As a diehard Bernie Sanders supporter, I was less than impressed with the prospect of voting for Hillary Clinton; however, after her recent performance in the Sept. 26 debate, I had a renewed enthusiasm in this election that I had not experienced since before Sanders suspended his campaign. While the media often presents this election as a choice between two equally flawed and corrupt candidates, during the debate, Clinton proved that she clearly has more to offer the American people than her Republican counterpart, Donald Trump.
Clinton sucked me in from her opening statement where she identified the myriad of issues Americans care about from debt-free college to renewable energy and emphasized that the way to put money back in the pockets of Americans is through investing in the people, whereas, Trump spent his time rambling about how Americans are losing jobs to Mexicans (an important problem to which he offered no solution) and promising to reduce “taxes tremendously” as a “job creator we haven’t seen since Ronald Reagan.” (Is it a law that Republicans must mention Ronald Reagan at least once per debate?)
While being more prepared and eloquent than Donald Trump is by no means a difficult task, Clinton clearly had been strategizing leading up to the debate and effectively targeted Trump’s weaknesses. When Trump advocated for tax cuts for the wealthy, Clinton was prepared to fight back for the average American calling his proposal “trumped-up trickle down” and she highlighted how Trump grew up in a wealthy world that leaves him disconnected from the needs of the middle class.
Despite Trump's 51 interruptions, Clinton maintained composure and continued to capitalize on Trump’s egotistical mistakes. Specifically, when she mentioned that Trump “rooted for the housing crisis” in 2008 and he responded with, “that’s called business,” she presented the humanitarian side of the issue citing the nine million people who lost their jobs. Although Clinton has been criticized for her insincerity, at least she was willing to acknowledge the devastating effects of such a crisis and recognizes that her main priority as commander in chief it to the people.
By far one of the best moments of the debate was her response to Trump’s criticism of her preparedness for the debate: “And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president. And I think that's a good thing.” This moment really cemented the difference between Clinton and Trump -- she has the experience and the drive to fight for the interest of the 99 percent, while Trump lacks any political experience and has failed to show any genuine interest in the average citizen.
I definitely still have concerns about a Clinton president, especially with the numerous scandals surrounding her lengthy political career, but her debate performance provides a refreshing vision for the future. Maybe I have been influenced by the fact that she is not Trump or maybe it’s her new appeal to millennials or maybe the feminist in me is just excited by the prospect of electing the first female president, but for the first time, I am ready to vote for Clinton in November.
