Updated September 6, 2016: The hyperlink on Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson has been added to the “Opposition” section.

Updated August 4, 2016: Included “Opposition” section to compare the other candidates.

Name: Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton

Date of Birth: October 26, 1947

Alma Mater: Wellesley College — B.A., Political Science (Class of 1969); J.D., Yale Law School (Class of 1973)

Party: Democratic

Total Delegates: 2,205 (2774.5 with superdelegates)

Total Votes: 16,847,084

Policy Positions

  • Abortion — Secretary Clinton is pro-choice, but has indicated that she is not necessarily “pro-abortion”. While she has supported Roe v. Wade since at least 1974, she has also expressed support for easier adoptions and finding “common ground” on abortion laws with opponents. She believes the “potential for life begins at conception” but the choice should ultimately be left up to the individual. She has previously expressed support for faith-based disagreement in her book, Living History.
  • Gun control — In 2000, Clinton supported a national gun license registry. By 2008, however, she had backed away from that position. She has held a relatively strong position on gun control such as assault weapons bans and holding manufacturers responsible for the use — or misuse — of their products. She supports closing the gun show and Charleston loopholes, and increased background checks.
  • Drugs — In a 2007 debate at Howard University, then-Senator Clinton stated that non-violent drug offenders “should not be serving hard time in our prisons”. She has publicly stated this belief since at least the year 2000, and has repeatedly advocated for treatments and special drug courts. She has stated she believes that all emergency responders — police, fire, and ambulance — should be able to administer antidotes for opioid and heroin overdoses. She previously co-sponsored a bill proposed by then-Senator Joe Biden to end harsher sentencing for crack vs. powder cocaine.
  • Education— Secretary Clinton has been a staunch supporter of the public school system. She is also a supporter of the Common Core curriculum and believes that education can reduce the amount of incarcerated Americans. She is against school choice vouchers, believing them to be unconstitutional, but supports charter schools. She has also indicated that she wishes to significantly reduce student debt and increase teacher salary.
  • Health care — Health care has always been a priority for the former congresswoman. In the 1990s, she was appointed head of President Clinton’s health care task force as First Lady. The task force worked on HillaryCare, her own precursor to what is now ObamaCare. HillaryCare required citizens and resident aliens to be enrolled in health care at all times. Due to its similarities to the latter, Secretary Clinton plans to expand upon ObamaCare, hoping to reduce the costs of deductibles, copays and prescription drugs and to grant the previously defeated “public option”. She wants health care to expand to rural communities and all families “regardless of immigration status”.
  • Immigration — Though she has previously stated she is “adamantly against illegal immigration”, the former senator has pushed for comprehensive immigration reform and supports a path to legalization. While she feels a need for tougher border security and to crack down employers who exploit undocumented immigrants, she feels that there need to be changes on both sides of the border.
  • LGBT Rights — Secretary Clinton was a supporter of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) signed into law by President Bill Clinton, indicating she was previously against same-sex marriage. Since DOMA was deemed unconstitutional, however, both she and President Clinton have expressed support for the Supreme Court ruling. She did march in the 2000 New York Pride Parade, being the first First Lady to do so. In 2002, as a senator, she voted “Yes” on a bill to add sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes.
  • Environment — The former First Lady believes climate change is real, and plans to expand renewable energy efforts. Her plan aims to install solar panels on at least a half billion homes, cut oil usage by at least a third, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions levels to at 30 percent by 2025. As a senator, she received a 100% rating on animal protection from the Humane Society Legislative Fund. She also co-sponsored a bill disapproving the removal of coal and oil power from the list of hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
  • Social Security — The Yale graduate wishes to expand social security benefits, especially for the elderly. She opposes any increases in social security or medicare payments for the middle class, instead asking for more from wealthy Americans. As well, she opposes raising the retirement age.
  • Tax Reform — Secretary Clinton intends to lower taxes for working families and small businesses while also closing loopholes for wealthy Americans and Wall Street. Part of this plan includes taxing companies for doing business outside of the U.S. During the third Democratic debate of the 2016 season, she expressed her views that systems like single-payer health care would increase taxes on the middle class, similar to her thoughts during the 2008 campaign on removing the cap on health insurance previously referenced.

Opposition

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