# The Democratic party has rejected Clintonism **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 14, 2016, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172 "2016-04-14T11:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/81 "2016-04-17T17:01:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You **really** can’t be serious. You know, not everyone shares your opinion. These laws were passed and not repealed, so evidently a majority don’t think like you. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/82 "2016-04-17T18:14:38Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Only the Clintons have the power to make people believe different things about them depending on who they want to persuade: > > [How Hillary Clinton's and Bernie Sanders' DOMA Revisionism Harms LGBT Rights | HuffPost Voices](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelangelo-signorile/hillary-clinton-bernie-sa_b_8388726.html) > > Clinton sure was willing to advertise his support for DOMA where it would help him politically. That cite does not support what you say. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/83 "2016-04-17T18:25:43Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > You know, not everyone shares your opinion. These laws were passed and not repealed, so evidently a majority don’t think like you. That does not make them “pretty good.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/84 "2016-04-17T18:30:24Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Megan’s Law > . Megans Law was over-reaching. It means that the State has to watch and register minor and mostly harmless offenders like those convicted of streaking, public urination, strippers putting on nasty show and the like. Meanwhile, this drains resources from keeping a watch on the \*dangerous violent predators. \* ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/85 "2016-04-17T18:45:44Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Umm, it was passed by a veto proof super majority. > wiki: > > _The 1996 Republican Party platform endorsed DOMA, referencing only Section 2 of the act: “We reject the distortion of [anti-discrimination] laws to cover sexual preference, and we endorse the Defense of Marriage Act to prevent states from being forced to recognize same-sex unions.”[… > The bill moved through Congress on a legislative fast track and met with overwhelming approval in both houses of the Republican-controlled Congress. > Though his official political position was against same-sex marriage, Clinton criticized DOMA as “unnecessary and divisive”,[26] while his press-secretary called it “gay baiting, plain and simple”.[27][28] However, after Congress had passed the bill with enough votes to override a presidential veto,[28] Clinton signed DOMA. Many years later, he claimed that he did so reluctantly in view of the veto-proof majority, both to avoid associating himself politically with the then-unpopular cause of same-sex marriage, and to defuse momentum for a proposed Federal Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage.[28][29] Clinton, who was traveling when Congress acted, signed it into law promptly upon returning to Washington, D.C., on September 21, 1996; he refused to hold a signing ceremony for DOMA and did not allow photographs to be taken of him signing it into law.[30] The White House released a statement in which Clinton said “that the enactment of this legislation should not, despite the fierce and at times divisive rhetoric surrounding it, be understood to provide an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against any person on the basis of sexual orientation”.[30]_ > > Clinton was\* against \*DOMA. Claiming Clinton “was against DOMA” is denying reality. Not only did he support it and sign it into law, but he took out ads in 1996 campaigning on the fact that he signed int into law. Now, he apologized and changed his mind so I’m not going to hold that against him, but I’m not going to trying and hand wave it away. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/86 "2016-04-28T11:46:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Megans Law was over-reaching. It means that the State has to watch and register minor and mostly harmless offenders like those convicted of streaking, public urination, strippers putting on nasty show and the like. No it doesn’t. At least not universally. Many states don’t classify those activities as sex crimes. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/87 "2016-04-28T23:03:04Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Claiming Clinton “was against DOMA” is denying reality. Not only did he support it and sign it into law, but he took out ads in 1996 campaigning on the fact that he signed int into law. > > Now, he apologized and changed his mind so I’m not going to hold that against him, but I’m not going to trying and hand wave it away. You should hold it against him, since he only apologized when it cost him nothing to do so and when he needed to do it. That’s kinda the point of this thread, how much apologizing the Clintons have had to do. THey’ll probably have a lot to apologize for over the next 4-8 years as well. Short term political calculation is in their blood and it informs all of their actions. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/88 "2016-04-28T23:12:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That’s kinda the point of this thread, how much apologizing the Clintons have had to do. THey’ll probably have a lot to apologize for over the next 4-8 years as well. Apologizing is a sign of maturity. Your nominee doesn’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/89 "2016-04-29T00:19:52Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > but he took out ads in 1996 campaigning on the fact that he signed int into law. cite? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/90 "2016-04-29T00:47:24Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Apologizing is a sign of maturity. Your nominee doesn’t do it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/91 "2016-04-29T01:08:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > cite? [The New York Times from 1996.](http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/15/us/ad-touts-clinton-s-opposing-gay-marriage.html) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/92 "2016-04-29T01:52:04Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Apologizing is a sign of maturity. Your nominee doesn’t do it. Apologizing for almost everything you’ve ever done isn’t a sign of maturity. It’s a sign of bad judgment. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/93 "2016-04-29T02:04:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Apologizing for almost everything you’ve ever done isn’t a sign of maturity. It’s a sign of bad judgment. Bad judgement in making an error, or bad judgement for apologizing for making an error? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/94 "2016-04-29T09:38:42Z")
Bad judgment for doing everything wrong. And bad judgment for voters who think that this time she’ll get it right. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/95 "2016-05-06T05:31:45Z")
Dude, you yourself said you’re voting for Clinton, but not Sanders. Hillary’s a moderate. Bernie is the guy on the actual left. Yes, that’s further left than 20 years ago, but that’s to be expected. Liberals are moving on. The whole point of the left is that we embrace change. Socially, we are more to the left than we used to be, so a centrist candidate has to embrace more left-facing things. You seem to see change as a bad thing, while the public pretty much all think it’s a good thing. It’s the reason for the anti-establishment push this time. There’s nothing wrong with a liberal changing their views. The reason there’s a problem when a conservative does it is because their message is that the old ways are best. Check out any conservative belief, and it’s always about embracing the way things used to be–“the tried and true” as you spin it. Clinton being left of her husband is not only to be expected, but what society wants. Hell, even Trump is pushing leftward with much of his stuff–he’s just keeping the angry conservatives on board with pure anger, and a few key issues with promises he knows he can’t keep. We liberals fully expect every Democratic president to apologize for stuff they did in the past. Just like we’d love it if every Republican would. While not everything in the past was wrong, a whole lot of it was. The only way they wouldn’t have anything to apologize for is if they were just way ahead of their time on everything–but those people don’t tend to get elected. Just like I very much hope my mom, who grew up homophobic, will be able to shed that. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172/96 "2016-05-06T07:55:19Z")
It’s not like they didn’t know at the time that liberals would view what they did as wrong. They apologize for prioritizing their careers over doing the right thing, something which Clinton will continue to do in the present and cry crocodile tears over in the future. Either defend your moderation or come out as a liberal. Posing as a moderate while apologizing to liberals for being one in the past is a rather cheap way to try to keep a foot in each camp. Be interesting to see how hard she shifts to the right in the general election. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-party-has-rejected-clintonism/752172.md?page=4)