Right after I finished my Tuesday classes, I headed immediately from central campus toward Penn State’s Rec Hall to meet one of my best friends, Cameron, in line for the Bernie Sanders rally. Doors were set to open at 4 p.m., the main headliner was to go on at 7 p.m., and at a relatively early 2:30 p.m., I anxiously awaited what was about to unfold in just a few hours.
Cam, along with hundreds of other Penn State students, had been hype about the idea of Bernie coming to campus since the beginning of spring semester.
Behold: Cameron in one of the hands down best outfits of daylong szn
I, on the other hand, was just along for the ride. I grew up in a very politically active household, with a Republican dad and a Democrat mom who both supported Obama in 2008 and again in 2012. They ended up raising a kid who was the president of the Young Democrats Club during her junior and senior years of high school, and who ended up growing into the college Democrat, international politics major, and the proud Hillary Clinton supporter that she is today.
That kid… is me.
Anyway, when Cam told me she found out Senator Sanders was coming to Penn State on Sunday afternoon, two days following us watching his and Secretary Clinton’s April 14 Brooklyn debate during a pregame for an aliens and cowboys themed social, for a rally to take place the following Tuesday in Rec, I decided to tag along with her.
I knew students for Bernie far outnumbered students for Hillary in terms of club membership on Penn State’s campus and I knew Bernie had been consistently defeating Hillary by large margins amongst younger voters in primaries across the country. I knew, that as a college freshman, I was in the minority of my millennial peers that supported the former Secretary of State over the Senator in her run for The White House.
After bearing countless (though sometimes undeniably funny) jokes and memes with my candidate of choice serving as a punch line, I’ve gotten used to defending and holding true to my views.
I attended the rally to see if I had been missing something. What could all of the fuss possibly have been about?
I respect Senator Sanders. I love that he has gotten college kids interested in this election outside of just laughing at Trump quotes and pondering what that guy could possibly do next. He has an awesome style of speech that I found inspiring. He has plenty of great ideas and I even found myself agreeing with tons of his speaking points during his rally on Tuesday evening. The atmosphere in Rec Hall was bustling and full of young adults eager to hear what he had to say.
Bernie in Rec Hall, April 19 2016
However, after seeing Bernie in action on the campaign trail, I still believe that Hillary Clinton is the woman for the job.
On the broad spectrum, most of her policies align with those of the senator. She wants to fix the broken criminal justice system. She wants to invest in clean energy and spend less money on defense and more on fixing problems at home.
She wants to make college more affordable and to lessen the burden of student loans that affect millions of hardworking Americans. She, however, does not plan to go so far as to make all public universities free.
When I graduate, I will be fortunate enough to say that I went to a college that works hard to make sure their degrees are worth as much as they possibly can be worth. Therefore, I don’t think an education from Penn State, any Big Ten school, or any university comparable to world-class institutions such as these should lose their tremendous value by coming free.
Hillary, like Bernie, wants to make the American dream more realistic for more families via an increase in the federal minimum wage.
I agree with her when she says that minimum wage ought to be realistic for all parts of the country. While, yes, Bernie’s proposal of a universal $15 per hour minimum is great for many areas of the United States, I agree with Hillary when she says that it may not be realistic for all parts of our country.
I know that Bernie and his supporters think my denial of his ideas are just me sticking to the “status quo” of establishment politics and economics and staving off from a political revolution that would change our country for spectacular good. Nevertheless, the complex and diverse country in which I was raised, in which I am pursuing higher education, as well as an eventual career, deserves more than a man with wide, sweeping ideas without any real plans to back them up (“BREAK UP THE BIG BANKS…” Sounds like a great idea senator, tell me how you plan to do it effectively and I’ll be onboard) to lead its people.
I know the system’s f***ed. But, I also know that Hillary has real ideas and plans to continue on the endless road of making America great.
Hillary during an early campaign for the Iowa caucus she eventually won on Feb. 1, 2016
When she graduated from Yale Law in 1973, she could have had any job she could have possibly wanted. Instead of taking a prestigious job that would have certainly been available to her post-graduation, she went on to work on the Children’s Defense Fund and has continued her long streak of public service ever since.
She has been working for me. She has been working so that I will one day no longer have to worry about making less than any guy doing the same job that I could do just as well, if not better than he could. She has been working so that I can have the freedom to make decisions regarding my body. She has the support of countless strong and amazing women and I’m proud to be one of them. I had never in my life been in the presence of a more steadfast and strong woman until I shook the hand of one of Hillary’s biggest supporters last week.
Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, shook my hand after she spoke at Hillary’s State College office opening on April 11. After spearheading a movement to more accessible healthcare for not just women, but for all, and after leading the fight against the Republican establishment over proposals to defund her organization, Mrs. Richards said that she’s spending every moment that she can volunteering for Secretary Clinton’s campaign because she also knows that Hillary’s the woman for the job.
Richards speaking to GOP congressmen on Sept. 29, 2015
How could I not agree?
She was a successful attorney, then the First Lady of Arkansas, then the First Lady of the United States, then a U.S. senator, then the U.S. Secretary of State. She did all of those things while also filling the role of a mother and a wife to one of the most influential American families to ever exist.
Everyone who knows me knows that I love a killer resume and Hillary Clinton’s is one for the record books. She would be the most experienced President to ever hold office.
Bernie also didn’t even mention ISIS or the growing threat of terrorism to Europe and the U.S. during his Tuesday rally. After berating Secretary Clinton over her Super PACS and Wall Street speeches, Sanders at the end of the day completely missed the mark on one of the most important issues surrounding the upcoming election. I cannot allow myself to overlook Clinton’s unignorable edge in experience in foreign affairs over Sanders.
Clinton in the Situation Room during the raid of Osama bin Laden’s compound, May 1, 2011.
However, in the end, I would like to repeat that I admirably respect Senator Sanders, his campaign, and his supporters. Especially the one who allowed me to tag along with her during her Tuesday at Bernie’s, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Cam, your ~hipness~ warrants the next round of big ass pokey sticks to be on me.
To wrap up and to make a long story short, Hillary Clinton’s incomparable experience, coupled with her stances on every issue across the board, regardless of what my peers may think, give me no reason not to cast my votes for her in the Pennsylvania Primary on April 26 and in the general election against the eventual Republican nominee next November, whoever he may be.
Closing this one out by throwing it back to one of the most impressive Tumblr to ever exist — Texts from Hillary: may you live on forever.