National NOW’s Endorsement of Hillary Clinton

National NOW’s Endorsement of Hillary Clinton

At our April meeting, we discussed National Now’s Endorsment of Hillary Clinton. Even those of us who are supporters of Hillary Clinton and plan to work to get her elected, had questions about the timing of this endorsement, given Hillary Clinton’s position on Iraq.

The members present thought the leadership should have waited until the national convention and invited all the candidates to address the membership as was done for the last presidential election. Kathy Black sent the following letter to NOW president, Kim Gandy, expressing her concerns.

Dear Kim -

I'm a long time member of NOW, Financial VP of our Philadelphia Chapter, and I have been proud of NOW's stance on many issues and proud of our principled endorsements. I too want a woman President in my lifetime, and you correctly point out the areas of agreement we have with Senator Clinton.

However, you left out our stark disagreement with her on the most important issue of our time - the war in Iraq and our disgraceful foreign policy in the Middle East. How convenient. This way you don't have to mention how different her position on the war is from NOW's stated "troops out now."

Senator Clinton has consistently disappointed in her statements on the war, and as long as that is the case, she will not get my vote or any support of any kind. In fact, of the three leading candidates she has by far the worst position. And her excuses for voting for the war, and refusing to disavow that mistake, have just made things worse.

NOW isn't my only affiliation. I am also a co-convenor of US Labor Against the War, a NOW partner in many anti-war activities. As long as this war rages on, I can't support Hillary or the other measured apologists for anything. My allegiance will be to USLAW and the other peace organizations who take a position against the war and make sure their other actions are not contradictory.

NOW's endorsement of Hillary seems hypocritical in the face of our position on the war. Electing a woman at any cost should not be our ambition. We didn't need to come out for her now. She just reported raising $26 million!! She's doing fine. We could have used this time to push her to take a more progressive position on ending the war and bringing our troops home. Now we have no leverage, and I for one, am disapponted - no, disgusted - by our hypocrisy.

Kathy Black
Philadelphia