Not Holding Back My Enthusiasm

Four weeks. Four. Weeks. FOUR WEEKS. Four weeks until Election Day. Four weeks until the end of this seemingly never-ending infernal election. Four weeks until I finally get to cast my vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton. We talk a lot about what makes Donald Trump so spectacularly unacceptable as the next President of the United States of America (to recap: racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, narcissistic, greedy, braggart, thin-skinned, know-nothing, sexually predatory demagogue, et al).

But can we talk for a little bit about what makes Hillary so exceptional? There’s so much relentless talk of her “unlikeability,” which is really just sexist code for an uncowed woman. But when people talk about her favorability, they fail to factor in the 25-years of relentless criticism of her every move, smile (or lack thereof), outfit, headband, you name it. They fail to mention the partisan politics that orchestrated decades-worth of calculated campaigns to discredit and disrespect her simply for being a smart woman who dared to have an opinion and vie for power. When people discuss their distaste for her it is more often than not some intangible question of style - her speaking voice, her stiffness, her steady ambition, her stubborn pragmatism. The thing is we don’t have the proper language to discuss Hillary because our political discourse has never had a Hillary to discuss before. She is the first, the pioneer, the one who must endure and overcome so that some day it will be easier for another woman – and then another and another and another.

So, hell yeah, I’m excited to be able to get to vote for Hillary. Does she have flaws? Duh. Is she perfect? No one is fucking perfect. But she is far from the so-called “lesser of two evils” far too many people are selling her as. She is a tireless and hard-working public servant who, by all accounts of those who have known her the longest and the closest, is a warm and caring and principled person. You may disagree with some of her policies or wish others were more progressive. (Though, have you really read her policy platform? It is truly one of the liberal agendas we’ve seen in any of our lifetimes.) But if you doubt her commitment to these issues then you really haven’t been paying attention to her track record.

She is rock-solid on women’s reproductive rights. She is rock-solid on gun control. She is rock-solid on climate change. She is rock-solid on LGBT rights. (Yes, I know – she wasn’t always for same-sex marriage, but neither was Obama and now they both are. That’s what we want in politicians, people who can evolve and grow with society, not fight against it tooth and claw.) She is openly talking about the very real issue of implicit bias and saying Black Lives Matter. Not to mention her policies on criminal justice reform, debt-free higher education, raising the minimum wage.

And health care, OMFG guys. You realize her stance on health care reform is what made the entire Right Wing establishment come after her with torches and pitchforks in the first place, right?

The crazy thing is, once Hillary has a job people tend to love her. They loved her as senator in New York. And when she left the office of Secretary of State, Hillary has an approval rating of 69 percent – higher than any other administration member at the time, including Obama. Remember that whole Texts From Hillary thing? Yeah, we fucking loved her – everyone did.

But once she dared to try for another, even higher job? Whoa, whoa, whoa, missy. Who do you think you are?

The one thing that does encourage me is the more people see and hear the real Hillary, the more they seem to like her. Her two biggest polling bumps came after her two biggest public exposures. The first was the Democratic National Convention. And the second was the first debate. It’s like all of a sudden we’re reminded – without the spin or the preconceived notions – that Hillary really is an intelligent, qualified and well-meaning human person. She is not the caricature that’s easy to dismiss. She is a woman to be reckoned with. She is the woman we want in charge.

So enthusiasm gap, my ass. I’m enthusiastic to vote for Hillary. I’m thrilled to vote for Hillary. I’m so fucking ready to vote for Hillary. And you know she’s so ready to get to work for us, too.