Fortune Magazine reports that “more than 50 business executives, many of whom have longstanding GOP ties, are reportedly set to endorse Hillary Clinton. The Wall St. Journal states she has support “from well-heeled members of a Republican party that has grown increasingly divided over its presumptive presidential candidate, the firebrand billionaire and former reality TV star Donald Trump.”
AT&T senior EVP James Cicconi, said “this year I think it’s vital to put our country’s wellbeing ahead of the party” and that Clinton “will make a fine president.” General Motors CEO Daniel Akerson was quoted as saying that Donald Trump “lacks key characteristics required of a U.S. president, such as “effective leadership, sound judgment, a steady hand and most importantly, the temperament to deal with crises large and small.”
Clinton is doing her best to woo Republicans “on the fence about Trump.” She has a long record of working collegially and successfully across the aisle. Clearly, these Republican business leaders see that putting a reactive narcissist more interested in debating his …er… hand size, one who makes pronouncements about Brexit without the first idea what it is coupled with inflammatory racist statements and pants-on-fire claims about perceived enemies is not a fit choice for Commander in Chief of the armed forces and leader of the free world.
While the mainstream media, Republican politicians and Democratic opponents have an agenda in painting Hillary Clinton as a lightning rod for divisiveness and negativity, these characterizations bear no resemblance to the truth. Even longtime Clinton enemy, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, said Secretary Hillary Clinton “is extremely well respected throughout the world, handles herself in a very classy way and has a work ethic second to none.” As she noted at a recent town hall, “Republicans have very nice things to say about me – when they’re not running against me.”
At heart, Hillary Clinton is a patriotic feminist nerd. No matter how big a target she is to the press, many regular Joes and Janes find her gutsiness and “just put my shoes on” doggedness comforting. These business leaders may realize that while not always agreeing with her, she will work smart to move our country forward and be President of everyone, not just the people who voted for her. She represents our country with gravitas, optimism and a clearly unapologetic tone. Even former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had to admit:
“I’ve known [Hillary Clinton] for many years now, and I respect her intellect. And she ran the State Department in the most effective way that I’ve ever seen.”
Leaving a craven beltway media’s hunger for click bait for a moment, if you want to learn something about the way Hillary Clinton works and thinks, listen to her ideas on growing the rural economy. Better yet, watch Hillary Clinton’s speech at 2015’s Conference of Mayors (shown below). While she began by frankly discussing difficult truths of race and gun violence in today’s America, stating that we needed to focus on the “habits of our hearts” and be “cities, states and a country too busy to hate,” she couldn’t leave her practical side for long. Promising Mayors nationwide, regardless of party, a friend in the White House were she to be elected, Secretary Clinton declared that “one size fits all solutions rarely work” introduced her call for a “new, flexible federalism.” She encouraged those in attendance “look at what is working across our country and then share it and scale it.”
Few have connected the threads on family, faith, economy, justice, civic involvement, bipartisanship and practical government partnership with local authorities as well as Hillary Clinton does in this speech.
Her platform also encourages companies’ long term investment both in innovation and in our country’s workers. She not just some “leftie” shaking her fist at “millionaires and billionaires.”
Perhaps Republican business leaders assume she will win and simply want to be in the good graces of an incoming President.
Perhaps some are willing to admit they see what I see – effective leadership.
*Photo courtesy Stu Collins.
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Anita Finlay is the bestselling author of Dirty Words on Clean Skin — sharing the truth about media bias and misogyny faced by Hillary and any woman aspiring to power — #1 on Amazon’s Women in Politics books for 16 weeks.
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