Maybe Hillary Clinton's decision to run for president has some advantages.
The Center for Individual Freedom, a conservative group whose main contribution to the AIDS debate has been to oppose efforts to reduce patent protections for anti-retroviral drugs in the developing world, recently sent out an email (PDF) lobbying for the passage of the Ryan White CARE Act, a domestic AIDS treatment bill, in Congress. The reason? Hillary is holding up the bill because of cuts it makes in funding to New York. And if she's against it, they're for it.
Here's how the email begins:
Dear Fellow Activist,
What if I told you that carefully crafted, bipartisan legislation to bring vital, life-saving and enhanced care to those suffering from the ravages of AIDS was being held up by a handful of United States Senators?
What if I told you that the Senator who is leading the charge to block this legislation has herself said, "I believe we need to take bold steps to confront and eradicate AIDS and support those living with HIV...?"
And what if I told you that this outrageous act of hypocrisy and betrayal against HIV/AIDS victims is based on raw political self-interest -- to favor a single city represented by the Senator in question over AIDS victims across the country?
You would be as outraged as I am.
And you'll be even more outraged when you hear that the Senator holding the renewal of the Ryan White CARE Act hostage -- along with the lives and well-being of thousands of HIV/AIDS victims across the country -- is none other Mrs. Compassion herself: Hillary Rodham Clinton.
If this is what it takes to get conservative activists fired up about AIDS treatment in the US, I'll take it.
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