My Candidate

Standing outside the Cleveland State University Atrium on a frigid and blustery late march afternoon waiting for the doors the Hillary Clinton rally to open, I could not help but to think what drew me there in the first place. I had always had a mild interest in politics and now I would have to be considered a junkie. I did some light door to door and phone bank work for John Kerry in the two weeks leading up to the election. I worked with Democratic operatives from across the country who had convened on my northeast Ohio town for his huge town square rally and learned the basic inner workings of a campaign.

I did this not because Kerry lit my world on fire, I was a Howard Dean supporter in the primary. It was after all the year of the anybody but Bush again movement. In the four years since, my politics have centered off from the far left that I started from. Back at the cold Cleveland Clinton gathering I stood there at the front of the line talking to people and watching the flamboyant campaign volunteer from New york try to quell the frustrations of the freezing crowd by making jokes and handing out Hillary swag. I had even managed to convince my very non political partner to tag along in the extreme weather he hates.

I was there because of the calm and down to earth leadership of this candidate. All three of these candidates are patriotic and want the best for this country. I never bought into the crazy anti Obama talk and do not believe John McCain is the Bush clone he is made out to be by the left. He may have sold out his maverick image and just maybe his soul to get the nomination of his party however. Hillary was the perfect centrist figure we needed after conservatives and liberals spent years dividing us into red and blue states. She is not flashy and seemed at home with everyday people from all walks of life. The days of guns, gays and abortion need to come to a end and she got that.

Finally inside, we took our spot five feet from the stage. The setting was great for her. A small stage with room to stand maybe four people and no podium. There were stairways leading to eight levels of offices and balconies all leading up to a skylight roof. Which I would later remember when she used the glass ceiling reference in her concession speech. We were warmed up by local and state politicos including the Governor and the late congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. The obligatory celebrity appearance even seemed more toned down. Ted Danson in an aviator jacket and his wife and close Hillary pal Mary Steenburgen in black knee high boots that my boyfriend loved, being the fashionista that he is.

When the former first lady walked out and to the roar of the crowd and quickly commanded their attention I saw a sincere connection between her and this lower to middle class audience. Being close enough to touch the Senator it was easy to see there was nothing fake or planned about her all the way down to her sensible flats. She gave a heartfelt stump speech that did not have the bells and whistles and long winded promises with very little detail that her rival used to make himself famous. I had early on been tempted by the two year freshman senator from Illinois but walked out that night knowing I had made the right choice.

A few days later she continued her tough comeback with a sizable victory in Ohio and an win in Texas that somehow still yielded more delegates to Barack Obama. Remember that Ohio victory as well as her trouncing win in Pennsylvania in November. Mr. Obama will be hard pressed to do the same against McCain. It seems the buyers remorse within the party has come to late and his fatal decision to snub her on his VP choice will cost him while she will live to fight another battle in four years.