Obama or Clinton: Which Candidate Can Best Take On McCain?
Hillary will revitalize our economy. She is the only candidate who gets that, to keep us competitive in the global marketplace, we need to invest in research in new technologies. For example, she wants to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health by 50 percent in five years and 100 percent in 10 years (President Bush proposes to cut NIH's budget by $1 billion). She understands that we need a research-and-development tax credit for renewable- and alternative-energy manufacturers so that investors will have the confidence to support companies engaged in this kind of work. These investments will create the jobs of the future in renewable energy, health science (including genetic research), advanced engineering and manufacturing.
Senator Clinton sees the link between education and economic development. So, to make these crucial innovations a reality, we need an education system that will produce scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Hillary knows that our economic growth depends on it. That's why she wants to invest in our education system at every level: if we are to remain competitive in the world, we must attract women to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. Currently, law, medical and business schools have student bodies that are more than 50 percent female—and yet, engineering schools are less than 20 percent filled with women, and science and math Ph.D. programs often contain less than 10 percent. Senator Clinton realizes we must focus our attention on young girls in elementary school and begin there to cultivate their interest in STEM courses. If we can achieve this, we will no longer be fighting global economic competition with one hand behind our back.
So much hangs in the balance in this election. A war in Iraq to end. An economy to revive. A middle class that needs a champion after eight years of neglect. Pennsylvania and states across the country desperately need a partner in Washington, D.C. We need a president who will fight for us—and a candidate who will win for us. That's why I support Hillary.
Rendell, A former Philadelphia mayor, is in his second term as Pennsylvania governor.
© 2008
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Member Comments
Posted By: carlos52 @ 05/28/2008 2:41:27 PM
Comment: What is with the "white people" and "black man" talk. I thought we had progressed beyond that decades ago. I'd like to remind this individual that unless you're native american that all of our ancestors were not even Americans.
Posted By: fan_chor-cheung @ 05/08/2008 10:03:34 AM
Comment: Why Some White People Have To Vote For Obama? It is extremely difficult for a person with any intelligence to understand why some White people have voted for Obama. To vote for him is simply an admission to the world that the America's overwhelmingly White majority are incompetent and incapable of managing and leading their own country. That White people have to reduce their status themselves by asking a Black man whose ancestors were not even American to do such important jobs. Or, are they too lazy to do it themselves?
Posted By: Core Democrat in Texas @ 05/03/2008 5:41:28 PM
Comment: To many people it seems as if Obama is destroying the Democratic party, in fact, already has. The Democrats almost certainly would have won the white house this year if Obama had not run. Now the polls indicicate that it is probable that Obama will get the nomination and that McCain will defeat Obama.
Also, never before has the democratic party seen such divisiness between its core groups, not even in 1968. This fall, the democratic party may lose the middle class blue collar workers, and it may lose its committment to the issues that matter to its traditional supporters. If that happens, the party may never recover from that damage