Why So Many Girls Are Hesitant About Hillary
Election cycles are fun, in a “Mean Girls” kind of way. You never know who’s gonna shade who.
And ever since the Associated Press announced Hillary Clinton announced the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party, lots of young Bernie Sanders stans have been saying it was unfair to call the election this early (no matter how stoked our fave female celebs are).
But our question is: why aren’t more young women supporting Hillary? Considering she is the first woman in history to secure a spot on the national ballot, which makes this a historically important election, why aren’t we falling all over ourselves to get her in office?
Gloria Steinem had one cringe-worthy guess. Back in February, she told Bill Maher on his show that the reason why so many young women are choosing to vote for Bernie is because the boys are doing it.
“Women are more for [Clinton] than men are,” Steinem told Maher. “Men tend to get more conservative because they gain power as they age, women get more radical because they lose power as they age. They’re going to get more activist as they grow older. And when you’re younger, you think: ‘Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.'” Yikes.
A lot of girls who had previously thought of Gloria as a feminist icon, were stunned at these comments, especially the younger Bernie supporters who also consider themselves feminists. As you might expect, women who don’t support Hillary actually have much more intelligent and well-thought-out reasons for doing so — and we should know, because we asked them.
Megan Skeuse, 27 and a Bernie supporter, says she hasn’t supported Hillary because of her inconsistent track record.
“I chose Bernie because I truly believe, based on his voting record and the positions he has held on issues with unwavering authenticity, that he is the best candidate to represent women,” she told Galore. “Where Clinton has ‘evolved,’ Bernie has been fighting steadfastly for many years for our rights to equal pay, marriage, choice, childcare, and paid maternity leave.”
Another Bernie Supporter, Maisy Rohrer, 20, says it’s because Bernie would be less likely to get involved in war and Hillary comes off as a war monger.
“Bernie is more hesitant on war and sending more troops out,” she said. “I would love a woman president but she is not the right one.”
Many of the girls we talked to acknowledged that they would want a woman president, but not at the cost of their principles. That’s why if it’s Hillary, they are #NotWithHer.
“As a woman, I would love to vote for a woman president, but I am not going to vote for someone based solely on their gender,” Tessa said. “My vote is based on who I believe can take our country in a different, more positive and successful direction. For me that is Bernie Sanders. Some people think not voting Hillary means voting Trump, but for me not voting Hillary means expressing my right as an American and standing my ground.”
But the fight isn’t over yet. Despite the AP’s pronouncement that Hillary is the Democratic candidate, it’s still not set in stone until the Democratic Convention. The Convention, which is where the entire Democratic party gets together to officially pick a nominee takes place July 25- 28 in Philadelphia. After that, we will have our final nominee.
Your dream-grandfather Bernie Sanders still could pull off the nomination at the convention, but he’d have to convince a sh*t load of super delegates at the convention to pick him instead of Hill. So if it’s still not Bernie, will these girls vote for Hillary to avoid Trump, or write in their candidate? For some, a third-party candidate is the answer.
“If the people want me to vote under the two guidelines of one, not Trump and two, a woman, I will be casting my vote for Jill Stein, Green Party Leader,” Tessa said. “I think that redirecting the Bernie supporters to align themselves with someone who has beliefs and policies that mimic Bernie’s will actually give us a shot at keeping the POTUS title from Hillary or Donald.”
Others will throw tepid support behind Hillary in the interest of keeping Trump out.
“I may be bummed,” Megan said, “but I don’t believe in #BernieorBust. Polarization in the Democratic party is what Trump is counting on, and it is time to be both united and formidable. I will now vote for Hillary not because she is a woman, but because she is a fighter, and the absolute best candidate to protect the rights of everyone.”
