I say "technically" because in both 2008 and 2016, I felt that I was voting for her primary opponent, not against her. But I will cast my first vote for her this November, and I am more excited about it now than I ever thought I would be.
I was never Bernie or Bust. I had my qualms about Hillary (still have a few) but I have never viewed her as the lesser of two evils. I live in a very safe blue state (despite Trump’s claims to the contrary), so I don’t “have to” vote for her. A few months ago I decided for sure that I would vote for her anyway, but until this week, I was feeling bummed about how unenthusiastic I was about this election, especially compared to 2008 and 2012.
Not anymore. After the events of this past week, I am fired up and excited to vote for Hillary Clinton as the 45th president of the United States.
The media keeps talking about the “enthusiasm gap”, and about how people are voting more against Trump than for Hillary. Until recently, I was one of those people. Not anymore.
Hopefully this gives people panicking over recent polls (I don’t deny that I am one of them) some hope, because if this past week has made me a lot more enthusiastic than I was before, I am probably not the only one.
Why the change? A few things.
First is the courage she showed in calling a spade a spade by calling out Trump's racist supporters as "deplorable." I have criticized her in the past for equivocating and not putting enough of a stake in the ground, but here she was not the least bit equivocal. She called a spade a spade and I am proud of her for that.
Second is the whole “pneumonia gate” crap. The way the media has treated treated her over it is despicable. The coverage been rife with sexist undertones (and this is coming from someone who thought the claims of sexism from Hillary supporters in 2008 were overblown). To make things worse, once it became clear that Hillary is not a frail old woman too sick to be president, the media, rather than dropping the matter and g-d forbid wishing her well, turned it into a manufactured scandal about transparency. I’m sorry, but trying to work through and hide an illness when your opponent has been peddling conspiracy theories about your health for weeks and you don’t want to play right into his hands is not “lack of transparency.” Why on earth does she have a duty to disclose a treatable, temporary illness that will be long gone by the time she is sworn in as president? Her attempt to keep going and work through it until she (almost) collapsed is admirable, not deceptive. I have always admired her toughness and hard work ethic, but this episode really drove it home. When they first showed the video and we didn’t know what was wrong (so I thought it could be more serious), I realized that I would be really sad if she had to drop out for health reasons.
Third is President Obama. If anyone had reason not to trust her, it was the president. But it is clear from hearing him speak that he genuinely grew to trust and admire her when she worked for him. The way I see it, if he can trust her, she must not have as much of a “trust problem” as the media says she does.
I’d be lying if I said I were not still feeling a deep sense of loss, both over the primaries and over the fact that Obama’s presidency is almost over. I don’t know if I will feel the same magic I felt in 2008 if she wins, but I think it will be a long time if ever until I feel that way again. Even if Bernie had been nominated and won, I would still feel bittersweet on Inauguration Day. But I am more excited about the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency than I was before.
At the end of the primaries, I made the sticker pictured here that says “Bernie has my heart, Hillary has my vote.” That summed up my sentiments at the time, and it still does to an extent. But for the first time, Hillary is starting to capture my heart too.
I still feel the Bern, but I’m with her. Now more than ever.