33. No, it's her very recent support for the Iraq war that bothers me.

I have no problem with someone who was raised a Republican becoming a Democrat--in fact I encourage it.

I do have a problem with someone who had the abysmal judgment to give George W. Bush unchecked war powers to attack Iraq and then supported the decision to allow this president to go to war despite the disasterous consequences of poor planning, naive assumptions and sheer incompetence and corruption.

Hillary Clinton's past does not bother me--her recent present does.

[ChiciB1]

34. Can't Say It Does... I Used To Think Eisenhower Was Pretty Bad...

because of my father who introduced me into politics when I was EXTREMELY young. Now, looking back and having read about him AND Goldwater... THOSE "R's" don't seem so radical at all!

My problem with Hillary goes so much deeper! I feel some sort of betrayal but can't quite put my finger on it. And I must say I am terribly conflicted and worried about the fact that she just "might" become the nominee. As a political activist, and one who has always voted since I was able to, there has never been a candidate I've felt so much "angst" about. Even Bill Nelson of Florida, and I have never been one of HIS cheerleaders! But I did vote for him, of course Cruella was NO option here, having had her as a Representative!!

There is one candidate I might not have voted for if I had been able to... his name was Lyndon Johnson... I think I would have opted out if I had been able to vote for him.

But it was BOBBY who broke my heart... how I looked forward to voting for him!!

I just don't feel energized by Hillary in any way. And I'm going to change my avatar to MOLLY for now, until I do a little research about Edwards and his remarks about Iran!

[MasonJar]

35. No, she made the right choice.

[Greyhound]

36. Only in that it confirms her lifelong belief in the supremacy of corporate

power over the plebes. This is the only reason I have never liked or supported her. She truly believes that "what is good for GM is good for the country", and consistently acts in accordance with this abominable belief.

[LoZoccolo]

37. Does Dean's past as a DLC supporter? lol! n/t