From the Daily Dot, an article by Aaron Sankin (click here for full article) explains the sudden surge of support and activism from Hillary supporters. Where have they been? Aaron confirms what many of us Hillary supporters have believed ~ that our voices would be drowned out and dismissed. This led to many of us holding back, shying away from overtly aggressive confrontation. But don’t think our support is any less genuine as the support for Senator Sanders.
An analysis by social media analytics firm Wayin, conducted on behalf of the Daily Dot, found that, for a stretch running between late January and early February, 52 percent of all the tweets mentioning Clinton by name were positive. Compare that to an analysis conducted last September, when the percentage of Clinton's positive Twitter mentions typically hovered somewhere in the 30s—save for brief spikes to above 50 percent, like when she did the whip and nae nae on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Clinton's favorability rating hasn't spiked since September. If anything, it's dipped. Nor has her support among under-30 voters—those you might expect to post their views on social media—suddenly jumped. So why is the online conversation changing?
What's happening is a newfound willingness among many Clinton supporters to publicly voice positive opinions about the candidate, not just as the least-bad or most-electable alternative to Donald Trump but as a worthy and impressive candidate in her own right. The question is, why now?
Yes, why now? It is because we won’t be pushed to the side. We won’t be told to stand in the corner and wait our turn, be told that we are boring, not exciting, not sexy or hip enough. Hillary supporters have had it up to HERE ~ We’ve seen the hits from the Right Wing Media for the last 25 to 30 years and now from our side as well? What the hell is this shit?
What's clear is that, in a very real way, many long-time Clinton supporters have found their voice online and now feel more comfortable expressing their pro-Clinton sentiment just as forcefully and urgently as the messages of Sanders supporters
Brooklyn-based Clinton backer Jessia Mowles counts herself as an example of the trend. “I've been a fan of Hillary Clinton's smart, strategic liberalism for years,” says Mowles, “but really only felt compelled to speak out about my support for her when so many friends began buying into misinformation and falsehoods about her as compared to Bernie Sanders.”
Mowles is wary of what she sees as the “Republican machinery trying to discredit” Clinton, which seems to be working.
“It's been infuriating watching my otherwise intelligent friends share articles that portray Hillary Clinton in completely dishonest ways—which has then shored up their support for Bernie Sanders,” Mowles added. “I couldn't help but enter the fray as I watched this happen. The resulting vitriol against Hillary by fellow progressive friends, who in fact agree with 90 percent of her record, was shocking to me.”
This epic rant by Courtney Enlow should tell you our deep commitment to supporting Hillary ~ it went viral quickly ~ a friend of mine at work had this on his phone and was showing it to me the day after it was released. We were able to commiserate about how FUCKING true it is.
AND IF YOU COME AT ME FOR EVEN ONE GODDAMN SECOND WITH A "YOU JUST LIKE HER BECAUSE SHE'S A WOMAN" I WILL DESTROY YOU WHERE YOU STAND. I LIKE HER! I LIKE HER POLICIES, I LIKE HER PLANS, I LIKE WHAT SHE STANDS FOR, I LIKE THAT SHE'S GROWN AND EVOLVED AS A HUMAN AND POLITICIAN! I LIKE THAT SHE WAS FOR MANY OF US MY AGE ONE OF OUR FIRST ROLE MODELS OF A SMART, PROFESSIONAL, KICKASS WOMAN AND THAT SHE ISN'T AFRAID OF THE WORD "FEMINIST" AND I'M SICK OF HAVING TO APOLOGIZE FOR LIKING HER, FOR HAVING TO QUALIFY AND SEE YOUR SIDE AND RESPECT YOUR OPINION WHEN I FUCKING DON'T AND YOU FUCKING DON'T RIGHT BACK. I LIKE HER!
That article, released on February 2nd, 2016, spurred Hillary supporters into action. Sick and tired of the demonization of Hillary Clinton, they started to post on Facebook, twitter and other social media sites, engaging others in their support.
Heather Potts, a Clinton supporter from the San Francisco Bay Area, has backed Clinton from the beginning of the campaign, but she only recently started voicing her support online.
“I think I am generally reticent to post on social media about political stuff, but recently I have just been so angry on her behalf,” she says. “I suppose the main change for me is that, while she is billed as ‘establishment’—perhaps rightly so, given her experience—she now feels like the underdog, and I want to support her. I want Republicans to stop bullying her, and I want Sanders supporters to compare her policies to those Sanders actually might accomplish.”
So, yeah, Hillary is a realist. She is a wonk. She is damn intelligent and she is our Hermione Granger, the smart, know-it-all that no one thinks is fun and is a kill joy.
In this political environment, online debates can be exhausting. Sometimes people just want to post something they think is interesting, important, or funny and not have to think about it again. Many Clinton supporters we spoke with have assumed it wasn't worth the trouble, at least until things got serious
“I'm not so much scared to voice support for her,” [states Brendan Speigel] “It's more just that it's not as fun to voice your support for a pragmatic, realist political movement as it is being part of a revolution.”
In recent weeks, Speigel has become more vocal about the issue online, and he's noticed a definite gender divide in how his content is received. “I can say that 95 percent of the people who like my posts about Hillary are women,” he notes. “I've been wondering why there isn't more energy around her historic candidacy like there was last time, but now I feel like there really is a silent majority of women backing her but not talking about it.”
So, yes, we are out there. Women and men. We all have our different reasons for supporting Hillary Clinton. Some are pragmatic, some are more excited, but we are now speaking up.
This is a good article ~ some people, like Brendan, are looking at the stragetic ways to win, others are inspired by all of the amazing and positive accomplishments Hillary has done. We know what the Right Wing thinks of her ~ they tried to ding her, BENNGGHAAZZIIII, even stated that it was to drive her favorability ratings down.
Hillary laughing at the Republican Clown Car
They have thrown the kitchen sink, the toilet, the bathtub, hell, the WHOLE HOUSE at her, and she is still standing. They TOOK OUT ADS to smear her in our Democratic Primary ~ not ones with the standard republican message, but one tailored to drive her support down among democrats. Yeah. Watch the Republican debates .. .see who they mention the most in their debates ~ Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Obama, Hillary, Hillary, Obama, Obama, Hillary.
They fear her beyond belief, because this November, she will be the first woman President of the United States. That I believe.
