2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: I've never understood why Kerry did not face the same level of wrath from Democrats over [View all]democrattotheend
(12,011 posts)It was one of the reasons Dean gained traction.
That said, I put Hillary in a slightly different category than the others because she didn't just vote for it - she went to the Senate floor and gave a long speech urging support for it. That's a lot different from Kerry, who made it clear that he was voting for it reluctantly and only doing so to strengthen President Bush's hand at the UN in hopes of avoiding war.
While I see your point about Hillary representing the state hit hardest by 9/11, it was obvious to anyone who paid attention at that time that Saddam Hussein and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
I could forgive Hillary for her vote for the Iraq war 14 years ago, but it is not the only evidence that she is more hawkish than I am comfortable with. I will still vote for her and I want her to win, but her history of aggressively favoring military engagements troubles me.