Why I'm Voting for Hillary Clinton Today

Really great, balanced post that goes into detail on why Hillary is on the right side of history for everything.

PREFACE

It has been a very long time since I’ve posted here. I just took a moment to read back over the occasionally-angry, sometimes-naive writings of the 20-something self I see reflected in older posts, and I experienced again what it’s like to feel those first pangs of disillusionment with a system of government that seems to be showing some signs of wear around the edges, if not at its very core.

I had an interaction yesterday with someone who does not support my candidate in the primary, and for all the bombast and vitriol, he actually provoked real thought. I examined my own political evolution, and took the opportunity to really, really explore why I support Hillary Clinton for the nomination. I hope you’ll stick with me to see why I found this exploration incredibly valuable.

PART I

I have had a number of people quietly reach out to me and confide that since they know me as a lefty liberal, they are surprised that I am supporting Hillary Clinton in the primary. I’ve also had some people not-so-quietly drop stink-bombs on social-media threads in which I've dared to say nice things about her (even if I’m also praising her opponent). I’ve been surprised, in return, to find that occasionally people whose opinions I usually find well-informed don’t strike me quite the same way when it comes to trying to discuss her character or her accomplishments or her role in public life. Not everyone, of course… but it feels sometimes like I’m fending off attacks that came right from Karl Rove’s infamous fax machine of days gone by. And it seems like any assertion that she has built a lifelong, solid record of progressive leadership too often earns a sneer—a sneer that I find to be, well, extremely unfair.

Others have offered truly challenging arguments that forced me to take a closer look at her than I have at any other candidate, ever. The result may not have been as intended... I came out more convinced than ever that she is the right choice. But those challenges are the ones I really do appreciate, because triggering this kind of examination is a fair demand when you are privileged to live in a country where your vote holds so much sway over so many unseen, powerless, and barely-understood lives not only here at home but in far-flung lands where our presence is felt by those whose daily routines are too often shattered by tumult and tragedy in a world that seems, at times, to have gone mad.