Senator Clinton's open letter on yahoo - 1.25.2007.1

To see a complete list of all letters sent out to political figures seeking the Presidency to date, please go to Letters to and from Presidential Candidates. To date there has been no response from any candidate contacted since December 2006.

Has anyone noticed the tactic being used today by Senator Clinton? The Senator is asking for the public to tell her what they think to a question she has asked. The exact question is “Based on your own family's experience, what do you think we should do to improve health care in America?” Now perhaps it’s just me, but I find this odd.

It seems to me that Senator Clinton is conducting a poll, seeing what various demographics and regions of America is thinking. Once this poll is does I have no doubt that any comments on healthcare will be shaped by the responses in the given region. That is duplicitous. That is deceptive, if I am correct. I also see it as useless.

As a Senator, and former First Lady, there has been talk about healthcare for over a decade. The opinion of various Americans given in this poll is not going to shape the healthcare plan that she has. Her goals have been decided and recited with little variance through out the time since President Clinton was elected. Given that, why would she ask what we the people think, beyond using it to shape the manner in which she might campaign? Is it not the explicit obligation of a candidate to tell us what SHE thinks on the subject so that we can make a decision for ourselves?

I also find it interesting that Senator Clinton decided to have announced her run on a Saturday, via the internet. That seems to eliminate any potential question from the press that every other candidate so far has had to answer, live. And on a Saturday which is not a day most are paying attention to news. And the video recording seemed to be quite old, to me. I say that because there is no part of the Northeast that has leafy bushes or trees in the winter that I am aware of. If you notice in the background, outside the window the leaves are on the tree/bush.

It’s nice to know that Senator Clinton has enough time to arrange and create an opinion poll (which is what I feel it is), dedicate staff to review and correlate the answers, launch a Presidential Campaign, but not enough time to respond to her email from a constituent.

I refer to the letter I sent to Senator Clinton. It was sent December 16, 2006 – some 40ish days ago at this point. [The link at the top of this post will take you to an EXACT copy of the letter sent to the senator] Other than an automated letter acknowledging receipt of my letter. Considering the extended time off for Congress during the holidays, and the 4 day work week, and the fact that Senator Clinton is not in the Congress every day it is open - nor in New York State for that matter – I think responding to a constituent would be nice. Even a letter from a staffer saying that while there is a delay, an answer is coming.

While I did not ask for an answer on healthcare, I did ask for an answer on, “What are you doing to address the drop-out rate of African American males? And what are you doing for Latino/ Hispanic Americans on the above matters?” Also, “What legislation have you initiated, that has passed, that has benefited those living in NY state and/or this nation?” There are other questions I asked, and have gotten no hint of an answer. I don’t want Senator Clinton to waste my time (she is a public official for my state) on an opinion poll so I can hear a modified soundbite that won’t answer my questions. I want Senator Clinton to fulfill her obligation and state what her platform is, what her opinions are. Anyone who is elected President of the United States should do no less.

This is what I think, what do you think?