Hillary Clinton

President of the United States

Battle-tested, prepared to win. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s recent wins confirm that she succeeds in states that matter most to Democrats in November, from Ohio to New Mexico to New Hampshire. A proven winner in her Senate races, Clinton won 55 percent of the vote in 2000 and 67 percent in 2006 — winning in 37 of the 41 “red” counties that voted for Bush in 2004.

A lifetime of advocacy. Long before she had a national platform, Hillary Clinton fought to improve the lives of women and children at home and abroad. At the 1995 United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing, Clinton condemned the policies of countries — including host nation China — that violate the human rights of women and children. She went toe-to-toe with the Bush White House to force approval of Plan B emergency contraception and opposed Bush Supreme Court nominees John Roberts and Samuel Alito when they refused to articulate their positions on Roe v. Wade.

The vision and courage to lead during troubled times. A woman of uncommon intelligence and vision, Hillary Clinton is a leader for the 21st century. She opposes Bush’s plans to send more troops to Iraq and is working on a bipartisan plan to send additional troops to Afghanistan. Hillary was one of the few international figures to speak out in the 1990s against the treatment of Afghani women by the Taliban. She is fighting to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission to protect the nation in the War on Terror.

More About Hillary Clinton

No presidential contender is more qualified to lead the nation or better positioned to help Democrats take back the White House than New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. She must now raise a vast sum to secure the Democratic nomination and go up against a GOP determined to keep her from becoming the first woman president.

With 15 years of experience in international affairs as a U.S. senator and as first lady, and more than 35 years as an attorney and advocate, Clinton is a visionary leader with the skills and experience to be president. Voters across the country are responding to her historic campaign. She has repeatedly outperformed her opponents in primary debates, and polls show her gaining ground while her rivals are falling back.

Clinton is uniquely able to handle the vicissitudes of the campaign trail and the Republican attack machine. Since becoming a national figure in the 1990s, she has been examined, analyzed, and attacked from all sides — attention she has finessed with courage and grace. “I believe strongly that as Democrats and progressives, we have to tell people what our vision is and what we want to do,” she says. “We’re running a positive, issue-oriented, visionary campaign. But if people try to derail us, you can count on me to stand my ground and fight back.”

A sharp critic of the Bush administration’s reckless foreign policy, Clinton has put forth a plan to cap the number of troops in Iraq and start bringing them home. “Lawmakers were misled by the president, who misused his authority to pursue a policy that was poorly conceived and incompetently executed,” she says. “It’s time to place more responsibility for security on the Iraqi government. We should not send more troops to the war-torn region, as President Bush has proposed. Instead, we should beef up our presence in Afghanistan, secure the border with Pakistan, and halt the re-emergence of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.”

Clinton’s entire career has been devoted to improving the lives of women and children around the world. After law school she took a job with the Children’s Defense Fund instead of pursuing a lucrative career track. She has traveled to more than 80 countries, speaking out for women’s rights and economic equality, earning international recognition at the 1995 U.N. Conference on Women in Beijing when she boldly condemned policies — including those of host nation China — that violate the human rights of women and children. She was one of the few international figures in the 1990s to speak out against the Taliban’s oppression of women.

Clinton has secured a spot in history by being the first woman to represent New York in the Senate; the first woman elected statewide in New York; the only first lady elected to public office; and now the first woman to win numerous major presidential primaries. Now, EMILY’s List members have a unique opportunity to help her become the first woman president of the United States.

The Issues

Clinton has collaborated with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring economic growth and redevelopment to New York. Her leadership has helped strengthen infrastructure and schools, expand access to health care, protect environmental resources, and reassure citizens at a time of great uncertainty. After 9/11, she fought to secure $20 billion to clean up and rebuild Ground Zero and to provide health care for New Yorkers, particularly for first responders, affected by the fallout.

Clinton has offered legislation to strengthen public schools and increase access to Head Start, higher education, and continuing education. She has passed legislation to recruit more good teachers and principals so schools can have the kind of leaders they deserve. “Our economy cannot thrive without strong public schools and a well-educated workforce,” says Clinton. “I am determined to create an America where every child has the opportunity to go to college or learn a skilled trade.”

Working with business owners and community leaders, Clinton has helped the flagging economy of upstate New York, fighting to bring broadband access to rural communities and securing federal funding for innovative initiatives like the “Farm to Fork” program, which links upstate farmers with urban restaurant owners.

As president, Clinton will work with Congress to restore fairness to the tax code, relieving the burden on the middle class and asking wealthier taxpayers to pay their fair share. She is working to provide relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax, which places an unfair burden on middle-class families. She supports credits to help working families pay for college tuition and opposes GOP efforts to fully repeal the estate tax. “I cannot support bestowing even more benefits upon the wealthiest among us when the middle class continues to struggle with rising gasoline, health care, education, and housing costs,” she says.

The first New Yorker to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Clinton has consistently worked across party lines to ensure that the federal government supports active-duty military families and fulfills its obligations to veterans.

Clinton has been a leading voice in the Senate on ending the genocide in Darfur. She offered an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill that would require President Bush to report to Congress on efforts to implement the Darfur Peace Agreement, including taking steps to stabilize the region and provide humanitarian relief.

As president, Clinton would restore executive branch respect for the Constitution and privacy rights, which have been trampled by the Bush administration. “This administration’s refrain has been, ‘Trust us,’” Clinton says. “But their record doesn’t warrant our trust. Unchecked mass surveillance without judicial review may sometimes be legal, but it is dangerous. Every president should save those powers for limited, critical situations.” She sponsored the Count Every Vote Act, which the New York Times hailed as “the gold standard” of election reform legislation. Clinton opposes efforts to amend the Constitution to discriminate against gay and lesbian Americans.

Clinton knows how to fight and build the political support to solve the nation’s health care crisis. “This is a battle I’ve fought before — and I have the scars to prove it,” she says. She has pushed critical reforms through the Senate, including extending $2.7 billion in unused State Children’s Health Insurance Program funding. Clinton coauthored legislation to provide U.S. support to eliminate HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis in developing nations. As president, she will renew efforts to address skyrocketing health care costs and ensure that all Americans have access to affordable care. “Too many American families are one health care crisis away from financial catastrophe,” she says. “It’s past time for us to take strong action to help them.”

A member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Clinton introduced a comprehensive alternative energy bill that would jump-start research and development of clean energy technology and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. She has opposed the Bush administration’s efforts to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. As president, Clinton will lead the charge to stop global warming by investing in clean energy technologies, establishing a national market-based program to reduce global warming, increasing our fuel efficiency, and re-establishing the United States as a leader in international efforts to address climate change.

Few public figures have done as much as Clinton to advance women’s rights. She helped set up the Violence Against Women section of the Department of Justice in the 1990s and has as a senator been a leading advocate for its continued existence. She helped expand opportunities for women by providing capital to women entrepreneurs. She is the leading Senate sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act to strengthen enforcement of equal pay laws and help women close the wage gap with men.

As a pro-choice president, Clinton would work to undo the damage Bush has done to reproductive freedom through executive orders. “For more than a decade, I have worked to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and to promote policies to make abortion safe, legal, and rare,” she says. Clinton successfully held up Bush’s nominee for FDA commissioner to force approval of over-the-counter sales of Plan B emergency contraception. She voted against both Bush Supreme Court nominees out of concern over their positions on Roe v. Wade. As president, she will use this standard when nominating future Supreme Court justices.