Alex Taubes Photo
The crowd at Clinton’s Christy’s debate-watching party.
When I walked into Christy’s Irish Pub Thursday night looking for a Democratic presidential debate party, I thought I’d gone to the wrong place.
First my eyes were drawn to the PaintNite lesson in the back of the Orange Street bar filled with twenty-somethings trying their hand at impressionism. The barroom was crowded with red-faced locals enjoying an after-work beer.
After asking around, I wandered upstairs and discovered about a dozen Hillary Clinton supporters on the edge of their seats, quietly hanging on the every word from their candidate and her opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders. It was one of a series of campaign watch parties organized across the state Thursday night.
I was expecting a crowd full of Yalies. After all, Hillary is the Yale candidate, right?
To my surprise, though, the only Yalie I found was a PhD student – who chose to remain nameless – who told me she was still undecided.
Instead, I found a diverse group of Hillary supporters who repeated one theme: Hillary Clinton is the only candidate with the experience, detailed plans, and realistic strategy to hold onto the gains working people have made under President Obama and make practical improvements over the next four years.
Rev. Shelly Holness.
The crowd wasn’t dismissive of Bernie: after all, he makes some good points. They were listening. But while Bernie’s ideas seem like a dream come true from a presidential candidate, as the Reverend Shelly Holness told me, “You have to dream with your eyes open.” Hillary, she said, is the only candidate who has committed to keeping Obamacare, which has provided millions of people with access to medical care they otherwise wouldn’t receive.
Another theme for Hillary’s supporters was her lifelong dedication to service. It must have been hard, Rev. Holness pointed out, to support President Obama after losing a hard-fought primary. But her gracious speech at the Democratic convention united the party and focused everyone on achieving the historic victory of 2008. And then after that, she even joined the Obama administration as secretary of state.
For other Hillary supporters, it wasn’t just about her service to the country, but also about her service to the party.
Jonah Simpson.
Jonah Simpson, originally from Dallas, has been volunteering for the Democratic Party since he was 16 years old. Like yours truly, Jonah takes pride in being called a Democrat. So for him, the fact that Bernie hasn’t worn the Democratic Party banner for more than nine months while running for president was a negative. Hillary, by contrast, has been a proud Democrat her entire adult life, he said. “Watching her succeed is like watching us succeed.”
As Hillary drew a stark contrast with Bernie on gun laws, particularly the law that may deny the Newtown families their day in court, I looked around and saw a few people politely nodding in agreement. This wasn’t a crowd that expects a revolution to happen overnight. It was a group of hardworking people used to reality that change is hard-fought and slow.
While most people I talked to would welcome a $15 minimum wage, for example, they seemed equally happy to see an increase to $12. (Sanders came out for a national $15 minimum in the debate; Clinton said she’d sign a $15 law but committed only to pushing a $12 national wage.) And while everyone seemed to agree with Bernie that public colleges should be tuition-free, the Hillary supporters gently reminded me that Republican governors, whose states would have to foot a big chunk of the bill, weren’t going to go for that any time soon.
Personally, I didn’t think the debate changed much. As Jonah pointed out, most people have their minds made up already. But while the narrative in this race has portrayed Bernie’s supporters as drawing out the big crowds, tonight I realized how Hillary’s supporters may sometimes go unnoticed, even in large numbers.
Middle and working class folk who can afford Christy's are shooting themselves in the foot if they support a one-percenter like Hillary. I am fighting for them and know that this country and it's institutions need an overhaul. If you vote for H., you are asking for the status quo. Take note: the National Nurses Union, millions of nurses, support Bernie. I am one of them. I am not rich enough to be a one-percenter, yet I share my wealth with the poor town I love run by a Uber Rich corp., Yale.
The primary is next week and I hope some of these people rethink their vote. Our economy is so out of balance, if we dont change, we may face civil war. Congress is full of rich old boomers who dont care. We actually need a new constitution to offer fairness and transparency to us, the taxpayers.