Wow, what a night Tuesday turned out to be! I have so much to say, and my mind is still whirling around at a 100 mph in 72 different directions, but I thought I’d write a few things down while it’s all still fresh in my mind. Forgive me if this one isn’t nearly as coherent as it should be.
HISTORY has been made last night, as Hillary Clinton has become the first female presumptive nominee of a major political party. WOW.
I’ve been an admirer of Secretary Clinton since I was in middle school. I always watched the strong women in my life and never understood how some people thought a woman couldn’t do as good a job as men. My dad and uncle and ALL the men in my family for that matter saw no disassociation between gender and capability. It was normal for me to compete with my sister in academics and other things, and sometimes she beat me. The times I won, it wasn’t because I had different sexual organs. It was because I tried harder on some things, and she tried harder in other ways (and kicked my ass, btw). So when Bill Clinton was running for President and I saw Hillary out there campaigning hard, I immediately thought of my parents and their dynamic. In my eyes it was comforting and normal to see a strong woman being fierce in her advocacy. I couldn’t understand when people attacked her mercilessly for being who she was and having being an independent power during her marriage. I loved that she refused to bow down when she said “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life.”
Since that first time as an 11-year old admirer, I have always stood in Hillary’s corner. I cheered as the accolades were heaped on her. When the mud was slinging, I was there too, because she had always been there for me—a role model, an advocate for equal rights, a fighter for children’s health. She helped teach me to stand up for what I believe in, to shrug off the haters, and to respect people I disagree with while still passionately defending my views. I rooted and cheered for her, and she in turn helped inspire me to get into the world of politics as a campaign staffer.
By the time that she ran for President in 2007, I knew who I wanted as my President. I took a job as a field organizer New Hampshire and back across the country to advocate for the woman who had been advocating for me all my life. After the literal blood, sweat and tears, we made our mark and put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, showing the world that America still is a place where hard work can get you close to your dreams and that gender doesn’t dictate your limitations.
Me on the farrrrr right-side of the picture at the infamous Dartmouth presidential debate in 2007 (photo credit: Johanna Voss… I think)
Flash forward 8 years (and a lot of political campaigning) to last night, and I found myself openly weeping as Hillary Clinton was taking the stage to accept victory to become our Party’s nominee. I wasn’t crying because of all the hard work over the years. I was tearing up because I was thinking about all the women in my life, and how hard they had to fight to be considered equal by so many. I also thought about my friend’s daughters, my nieces, my GREAT-niece, my sisters, and my former foster daughter— young women who now have a future in which the history books show a presidential nominee who shares their gender.
That last reference, to my daughter, hurts to even mention because of the situation in which she left us, and how hope came too late for her as a teenager raised in the foster system. Would she have had a better childhood if a president who cared and had as much hands-on experience with mental health, foster kids, and children’s health as Hillary had ascended to the Oval in years past? Would more positive female role models have helped her? I can’t be certain if she would have been influenced, but I know that kids in the future have a better shot with Hillary Clinton headed on her way to the White House this Fall.
I know that our future is brighter thanks to Hillary and her historic win last night. We worked our buns off here in Sacramento, CA. We knocked on doors, organized our communities, recruited, trained, held parties, ran phone banks, manned tables and booths, and stood on street corners waving signs. We wrote letters to the editors, talked to our neighbors, clashed with relatives, and convinced strangers to get into the fight. Without a penny to help us besides a few small donations from our Sacramento for Hillary Founders Gina, Megan, Jan and Yours Truly, we built up a true grassroots volunteer organization to help our candidate cross the finish line.
A couple folks that manned the booth at Sacramento Pride this last weekend (photo credit: me)
I’m exhausted, but exhilarated. We made a crucial milestone in the course of history, and I can’t stop thinking about the little kids on their parent’s shoulders and the kids who are aching to have parents at all. Their futures are looking brighter today than yesterday. I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for my future President of the United States, and I can’t wait to get back to work later this summer to further shatter that final glass ceiling.
For those of you that worked your buns off for Bernie Sanders, I absolutely understand the thoughts and feelings you’re processing right now. I felt the same way in 2008. I swore to myself that I’d NEVER vote for Barack Obama, and that somehow Hillary got robbed. I didn’t say it out loud besides to my best friend and my parents, but even while saying it all that I started to realize the absurdity of my attitude. The other option, John McCain, was diametrically opposed to the values I held and the hopes I had for my country. I ended up “holding my nose” and voting for that skinny senator from Illinois, but haven’t regretted it a single day since. I got to vote 2 more times whole-heartedly for my President (whose picture sits on a shelf in my living room), and I can say now that my country is a much, much better place because of him. I didn’t trust Obama at first, but I came to be so pleasantly surprised. He delivered for me in ways I didn’t expect.
So today, I’m reflective, grateful and hopeful. We have SO MUCH WORK TO DO to defeat trump in the Fall, but today I am celebrating. I hope we can all get together and unite to fight for a better tomorrow. But this week, I think I’m going to cheer, nap and reflect… but mostly nap.