Tonight, history will be made.
When the New Jersey primary polls close at 8 p.m., Hillary Clinton will get the 19 delegates she needs – and more – to finally claim the title of presumptive Democratic nominee for president.
In fact, by an Associated Press count of pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses and a survey of party insiders known as superdelegates, Clinton had commitments even Monday evening from more than 2,383 delegates. That means she will be first woman to top the ticket of a major U.S. political party. She is expected to formally accept her party’s nomination in July at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Clinton’s mother was born before American women received the right to vote in 1920, and now, in one generation, the daughter of Dorothy Howell Rodham Clinton could very well become the president of the United States.
In a time when the GOP’s presumptive nominee spends much of his time churning bigotry and calling women pigs, Clinton’s calm and determined march toward the White House couldn’t be more welcome.
Her weekend wins in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands put her in good stead for tonight – not to mention the three million more popular votes cast for her than for her opponent Bernie Sanders during the primary season.
Sanders, of course, is saying not so fast – it’s not over. But it almost certainly is, despite what close, pre-primary opinion polls in California might show.
Yet making history as a woman is not why Hillary Clinton should be president.
She should be president because of all the candidates in the field, she has the most experience, empathy and political know-how. She can be trusted not to incite the worst in America, but rather, to inspire the best.
Americans largely know this already: An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 56 percent of us believe she would be better at handling foreign policy, compared to 29 percent who thought Donald Trump would be better. She also led Trump by 10 points on the question of who would be a better commander in chief.
She reminded us in her foreign policy speech Thursday that her tenure as secretary of state gives her the type of foreign policy experience Trump lacks. She touted her work to advance agreements to fight climate change, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a nuclear weapons reduction deal with Russia and sanctions against Iran. She pointed out that she was in the Situation Room with President Barack Obama debating whether to initiate the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
“I’m not new to this work, and I’m proud to run on my record, because I think the choice before the American people in this election is clear,” she said. “Making Donald Trump commander in chief would be a historic mistake.”
She drew a hearty laugh from her audience when she said Trump has claimed to understand Russia – because, after all, he held the Miss Universe pageant there. She noted that he has supported increased nuclear proliferation, taking out the families of terrorists and defaulting on the national debt. She made fun of him saying his primary consultant on foreign policy issues is himself. (Remember the “I-have-a-very-good-brain” comment?)
She reminded us that Trump has said climate change is a hoax perpetuated by the Chinese, and she skewered Trump for saying Sen. John McCain wasn’t a war hero. (Remember Trump’s statement that he prefers war heroes who weren’t captured?)
“We cannot put the security of our children and grandchildren in Donald Trump’s hands, we cannot let him roll the dice with America,” Clinton told the audience.
Bernie Sanders has energized disappointed young people and he champions some reforms the country needs to make. But Clinton champions those young people and many of those reforms, as well. The difference is that she can realistically guide some of them to fruition while keeping our country on a stable path in an unstable world.
Clinton should have our support, not for the history she will almost certainly make tonight, but for the history she will make in the day-to-day governance of our country in years to come.