Honestly, I've been trying, but I just don't understand the opposition to her. She's opportunistic to be sure, and she wouldn't have endorsed Bernie and left the DNC if she didn't think it would advance her career, but I see nothing wrong with that.
I like her position on Islam so long as its combined with an anti-war stance, which it is. I have seen little to no evidence that she is a 'stooge' for any right-wingers, I know she's talked to multiple right-wingers but I have no problem with that. She said she wanted to be sure that Assad was in fact the one attacking civilians earlier this year, which in light of the Iraq fiasco seems prudent. Even if she aligns with Narendra Modi and hates Muslims, the Muslim population in the U.S. is about 1%, liberals have overblown the importance of Muslims in the U.S. and if we don't go adventuring in the Middle East, her policy on Islam doesn't even really matter that much for foreign affairs.
She tows the line on all the economic issues I care about; she supports single payer, Glass-Steagall, she doesn't take PAC money, and she wants to raise the minimum wage. Yet, being a veteran and relatively conservative on Islam means she has significant crossover appeal, which is obvious something that is reassuring after the disaster that was 2016.
All the stuff about her homophobic behavior doesn't bother me in the slightest. Obergefell has passed, by and large homosexuality as a political issue is over and now just requires some effort on the state level and time to settle. We can revisit it later, because we're obviously not at 100% equality yet, but the battle is won and we're not going to extinguish homophobia in this generation. Also I find it incredibly disingenuous how much other people bring up her father's political beliefs: if you're talking about Tulsi, talk about Tulsi, but the stuff about her dad seems like trying to smear her to me.
Plus, she checks off all the identity politics boxes so I wouldn't have to worry about the headache of people wanting the first woman president or a minority candidate to draw out the minority vote, which was one of the most frustrating things about Bernie running against Hillary for me. That she's a veteran can only really help, and her youth means that even if she has to wait for Hirono to die in office, she could still have a fruitful career. Plus, being from Hawaii means that unlike my other favorite, Sherrod Brown, she's a safe bet: she's not going to lose reelection.
I don't agree with everything she says, but a Democratic Primary would push her to the left a bit on concerning social issues, he economic issues are solid, and overall she's one of the best candidates the Dems have for the future, possibly even as early as 2020. If Sanders runs in 2020, Tulsi is his ideal vice presidential candidate.
THANK YOU!
