On Friday, February 15th, I was invited to attend an "intimate gathering" with Hillary Clinton. Being a supporter, I jumped at the chance and brought my friend Laura along. We waited in the cold, then waited inside, but realized we were amazingly lucky that we were seated just feet away from where Senator Clinton was going to be sitting. To top it off, we were also on the side of the room where she was to enter, so we knew there would be a photo opportunity as well as possibly the chance to shake her hand.
No matter who you support in the upcoming race, to be this close to someone who has represented our country for many years, and who is creating history as possibly the first woman candidate was amazing. The excitement I felt was huge.
She finally arrived, and sure enough, she shook hands, signed autographs, talked to each person she could, including an elderly clergyman near me who wanted to talk to her for quite some time. She held my hand as she spoke to this gentleman, and even took his worn business card when he offered it to her. She looked each person in the eye, patient and smiling, and moved to her spot at the front of the room.
Hillary spoke for about an hour about the problems facing Ohioans and our country. For each problem she mentioned, she also proposed a solution on how she would handle the problem. I know that she has had a rough road for many years. People love to hate Hillary, often for no real reason when cornered. But as she continued to speak to us, passionate about America and getting us back on track, I gained even more respect for her. I am proud to be an American woman. I am proud that someone like Hillary Clinton is willing to face the criticism, to face the name-calling, to face the attacks on her beliefs, morals and ideas, and yet keep on going. I believe that she has proven that she can be tough but she also has proven that she is smart...and we really need a president we consider smart! Aren't we tired that the entire world makes fun of our current leader?
When Hillary was done talking about the economy, about mortgage foreclosures, about energy and jobs, and about making life better for the middle class, she proceeded to come back around to where we were. She posed for pictures with us, and listened to me talk about my life, about my dreams and how I believed she could help us. She looked at me as I told her how proud I was of her, and she said, "Bless you." I knew as I looked at her that our country would be in wonderful hands if Hillary Clinton becomes president.
The rest of the day we wore the "Hillary for President" stickers we were given at the gathering (which ended up being 150 people, not so intimate as the 50 I was originally told.) Everywhere we went someone talked to us about Hillary. Laura and I felt we were campaigning for Hillary ourselves as we spoke about Hillary's solutions to change our country.
One woman said, "I just don't get why she didn't kick out her husband when he cheated on her." This comes up over and over. First, Hillary didn't do it...Bill did. Sometimes a spouse cheats, and the right thing to do is move on. But sometimes you believe so much in your marriage, you feel such love and commitment, that splitting up is not what you want. Sometimes you want to work through this breach of the promise, forgive the one who hurt you, but stay together because you believe completely in the vows you made. Was it wrong what he did? Of course! Is lying ever right? No! Have all of us told a lie at some point? I expect we have. Have all of us forgiven someone who did us wrong? I hope so. There are reasons that are none of our business why Hillary stayed with her husband. It was amusing to our country to poke fun at their marriage, but I expect to Hillary, there was nothing funny about the public humiliation. I think at times she wanted to hide and never be seen again. However, we know, that is not what she did and now look at the possibility awaiting her. You have got to give her credit for having more courage than many of us!
People also say she is not electable. However, I think if we put Hillary up against John McCain, which is quite likely, she has a greater chance of winning the presidency. Hillary has already beat a very powerful, very well-funded candidate in New York for the senate. She also has never had her patriotism questioned unlike the other candidate, rightly or not.
I do believe in what Hillary Clinton has to say. I hope that enough of her supporters get up and vote on Tuesday, March 4th, so this race can continue. No matter what, however, January 2009 cannot get here fast enough.
No matter who you support in the upcoming race, to be this close to someone who has represented our country for many years, and who is creating history as possibly the first woman candidate was amazing. The excitement I felt was huge.
She finally arrived, and sure enough, she shook hands, signed autographs, talked to each person she could, including an elderly clergyman near me who wanted to talk to her for quite some time. She held my hand as she spoke to this gentleman, and even took his worn business card when he offered it to her. She looked each person in the eye, patient and smiling, and moved to her spot at the front of the room.
Hillary spoke for about an hour about the problems facing Ohioans and our country. For each problem she mentioned, she also proposed a solution on how she would handle the problem. I know that she has had a rough road for many years. People love to hate Hillary, often for no real reason when cornered. But as she continued to speak to us, passionate about America and getting us back on track, I gained even more respect for her. I am proud to be an American woman. I am proud that someone like Hillary Clinton is willing to face the criticism, to face the name-calling, to face the attacks on her beliefs, morals and ideas, and yet keep on going. I believe that she has proven that she can be tough but she also has proven that she is smart...and we really need a president we consider smart! Aren't we tired that the entire world makes fun of our current leader?
When Hillary was done talking about the economy, about mortgage foreclosures, about energy and jobs, and about making life better for the middle class, she proceeded to come back around to where we were. She posed for pictures with us, and listened to me talk about my life, about my dreams and how I believed she could help us. She looked at me as I told her how proud I was of her, and she said, "Bless you." I knew as I looked at her that our country would be in wonderful hands if Hillary Clinton becomes president.
The rest of the day we wore the "Hillary for President" stickers we were given at the gathering (which ended up being 150 people, not so intimate as the 50 I was originally told.) Everywhere we went someone talked to us about Hillary. Laura and I felt we were campaigning for Hillary ourselves as we spoke about Hillary's solutions to change our country.
One woman said, "I just don't get why she didn't kick out her husband when he cheated on her." This comes up over and over. First, Hillary didn't do it...Bill did. Sometimes a spouse cheats, and the right thing to do is move on. But sometimes you believe so much in your marriage, you feel such love and commitment, that splitting up is not what you want. Sometimes you want to work through this breach of the promise, forgive the one who hurt you, but stay together because you believe completely in the vows you made. Was it wrong what he did? Of course! Is lying ever right? No! Have all of us told a lie at some point? I expect we have. Have all of us forgiven someone who did us wrong? I hope so. There are reasons that are none of our business why Hillary stayed with her husband. It was amusing to our country to poke fun at their marriage, but I expect to Hillary, there was nothing funny about the public humiliation. I think at times she wanted to hide and never be seen again. However, we know, that is not what she did and now look at the possibility awaiting her. You have got to give her credit for having more courage than many of us!
People also say she is not electable. However, I think if we put Hillary up against John McCain, which is quite likely, she has a greater chance of winning the presidency. Hillary has already beat a very powerful, very well-funded candidate in New York for the senate. She also has never had her patriotism questioned unlike the other candidate, rightly or not.
I do believe in what Hillary Clinton has to say. I hope that enough of her supporters get up and vote on Tuesday, March 4th, so this race can continue. No matter what, however, January 2009 cannot get here fast enough.
