This is one of the hardest posts I have written, and yet, it's one of the easiest. I have written before of growing up in a republican home. My parents' families were all lifelong democrats, but my parents deviated from that. I'm not sure when or why. I had been a lifelong republican as well until this election. I voted for Bernie Sanders in the SC democratic primary. At the time, I said I would never vote for Hillary because she's a liar and untrustworthy. You know the expression, "Never say never."
Truth be told, ALL politicians are dishonest/untrustworthy to a degree. Even my best friend, an African-American woman of nearly ?? who grew up on the South side of Chicago, suggested that President Obama had to step over some people to get where he is. It's a given in politics. I had planned to write-in Sanders' name on election day, but that is not possible in SC. So, what are my alternatives? Vote for Hillary or stay home and not vote at all (which my mother has suggested)..
This year I watched both conventions, the first time I can recall ever watching a convention. I know what they are: choreographed stage productions to sell the candidate to independents and the faithful who are not feeling so faithful this time around.
I was appalled at what I saw coming out of the republican convention. Hate, hate, hate. I was further appalled by Trump's suggestion/prompting this past week that the Russians should hack the DNC/Clinton campaign. Does anyone remember Watergate??? Nixon had to resign over the same type of thing. If Trump's remarks were not treasonous, they came pretty darn close in my book. Every time Trump opens his big, unfiltered mouth and gets his hand slapped, he claims we misunderstood. The next day, he claimed he was being sarcastic. How many stupid people does he think are out there? I, for one, am not one of them.
Is this the type of person we want as President? Does anyone *really* believe he will "become presidential" after the election, if he is elected? Give me a break! What you see is what you get. He would be firing off tweets to inflame even our staunchest of allies if it suited his purpose.
Now, on to Hillary. I don't care for her, and I do believe she has been running for President since Bill did (at least). However, I did learn things about her at the convention that have helped to make it more palatable to vote for her. She did take time while in law school to go around the country to help the poor and disadvantaged. That was in a time, the early 70s, where she was not doing it for herself. Simply, she had no gain from this. It was when she was working for Marian Wright Edelman, a South Carolinian who later founded the Children's Defense Fund. She went down to Alabama and posed as a white, suburban mother to see if she could enroll her son in an all-white school. Her goal was to see if Nixon were allowing tax-exempt status to discriminatory private academies. Also, when working in Boston, she found a wheelchair-bound girl who could not go to school because there were no facilities for her. Her work helped to expose private schools' clearly discriminatory practices and helped to pass laws for disabled children. You can read more about her work in Alabama here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/28/us/politics/how-hillary-clinton-went-undercover-to-examine-race-in-education.html?_r=1
Bernie's supporters fought hard to have some of their key points woven into the Democratic platform. You can read about that here: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/jane-sanders-why-bernie-voters-shouldnt-get-over-it-w431428.
The only way Sanders' supporters have a chance of accomplishing any of his goals is to vote for Hillary. In good conscience, I can not sit home on November 8 and risk allowing an unstable, hate-filled man to be elected as president. This is the most crucial election in modern times, in my lifetime.
Friday I whispered to my father that I thought I would have to vote for Hillary, and he understood. That is all that matters.
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