Just two weeks from today tens of millions of people around the country will be lining up to cast their ballots and determine the future of our country. Many students on our campus and campuses around the country will be voting in a presidential election for the very first time. I am proud to say that my first presidential vote will be for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
I am not just voting for Clinton because she is my party’s nominee or because she will be the first female president — I am voting for her because I know she will fight for every single American.
Her platform is the most progressive in the history of the Democratic Party and she will not rest for a second during her presidency to implement her plans. Even Donald Trump had to admit that she never gives up.
There has never been a candidate more qualified for our nation’s highest office than Clinton. She has proven time and time again that her competence and capability are not to be underestimated.
As first lady, she worked to provide health insurance to over 8 million children. As a New York senator she worked to raise the minimum wage, increase veteran’s benefits, provide access to proper reproductive healthcare for all women, close the gender pay gap and ensure that 9/11 first responders received the medical care they needed.
As secretary of state, she visited more countries than any of her predecessors (112 to be exact), made the case for the mission to eradicate Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda counterparts, helped craft and maintain the sanctions against Iran’s nuclear stock, tirelessly worked with the global community to combat climate change and continued to work to promote gender equality and expand opportunities for women and children. That’s what I call stamina.
It says a lot about a candidate when such an exhaustive list of accomplishments barely scratches the surface of the incredible work they have done. But there is barely time to focus on Clinton’s past achievements — she has a plan for the future.
Not only does Clinton have a plan, she has a plan for that plan. Her ideas for America are not made in vague terms and empty promises — she has more than 40 detailed policy proposals on her website and has gone across the country listening to the issues every American faces.
Clinton does not base her positions off of outlandish ideas and divisive rhetoric. She hears what Americans need and makes a plan to address it.
Clinton will protect all the progress that people like President Obama, Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., made. We cannot risk jeopardizing health care access, environmental protection and minimum wage increases.
Now is not the time sit on the sidelines or walk away. There is too much at stake. Americans deserve the best. Commit to vote for Clinton — she knows America is great because America is good.
Eliana Locke ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science.
