During the Philadelphia rally, there was a moment that caught me off guard. After President Obama introduced Hillary Clinton, inviting her to take his place at the podium that (not accidentally) said “President of the United States of America”, he humbly bowed his head and quietly exited stage left.
I suddenly realized that this was the moment when he passed the baton. Before she stepped on that stage in Philadelphia, Barack Obama was President of the United States of America, and after Obama left the stage a new chapter of history had already unfolded — about 24 hours sooner than I expected. I knew in my heart, at that moment, that I was looking at the next President of the United States.
I teared up a little, watching President Obama leave, knowing how hard he worked, against so many odds, just to maintain hope — let alone make change. I will miss him — his reassuring, textured voice; his ability to stand calmly in the torrents of disdain thrown at him for the last 8 years and respond only with wise words and a disarming confidence; his understated impact on history. He was a good president. If Congress had let him, he would have been a great president. In any case, he was a great man.
Hillary is no orator. She doesn’t always have perfectly unruffled feathers. She doesn’t possess the natural charisma of her predecessors to automatically put everyone at ease. She’s neither affable like her husband, disarming like Reagan and W, nor silky smooth like Barack. She will have some policies I don’t like, because she’s a fiscal moderate and I’m a blue-blooded liberal who voted for, in order Ralph Nader, Howard Dean, and Bernie Sanders. There will be some ugly battles ahead, and they will be uncomfortable and intense.
But Hillary Clinton will be a great president. Not a good president — a great president. Why? Because, awkwardness aside, she cares about “the greatest good”, and she is going to prove to all her doubters that she can bring about that good through hard work and perseverance. As a Methodist myself (actually, a candidate for ordination), my ears pricked up when Obama described Hillary as someone who followed the Methodist belief John Wesley teaches us about putting our faith into action:
Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.
This is a person who began working on health care reform in 1993, before Barack Obama was even old enough to run for President. This is about the time Trump was hanging out at cocaine parties with seriously underage girls doing God knows what — but it certainly wasn’t trying to get those kids health care.
This is a person who in 1996, about the time Trump was fat-shaming Alicia Machado for not being cute enough for his objectification purposes, released her book “It Takes a Village..” talking about our need to start showing up for children and families, and provided this quote about her own views on women:
“We need to understand that there is no formula for how women should lead their lives. that is why we must respect the choices that each woman makes for herself and her family. Every woman deserves the chance to realize her God-given potential.”
The final reason that she will be a great president, in my opinion, is in her emails. I see thousands and thousands of efforts to enlist talented, capable, and competent people in her decisions. I see someone with the stamina to collect as much information as time allows to inform her decisions. I see someone who goes out of her way for a 10 year old forced bride in Yemen, or to ensure that international development efforts bring women along into prosperity. I see someone who cares — so damn much — about doing as much good as possible, for as many people as possible.
She is a perfect representation of so many women in our country — caring, multi-taskers who work unbelievably hard for the good of the whole. It’s not about her, as Obama said, it’s about us. Except she doesn’t just talk (she actually not very good at it) — she works her ass off and does it. For those around her — for us.
American democracy has survived because it rejected everything that was wrong about Donald Trump.
America democracy will thrive because of so much that is right about President Hillary Rodham Clinton. I for one am looking forward to her time at the podium.