I just voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton for President of the United States, and I couldn’t be more proud to have done so.
I have not always been enamored of Hillary Clinton. I voted for Barack Obama over Clinton in the 2008 California primary. And I voted for Bernie Sanders over Clinton in the 2016 California primary just last June. But now “I’m with her.”
I know several women, my contemporaries or a bit older, who have been admirers of Hillary from ‘way back. And I have to say, I never really “got” why they felt that way. Hillary always seemed “good enough” to me, but a more dynamic or vibrant or more progressive candidate would always manage to captivate me. I had seen Clinton give prepared speeches, and though Hillary Clinton is a competent speaker, she is hardly an inspirational one. (Of course, while giving speeches is a huge part of being a candidate, it is a relatively small part of the job of a President, so I always kept an open mind.) In debates against Obama, she seemed prepared but less persuasive. Again, she seemed “good enough” to me, but not as good a candidate as Obama. On the issues, they were nearly the same. Other than the fact that Obama was always against the Iraq War while Hillary voted to authorize use of force, their main differences were stylistic.
My perception of Clinton began to change as I watched the last Benghazi hearing, where she sat for 14 hours straight while the Republicans played tag-team. As one by one Hillary Clinton tossed each Senator ignominiously from the ring, I began to see her in a whole new light.
Next her ads began showing up on Youtube. The first one I saw was Role Models. Brilliant ad. I concluded that Hillary’s camp knew exactly how to go after Donald Trump. And I knew then that one of the things I always liked about Bill Clinton was equally true for Hillary. They both play to win.
Then came the first Clinton-Trump debate. Hillary’s performance was, to my mind, the greatest debate performance in Presidential debate history. Donald Trump did not merely implode. Hillary Clinton played him like a violin. At that point, I started telling people close to me, “I think I finally get it.”
When Hillary replicated that performance in the second and third debates, I understood why Hillary fans are so devoted.
Smart. Prepared. Disciplined. Determined. Ready. An ass-kicker and a name-taker. Hillary Clinton is all of these things. She has the makings, I believe, of a good president. Possibly a great one, if the historical cards fall the right way.
The remaining question in my mind, and in the minds of many progressives, is, is Hillary progressive enough? She has taken strong progressive positions on most issues. Will she live up to those positions?
I believe she will, as long as we progressives understand that it is not enough to elect a savior. It is our job to keep agitating, to keep creating pressure. Progressives must counterbalance the enormous regressive pressures exerted by the military-security-industrial complex, the monied interests, the fossil fuel industries, the religious right, and whatever nihilist, rump version of the GOP emerges from the rubble after Trump is finished blowing up the Republican coalition. Electing Hillary Clinton will only be a step on the journey. We have to keep working to get majorities in Congress—and to pressure Congress to enact progressive legislation, too.
With President Hillary Clinton in office and a Democratic majority in the Senate (and perhaps even the House), the next four years could be huge.