I Like Her

It seems like everywhere I go, people are telling me that everyone – everyone  - just hates Hillary Clinton.  I hear it from the right.  I hear it from the left.  I hear it from Sanders supporters.  I even hear it from Hillary supporters, “Well, I realize she’s not the most likeable candidate, but whaddaya do?”  Stuff like that. 

Here’s the thing: I don’t necessarily believe it.  Hear me out: the American public, as we’ve learned with Donald Trump’s second-grade nicknames, is great at seizing on a narrative and moving it forward unquestioningly.  “Little” Marco Rubio.  “Lyin’” Ted Cruz.  “Bernie Sanders is a Socialist.”  “Hillary Clinton is the Hamburglar.”  You know, that kind of thing.  But just because a narrative exists, even if a narrative becomes part of our common parlance, it doesn’t mean that the narrative is true. 

And truth be told, I don’t think most people know why they dislike Hillary, they just think it’s the right thing to say because everybody else is saying it, kind of like how people always think twice about drinking Coke and eating Pop Rocks because we’d grown up hearing that the kid, Mikey, from the Life cereal commercial supposedly died from that combination, even though there are NO actual facts to show that Pop Rocks and Coke do anything, and Mikey is alive and well. 

Now, I’m sure that several of you are composing your response to me right now, saying, “Oh, no, sister, I know very well why I don’t like Hillary, it is clearly xyz.”  Okay.  I don’t really give a shit.  No candidate, especially now, and especially one with a long and storied record, is immune to doing things that you don’t like.  But I am here to say, I like her.  I LIKE HER.  I am a card-carrying, magnet on my car, voted in the primary Hillary supporter.  Here’s are five reasons why:

1)    Way back when, in 1992ish, when she was first lady, she introduced something called Universal Health Care, which is now, in a different form, known as Obamacare.  Yes, people, socialized medicine.  And when she was booed and excoriated, and called left-wing, and told to shut up and bake cookies, she took it with grace, and in stride, and what do you know, we have it now.  Thanks, Hillary!

2)    Her experience, both domestically, and on the national stage, is excellent.  First lady.  Two-term Senator.  Secretary of State.  She’s got it all.  And no, she didn’t do any of these things AND play the saxophone OR have an amazing sense of humor.  She did her fucking job.  The President is not a babysitter, people.  Needing to be entertained by the President is kind of infantile, don’t you think?

3)    Her pantsuitiness.  Yes, that’s a word.  It’s not just the fact that Hillary’s current uniform is a no-nonsense pantsuity number.  It’s the fact that she’s evolved into the pantsuit.  And we all have to admit, the pantsuit is mad comfortable.  But it also says, “I’m going to be about my message, not my fashion choices.”  I love that about her. 

4)    Her politics.  Let me be clear: I like Bernie. He’s a smart guy, and I love his ideals.  I also lived in a Socialist country – Sweden – so I understand the things that work about a Social-Democracy.  And I could go on and on about the things Swedes give up so that everyone can have a higher standard of living.  But I won’t, because my point is that Hillary’s politics, while not a perfect match for my own, fit within my moderate Democrat framework.  And in the end, that is what I elect every time I vote – a placeholder for the Democratic ideals that are important to me, regardless of the person. 

5)    Um….she’s a woman.  Listen, I’m not gonna lie.  Our country is full of white, middle-aged men telling us what to do.  Isn’t it time we have a white, middle-aged woman tell us what to do?  No, seriously, women are stigmatized for everything.  For working, for not working, for being a single mom, for having an abortion, for asking for a comparable wage to men, for not looking perfect, for getting old, for daring to have an opinion, for breastfeeding too much, for not breastfeeding enough, for not being able to do all things at all times, backwards and in heels…and no dude gets it the way a woman does.  THIS SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED BY NOW.  But now is the time.  And she’s a woman who has shown, time and time again, that she can stand up to the bullshit, and not only survive, but keep moving forward.

And, in the end, when I think of what I want for my country, and what I want my President to stand for, I think that smart ideas, experience, pantsuits, a message I can support, and a good, American baby chute are the right qualities for me.