Hillary Has My Vote

I have some reservations about Hillary Clinton, which I've discussed previously. In short, it's partly because she's been so far removed from the the reality of normal Americans for decades (even before she was First Lady), and partly because of my frustration with the two-party system, which she embodies fully.

That said, I have no reservations about voting for her this election. Here's why.

First, we need to establish this up-front: Hillary is the only viable candidate right now other than Trump.

I don't like the idea of voting against somebody, and in any election up to now I would be willing to consider a smaller, third-party candidate that more closely matches my personal ideals. And, who knows, there's still five months to go, and some other viable candidate might appear out of nowhere, but that doesn't seem likely. Frankly, it's too late at this point to enter the race; the deadline to get your name on the ballot has passed already in many states. The people in the race now are who we have to choose from.

Since the only viable candidates this time are Hillary and Trump, Hillary needs to win. I want her to win and win big. I want it to be absolutely clear that running on Trump's platform is not viable. I don't want it to be even close. I want that national discussion to be over so we can move on in a more productive manner. I don't want xenophobia to be a core part of the conversation when I'm running for President in 2020.

Speaking of which, another reason I'm happy for Hillary to win is because, no matter the outcome, the assumption will be not that Hillary won the election, but that Trump lost it. If it's assumed that the nation unified against Trump and not in support of Hillary, it's a blow to the Democrats almost as much as to the Republicans. I mean, I'm pretty sure the two parties are going to come out of this election with tarnished reputations regardless, but I think Hillary will have a harder time spinning the results as a victory for herself.

Basically, weaker established parties opens the door for more independent voices. And I think Bernie's accomplishments this year will help in that regard as well. I'm hoping it will open the floodgates to have more independent candidates running for office.

Anyway, as I said, I don't really like the idea of voting against someone, so I should make it clear that I'm not just voting for Hillary because she's not Trump. As I said in my original assessment, she really is the only candidate who actually has presidential experience. I'm a firm believer that the only experience that qualifies you to be President is experience actually being President, and Hillary is one of the few non-incumbent presidential candidates to be able to claim something to that effect. Granted, experience isn't everything, but I know she knows how to keep the country running. I think she'll do well.

And while I hate to play the gender card, it really does matter that we get a woman President sooner than later. I'm looking forward to little girls looking at Hillary in the White House, taking command in the Oval Office, and saying to themselves, "yeah, I can be President some day." The sooner little girls start thinking that, the sooner we'll start seeing way more women in the Oval Office.