Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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Clinton’s past makes her poor presidential candidate

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Albert Lee

What was Hillary Clinton’s greatest accomplishment as secretary of state?

If you were unable to answer that question, you’re not alone — Clinton herself has repeatedly been unable to do so.

At the second Republican debate, Carly Fiorina said, “If you want to stump a Democrat, ask them to name an accomplishment of Hillary Clinton.” When CNN’s Wolf Blitzer subsequently asked Clinton in an interview to name her “No. 1 accomplishment as secretary of state,” she avoided the question, instead mentioning how Republicans didn’t discuss certain issues during the debate.


Clinton’s turbulent tenure as secretary of state should make Democrats think twice about supporting her.

The push for a “Russian reset” only worsened the relationship between the United States and Russia. And the withdrawal of troops from Iraq enabled the rise of ISIS.

And then there’s Benghazi.

According to her recently released emails, Clinton was warned of the poor security facing the consulate prior to the attack and did nothing to strengthen it. 

And in the days following the attack, Clinton repeatedly blamed it on an anti-Islamic YouTube video. Yet in an email sent less than 24 hours after the attack, she said, “We know that the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack, not a protest.”

Ashley Alcantara, communications director for University Democrats and Plan II and government junior, said partisanship has played a role in the investigation.

“Voters should look at these events more as efforts by certain Republicans to bring Clinton down and less as a reflection on Clinton’s qualifications,” Alcantara said.

Even if these are attempts “to bring Clinton down,” Clinton grossly mismanaged the situation, which led to the deaths of four Americans. 

In addition to Clinton’s inexcusable foreign policy blunders, her history of flip-flopping on the issues makes her unfit for the presidency, according to finance sophomore Robert Guerra, communications director for College Republicans.

“The former secretary has consistently demonstrated a pattern of changing her views at politically advantageous times,” Guerra said. “For many, this history makes it difficult to believe that she will follow through on the promises she has campaigned on.”

In the past, Clinton has been against gay marriage, supported the Second Amendment and stood behind her vote to declare war against Iraq. Today, she tells a different story on these issues.

There are plenty of candidates with ridiculous foreign policy positions, such as forcing Mexico to build a wall along the border. What makes Clinton unqualified, in addition to her tendency to flip-flop, is her history of ridiculous foreign policy failures.

Ethier is a journalism freshman from Westport, Connecticut. Follow him on Twitter @baileyethier.

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Clinton’s past makes her poor presidential candidate