Chelsea Clinton visits Solon Community Center for campaign rally
October 28, 2016
Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, visited the Solon Community Center to campaign for her mother on Wednesday Oct. 26 after school.
The Community Center’s banquet room was filled with people young and old from Solon and its surrounding communities. Many Solon High School students and teachers rushed out of school after the end of seventh period in order to see the former (and possibly future) first daughter speak about her mother.
SHS senior and first time voter Erin Segal was one of the students that decided to go see Chelsea Clinton. Before the rally she mentioned that she wanted to hear about a more candid side of Hillary Clinton.
“I went to go see Hillary Clinton over the weekend and it was incredible,” Segal said. “I’m excited to see Chelsea Clinton because she really supports her mom. I really hope she talks about more of the background behind why her mom is running and what she really wants to see in this country, because I feel like Hillary Clinton has a script that she says very often so this will be cool to see the real side.”
SHS junior Julia Mayer said she was hoping to hear first hand from Chelsea about Hillary Clinton’s stance on the issues that are important to her.
“I’m here because I care about our country,” Mayer said. “I believe Hillary Clinton is the best person for president because she’s really qualified. I want to hear what her daughter has to say about her.”
Fellow junior Gabrielle Sudilovsky attended the rally to demonstrate to others what her priorities for our country’s future are.
“I think what she is going to say will be very interesting and will help us learn about the problems that are in society,” Sudilovsky said. “I think being here to support [Hillary Clinton] just shows why we care. Even though I personally can’t vote [being here] shows what I care about in our country.”
SHS history teacher Robert Rivera introduced Chelsea Clinton at the rally and spoke about why he is supporting Hillary Clinton for this presidential election.
“In June of 2015, on the very day the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, my then-partner of nine years, now husband and I went downtown and we were honored to get the first marriage license issued after the ruling in the state of Ohio,” Rivera said. “Today I am proud to stand here and support a woman who will fight for all Americans, regardless of where they’re from, what they look like or who they love. Its an honor to be a part of this event and get to introduce Chelsea Clinton. ”
Rivera also spoke about his first experience becoming politically active, working for Governor Michael Dukakis’ presidential campaign in 1988 and meeting Chelsea Clinton’s parents while in college in 1992.
“I’m with her because she’s with us and I mean all of us,” Rivera said. “Even then knowing her record in Arkansas before she was First Lady of Arkansas and what she did [in office], I could see her commitment to improving the lives of women, families, children and all Americans.”
Rivera continued to talk about how Hillary Clinton is the only choice in this election for people like him who value acceptance, inclusion and diversity.
After Rivera’s introduction, Chelsea Clinton took the stage to talk about how important this election is to her personally.
“I could not agree with [Rivera] more,” Chelsea Clinton said. “ I think this is the most consequential election of my lifetime and I feel that way in part because this is the first presidential election that I’m voting in as a parent. This election feels so intensely personal to me in large part because I know whoever we elect to succeed President Obama will shape the future and the possibilities, or lack there of, for my children.”
She also discusses her feelings about the rhetoric coming out of Donald Trump’s campaign that she believes is racist, sexist, Islamophobic, as well as disrespectful to people with disabilities.
“I never thought I would see in my lifetime the almost normalization of hate speech from a major presidential candidate,” Chelsea Clinton said. “In what we hear from Donald Trump and his campaign, [hate speech] seems to be their main strategy. A strategy of demeaning, derogatory, divisive and disrespectful language.”
Chelsea Clinton also shared a few anecdotes she has heard while on the campaign trail that speak to the importance of both defeating Donald Trump and electing her mother. The anecdotes focused on the topics of immigration, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the foster care system and Head Start.
“All those stories, those aren’t people’s statistics,” she said. “If that’s your life, if you’re the one who has been insured through the Children’s Health Insurance Program or you’re the one of the tens of thousands of young people who have been adopted or you’ve gone through the Early Head Start or Hippy Programs, that is your life that has been positively impacted. I know this election is intensely personal for all of us and whatever it is that we each care about, that is on the ballot this November.”
Chelsea Clinton thanked all those that are campaigning for her mother in Ohio and then opened the floor for questions or suggestions from the crowd about the campaign. She answered questions about voter fraud, minimum wage, equal pay for both women and Americans with disabilities, millennial voter turnout, national security and updating social security.
Before wrapping up, Chelsea Clinton mentioned her stance on a very timely topic close to many Clevelanders’ hearts.
“My mother is from Chicago and my grandfather who was born in 1911 and died in 1993 wanted nothing more than to see the Cubs win a World Series in his lifetime, so I can’t wish you good luck tonight, but I can say that I hope we’re all on the same winning team come November 8.”