“Hillary supporters lack enthusiasm”
“The Clinton Camp just isn’t creating the sense of unity and excitement of the other groups”
I hear this every day. This myth that Hillary voters aren’t excited, aren’t passionate, aren’t gathering at rallies, aren’t uniting, etc is so ridiculous. I’ve been to many HRC events this election and have another on Wednesday.
First of all, we have a level of kindness, peacefulness, and unity that few other political groups have together. These rallies had thousands of strangers uniting and becoming friends. Men, women, African Americans, Hispanics, Caucasians, gay couples, trans people, grandmas, teenagers, kids, literally a mix of every person you could imagine. Strangers organizing together who would run and make the 7/11 hauls for everyone and who would save their spots in line. Strangers sharing their umbrellas, sharing phone chargers, taking each other’s photos. Strangers picnicking on the sidewalk together and getting into long discussions about their families, their jobs, their backgrounds. Strangers recognizing each other from former events and forming friendships. Thousands of different people of every gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, age, economic status, etc. uniting together under one common bond: the same vision for our future and the same hero.
Secondly, we ARE excited. We ARE rallying. We ARE screaming until we lose our voices and clapping until our hands hurt. People are arriving 3-4 hours early decked out in HRC gear, standing for hours in hot buildings and STILL wearing a smile because they are about to see their hero. We are chanting her name until she comes out and applauding so loud that we can’t hear anything over the rippling of claps through the crowd. There are little girls telling her she is their hero, people crying when she holds their hands, star struck teens pulling out their cell phones for a selfie with her. Every time I’ve left an event, I’ve heard a steady stream of people saying OH MY GOD! and SHE WAS AMAZING!. I’ve seen people STILL crying even after the rally, because her words affected them that much. I’ve seen hoards of young girls huddled together flipping through the pictures they took of her and freaking out. Grown adults discussing how inspired they feel.
We need to understand that being excited and passionate DOES NOT MEAN protesting everyone’s events, screaming obscene things for publicity, harassing political leaders who don’t vote for our candidate, starting fights, posting political memes and articles all day, attacking anyone that disagrees with us, and yelling about a revolution. Our excitement is peaceful, positive, kind, optimistic, and genuine. We show our support and passion by attending her events, connecting with each other both online and in person, watching the news every night, brandishing her face on our pins, volunteering, spreading knowledge, and most importantly: VOTING.
Our passion and our excitement is no less valid than somebody else’s just because we don’t scream and fight and bully others and shove our beliefs in everybody’s faces. We need to stop calling Sanders & Trump fans “passionate” and “excited” when they scream in children’s faces, chain themselves together, block out rallies, and start physical fights. We need to start calling it what it really is: slander, violence, harassment, obnoxiousness, and out of control misbehavior.
Hillary supporters ARE excited. We ARE united. We ARE fired up.
We just aren’t assholes about it.

at Hillary Headquarters watching the primary results with other volunteers, hours before HRC came out

Volunteers & supporters celebrating our wins before an event

Selfie time with the queen
I’m sure her supporters ARE excited, just as those who attend rallies for other candidates are excited about them. Most of us just vote, because we have other responsibilities like jobs and families that must come first.
I’m a Sanders supporter. I’m not excited about Mrs. Clinton, but I’ll vote for her if she wins the nomination, which is more likely than not. It does encourage me that Bernie is forcing her to move a bit more left, so I hope he stays in and keeps doing that. She’s competent and qualified, even if I don’t specifically agree with all her policy positions.
That selfie’s going to be a very cool memento if she gets elected. I’ve been voting since 1972, and haven’t ever been in the same room as a future president, let alone standing next to one. You’ll also know you helped directly make it happen, so I hope it works out well in future for us all.
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Amazing post, and so true. I attended a rally and saw so many people tearing up with emotion at just the sight of her, clutching their hearts, hugging their kids or their spouses. There is an older man in my neighborhood who has been walking around wearing a Hillary pin on for more than a year, talking to anyone he can engage! I see sidewalk chalk messages about her all over the place. The passion is palpable.
Your line sums it up perfectly: “Our excitement is peaceful, positive, kind, optimistic, and genuine.” Unfortunately, those traits don’t tend to make headlines like calling people names or using the word vagina on a sign. That’s okay. The total primary votes prove out the passion.
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