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Hello to the Hillary Clinton supporting community! It’s great to be here.
Let’s start with a little bit of after- analysis from Tuesday night, and then I’ll have a very few highlights from yesterday. (There were plenty of open threads on the front page last night if you’d like more thorough coverage.)
Do you want to read a positive story about Aster O’Leary, the 18 year old Vermont delegate and Bernie Sanders supporter who helped nominate Hillary Clinton Tuesday night? Well, here it is!
As the DNC conducted its alphabetical roll call to tally each state’s votes, something odd happened when it arrived at Vermont: The Green Mountain state and home of Senator Sanders skipped its turn. “Vermont passes,” a young woman told the DNC, before shrugging and stepping away from the mic. But what at first seemed like another act of defiance by Sanders loyalists refusing to support Clinton was all part of a bigger plan—and involved an unusual delegate.
The woman at the mic was Aster O’Leary, who was elected as a Vermont delegate to the DNC, representing Sanders, this spring while she was still in high school. O’Leary covered the expenses of attending the convention by raising $2,000 via the for-profit crowdfunding site GoFundMe. GoFundMe, a for-profit company, is a popular fundraising vehicle for non-profits, and dozens of delegates from each major party have used it this year to defray their costs.
...the Vermont delegation opted to support the tactic, creating a moment of solidarity at what had been a fractious convention. As O’Leary puts it, “party unity is of the utmost importance.”
Time analyzed Hillary’s child care plan, and they have finally noticed that it’s really impressive :
A concrete child-care proposal comes from Hillary Clinton. It arrived late in the election cycle, and never quite drew the attention of college costs, maybe the Democratic primary’s flagship issue. Ironically, child care now costs more than college in more than half the states in the U.S.
The Clinton proposal — oh boy, just don’t call it Hillarycare — is in three parts: free public pre-kindergarten for all kids, higher pay for child-care workers, and a promise that families will not have to pay more than 10% of their income for child care. That last part is really transformative. The cost of having one infant in a child-care center ranges from $4,822 in Mississippi to $17,062 in Massachusetts, according to Child Care Aware, a research organization. For a single mother in many states, it’s more than 40% of income. Remember: That’s for just one child.
...Just before the last presidential vote, Slate writer Claire Lundberg, an American who had moved to France, described the difference between child-rearing in France and the struggle to get affordable child care in the United States. In the U.S., she wrote, she and her husband would probably have to decide whether they needed to move closer to their parents to get child-care help, or find a higher paying job to afford the care. In France, said Lundberg, “we don’t need to answer any of these questions.”
It’s clear that a lot of other U.S. parents are tired of asking those questions, too. This may be the election cycle that finally gives them some answers.
Need a chuckle? Quartz had a fun bit of comment on the double standard by which male and female politicians are presented in the press with “Hillary Clinton’s husband wore a fetching pantsuit to honor her nomination for US president”:
Tuesday night (July 26), Bill Clinton, the husband of presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to honor his wife’s historic achievement. Bill’s stately-but-approachable appearance and middle-of-the-road fashion choices make him a terrific candidate for the supporting role of first spouse of the United States. (He was also the 42nd president of the United States.)
He may lack current first lady Michelle Obama’s upper arm strength, but he makes up for it with a nice head of hair.
Clinton accessorized with a watch Tschorn identified as a 47mm blue-faced Runwell watch by Shinola—a $550 Detroit-made timepiece. (It’s apparently patriotic enough for Clinton, although the FTC has its doubts.) The potential first gentleman also adorned his lapel with a Hillary campaign button. For jewelry, he wore his wedding ring.
As a fashion moment, it might have been a little underwhelming, but as a historical one, it was not. Clinton’s look stated clearly: I’m with her.
And now, a bit from yesterday’s amazing convention! Martin O’Malley had a few fightin’ words on the contrast between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Go Marty!
Jerry Brown spoke on climate change, and then were speakers on gun control. From The Atlantic:
Christine Leinonen, whose son was killed in the Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando, just spoke. The cameras showed a number of people sitting in the crowd wiping away tears. When Leinonen said that “love always trumps hate,” invoking a key line used by the Hillary Clinton campaign, she got a standing ovation in the arena. One man waved a rainbow flag high above his head. At the end, the crowd again rose to its feet with a roar of applause as she walked off the stage.
Leinonen made an emotional plea for the implementation of tighter gun-control measures. “I’m glad common-sense gun policy was in place the day he was born. But where was that common sense the day he died?” she said, adding, “I never want you to ask that question about your child. That is why I support Hillary Clinton.”
This segment of the Democratic National Convention has focused on gun violence. Not forgotten, however, was the recent violence against law enforcement. This month, five police officers were killed in Dallas. Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey recalled the deaths of police officers. “After 47 years in law enforcement in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, I’ve mourned far too many officers killed by guns,” Ramsey said. “Hillary Clinton is the steady leader to shepherd us through this critical time. The bonds between law enforcement and communities are afraid—frayed.”
Gabby Gifford says, “Strong women get things done!”
Vice President Joe Biden also spoke.
ABC has the full remarks here. A few excerpts:
I know that about Hillary. Hillary understood that for years, millions of people went to bed staring at the ceiling thinking oh my God, what if I get breast cancer or he has a heart attack? I will lose everything. What will we do then? I know about Hillary Clinton. Ladies and gentlemen, we all understand what it will mean for our daughters and granddaughters when Hillary Clinton walks into the oval office as president of the United States of America. It will change their lives.
My daughters and granddaughters can do anything any son or grandson can do, and she will prove it, Mr. Mayor. So let me say as clearly as I can, if you live in the neighborhoods like the ones Jill and I grew up in, if you worry about your job and getting a decent pay, if you worry about your children's education, if you're taking care of an elderly parent, then there's only one, only one person in this election who will help you. There's only one person in this race who will be there, who's always been there for you. And that's Hillary Clinton's life story. It's not just who she is. It's her life story.
She's always there. She's always been there. And so has Tim Kaine. Ladies and gentlemen, to state the obvious, I'm not trying to be a wise guy here, I really mean it. That's not Donald Trump's story.
Independent Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York, also spoke:
More from the Financial Times:
“Throughout his career, Trump has left behind a well-documented record of bankruptcies, thousands of lawsuits, angry shareholders and contractors who feel cheated, and disillusioned customers who feel ripped off,” he said.
“Trump says he wants to run the nation like he’s run his business. God help us.”
“There are times when I disagree with Hillary [Clinton],” he added. “But whatever our disagreements may be, I’ve come here to say: we must put them aside for the good of our country. And we must unite around the candidate who can defeat a dangerous demagogue.”
From VP nominee Tim Kaine:
Kaine’s address served to introduce himself and to highlight his support for Hillary Clinton, relating her work to his own history in Honduras and to the history of the United States:
When I lived in Honduras, I learned that the best compliment you could give someone was to say they were "listo"– ready.
Not "inteligente"– smart. Not "amable"– friendly. Not "rico" – rich. But "listo." Because what "listo" means in Spanish is prepared, battle-tested, rock-solid, up for anything, never backing down. And Hillary Clinton is "lista."
She's ready because of her faith. She's ready because of her heart. She's ready because of her experience. She's ready because she knows in America we are stronger together. My fellow Democrats, this week we begin the next chapter in our proud story.
Thomas declared all men equal, and Abigail remembered the women. Woodrow brokered peace, and Eleanor broke down barriers. Jack told us what to ask, and Lyndon answered the call. Martin had a dream, Cesar y Dolores said si se puede, and Harvey gave his life. Bill bridged a century, and Barack gave us hope.
And now Hillary is ready. Ready to fight, ready to win, ready to lead. God bless you all.Thank you, Philadelphia.
And, yeah, then there was a certain guy we like to call President Barack Obama.
More from the official transcript:
Hillary’s still got the tenacity she had as a young woman working at the Children’s Defense Fund, going door to door to ultimately make sure kids with disabilities could get a quality education.
She’s still got the heart she showed as our First Lady, working with Congress to help push through a Children’s Health Insurance Program that to this day protects millions of kids.
She’s still seared with the memory of every American she met who lost loved ones on 9/11, which is why, as a Senator from New York, she fought so hard for funding to help first responders; why, as Secretary of State, she sat with me in the Situation Room and forcefully argued in favor of the mission that took out bin Laden.
You know, nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office. Until you’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis, or send young people to war. But Hillary’s been in the room; she’s been part of those decisions. She knows what’s at stake in the decisions our government makes for the working family, the senior citizen, the small business owner, the soldier, and the veteran. Even in the middle of crisis, she listens to people, and keeps her cool, and treats everybody with respect. And no matter how daunting the odds; no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, ever quits.
That’s the Hillary I know. That’s the Hillary I’ve come to admire. And that’s why I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as President of the United States of America.
...Look, Hillary’s got her share of critics. She’s been caricatured by the right and by some folks on the left; accused of everything you can imagine – and some things you can’t. But she knows that’s what happens when you’re under a microscope for 40 years. She knows she’s made mistakes, just like I have; just like we all do. That’s what happens when we try. That’s what happens when you’re the kind of citizen Teddy Roosevelt once described – not the timid souls who criticize from the sidelines, but someone “who is actually in the arena…who strives valiantly; who errs…[but] who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement.”
Hillary Clinton is that woman in the arena. She’s been there for us – even if we haven’t always noticed. And if you’re serious about our democracy, you can’t afford to stay home just because she might not align with you on every issue. You’ve got to get in the arena with her, because democracy isn’t a spectator sport. America isn’t about “yes he will.” It’s about “yes we can.” And we’re going to carry Hillary to victory this fall, because that’s what the moment demands.
At the end of the speech, Clinton joined Obama on stage, “to thunderous applause.”
Whew! That was a lot. THANK YOU MR. PRESIDENT! As Peter Daou puts it:
Let’s have some Thursday Herstory to put it all in perspective.
Make no mistake. We are in the midst of a revolution.
This is a revolution that a handful of American women, and the men who supported them, declared a long time ago, in 1848.
It is a revolution we are still realizing. It will not be over for decades, perhaps. It comes in fits and starts and in a long, slow, slog. But right now, this very week we are taking a huge step forward in nominating Hillary Rodham Clinton as the presidential candidate of the Democratic party.
And these are a few of the words that declared that revolution:
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.--Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
It started over tea. When Jane and Richard Hunt of Seneca Falls decided to invite several of their female abolitionists friends to discuss the frustrations of women sidelined in the abolition movement, they didn’t plan to spark a revolution. Their concerns stretched as far back as 1840, when female delegates to the London World Anti-slavery Convention were first denied seats on the floor—and then were allowed to participate only if they sat behind a screen that would hide them from male participants’ eyes. Tensions about women’s ability to publicly participate in the abolitionist struggle, in the temperance cause, and in all the reform movements of the early 19th century had only increased. And so, the hosts and guests at that tea gathering, decided that July day they they would call a convention for the the next week, inviting New York abolitionists to discuss the problems together:
Lucretia Mott, painted in 1841, by Joseph Kyle
A notice was delivered to the offices of the Seneca County Courier announcing, “A Convention to discuss the social, civic and religious condition and rights of Woman will be held in the Wesleyan Chapel at Seneca Falls, New York, on Wednesday and Thursday, the 19th and 20th of July. …” The advertisement first appeared on Tuesday, July 11, and named [Quaker abolitionist] Lucretia Mott as the keynote speaker.
Even with such short notice, 300 people attended the two-day event. The first day was for women only, and the second was opened to people of all genders.
Young activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton presented the assembly with eleven resolves, touching on women’s lack of participation in public life, on the shaming put upon women who gave public speeches, on the need to hold women and men equally morally accountable rather than having a double standard for women. The convention’s concerns ranged far. But in many ways they might sound familiar today, and in other ways quite strange.
They discussed the role of economic in women’s inequality, noting that women were shut out of more lucrative professions, leaving them few choices in life but to marry. If married, however, they became legally dead, unable to control their own wages or have custody of their children. The delegates were also concerned with education. Women were not admitted to most institutions of higher education; only a handful of American universities (including the alma mater of yours truly!) admitted women in 1848. They looked at religiously-based discrimination, discussing the way women were shut out of religious leadership for the most part—an important venue of both political and social influence in those days.
And they talked about women’s inequality before the law. They debated women’s utter lack of assent to the laws which bound them.
One of the eleven resolves was:
Resolved, That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in 1848, with two of her children
This resolve provoked the most debate. It was the only resolve not universally adopted. Elizabeth Cady Stanton later wrote: "Those who took part in the debate," she recalled, "feared a demand for the right to vote would defeat others they deemed more rational, and make the whole movement ridiculous." Indeed, her own husband, abolitionist Henry Stanton was firmly opposed to the idea. It was...ridiculous!
Ridiculous. That’s what the prospect of woman suffrage seemed in 1848, even to those committed to women’s rights. Even to those willing to tackle women’s role in the home and need for higher education. They could even buck centuries of Anglo-American legal tradition to argue for married women’s legal personhood. But the franchise? Ridiculous.
Stanton’s most important ally in swaying the assembly to adopt this resolution was Fredrick Douglass, who lent his powerful oratory to the cause of suffrage. Many people know of the deep rift that opened up between these two over the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments, but they may not know that Douglass continued his fight for women’s suffrage for the rest of his life, or that he and Stanton later reconciled. (In fact, Stanton wrote a tribute to Douglass after his death, read at his funeral by Susan B. Anthony, which praised his abolitionist work and called him “the only man I ever knew who understood the degradation of disfranchisement for women.”)
In 1888, Douglass, along with Stanton, spoke at the International Council of Women and recalled the 1848 Convention, and how “ridiculous” their task truly seemed :
I have been thinking more or less, of the scene presented forty years ago in the little Methodist church at Seneca Falls, the manger in which this organized suffrage movement was born. It was very small thing then. It was not then big enough to be abused, or loud enough to make itself heard outside, and only a few of those who saw it had any notion that the little thing would live. I have been thinking, too, of the strong conviction, the noble courage, the sublime faith in God and man it required at that time to set this suffrage ball in motion. The history of the world has given to us many sublime undertakings, but none more sublime than this.
It was a great thing for the friends of peace to organize in opposition to war; it was a great thing for the friends of temperance to organize against intemperance; it was a great thing for humane people to organize in opposition to slavery; but it was a much greater thing, in view of all the circumstances, for woman to organize herself in opposition to her exclusion from participation in government. The reason is obvious. War, intemperance and slavery are open, undisguised, palpable evils. The best feelings of human nature revolt at them. We could easily make men see the misery, the debasement, the terrible suffering caused by intemperance; we could easily make men see the desolation wrought by war and the hell-black horrors of chattel slavery; but the case was different in the movement for woman suffrage.
Frederick Douglass in 1848
Men took for granted all that could be said against intemperance, war and slavery. But no such advantage was found in the beginning of the cause of suffrage for women. On the contrary, everything in her condition was supposed to be lovely, just as it should be. She had no rights denied, no wrongs to redress...
It required a daring voice and a determined hand to awake her from this delightful dream and call the nation to account for the rights and opportunities of which it was depriving her.
At this distance of time from that convention at Rochester, and in view of the present position of the question, it is hard to realize the moral courage it required to launch this unwelcome movement. Any man can be brave when the danger is over, go to the front when there is no resistance, rejoice when the battle is fought and the victory is won; but it is not so easy to venture upon a field untried with one-half the whole world against you, as these women did.
With Cady Stanton’s strong advocacy and Douglass’ support, the resolution was adopted and entered into the Convention’s final Declaration of Sentiments as women’s “inalienable right to the elective franchise.”
It was a revolution, not of arms, but of public “sentiment”—a determination to change the culture, the way people thought about women, as well as to tackle the laws of the land.
Sixty-eight women signed the Declaration. You probably know some of their names: Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Pryor. Others, like Margaret Jenkins, leave only fragmentary evidence for the rest of their lives: was she an 18 year old servant, or the 21 year of daughter of a local farmer? Was Cynthia Fuller, another signatory, her neighbor? Which Phebe King of Seneca Falls was a signatory? We still don’t know.
Thirty-two men signed on a separate page to indicate their support, while distinguishing that the “Declaration” came from the women: “The following are the names of the gentlemen present in favor of the movement.” It indicated sensitivity on their part—letting women “own” the document, but also finding a way to express that they shared its ideas. The men are a little easier to trace. In addition to Douglass, there were men like Ned Underhill, later a war correspondent for the New York Times, and William S. Dell, a local Quaker farmer. Whatever their backgrounds, they were ready to sign on for the revolution.
Rhoda Palmer of New York
Of the women who signed, only one, Charlotte Woodward Pierce, lived to see the passage of the 19th Amendment, but she was prevented by illness from voting in 1920, and died the next year. Of the women who signed, only one, Rhoda Palmer, ever voted. It was 1918, when New York recognized women’s right to suffrage. She was 102 years old.
On Tuesday night, I saw another 102 year old woman—Jerry Emmett -- help nominate Hillary Clinton as the first female presidential nominee of the Democratic party. That’s a space of two women’s very long lives—two women’s lives separating that nomination from the 1848 Declaration. From the “ridiculous” notion of woman suffrage to—we hope—the first woman president.
And tonight, Hillary Rodham Clinton will address the convention that nominated her.
I started these herstories as a fun way to put Clinton’s run into the context of a wider, longer struggle. The struggle started long before Seneca Falls, but that convention deserves recognition as being the place that women openly declared a revolution. Slowly we have won some of its battles: married women’s property acts, the 19th Amendment, the Civil Rights Act, Title IX. We are not at the end, but let no one deny that we have just taken a great and momentous step forward. I think the women (and men) who signed the Declaration would be proud:
In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object.… Firmly relying upon the final triumph of the Right and the True, we do this day affix our signatures to this declaration
In the spirit of ’48…CO-SIGNED.
And with that bit of herstory, I thought we’d end with something stirring and historical. On Tuesday night, Meryl Streep asked what it takes to be “the first” woman anything. It’s an amazing speech, and it’s followed by a great video that will have you cheering for pioneers in civil rights, women’s rights, and queer rights, and for so many more “founders” who have helped make our “more perfect union” better in so many different ways. I am humbled to be alive when the Democratic party forges new ground back to back, electing Barack Obama as our first African-American president, and then nominating Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom we hope to make our first woman president. What a time we live in.
Transcript of Streep’s speech ( I don’t have a transcript for the video, but it’s worth watching):
Woo!
Ooh.
We got some fight left in us, don't we?
What does it take to be the first female anything? It takes grit. And it takes grace. Deborah Sampson was the first woman to take a bullet for our country. She served, disguised as a man, in George Washington's Continental Army. And she fought to defend a document that didn't fully defend her. "All men are created equal," it read. No mention of women. And when she took a blast in battle to her leg, she was afraid to reveal her secret. So she took out a penknife, she dug out the musket ball, and she sewed herself back up again. That's grit.
And grace? Hillary Clinton has taken some fire over 40 years — her fight for families and children. How does she do it? That's what I want to know. Where does she get her grit and her grace? Where do any of our female firsts, our pathbreakers, where do they find their strength? Sandra Day O'Connor. Rosa Parks. Amelia Earhart. Sally Ride. Deborah Sampson. Harriet Tubman. Shirley Chisholm. Madeline Albright. Eleanor Roosevelt. These women share something in common. Capacity of mind, fullness of heart, and a burning passion for their cause. They have forged new paths so that others can follow them, men and women. Generation on generation. That's Hillary. That's America.
And tonight, more than 200 years after Debra Sampson fought, and nearly 100 years after women* got the vote, you people have made history. And you're gonna make history again in November. Because Hillary Clinton will be our first woman president.
And she will be a great president.
And she will be the first in a long line of women. And men. Who serve with grit and grace.
She'll be the first, but she won't be the last.
[ab note: *for the most part, white women.]
Can’t wait for tonight. #ImWithHer #LoveTrumpsHate #GritAndGrace
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Crossposted at HillaryHQ, an independent, progressive blog committed to the electing Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States. If you would like to support @Scan and his work there, visit GoFundMe and make a donation.
