If you've been watching the psychotic roll out of the Iowa caucuses or just any of the latest election news, you may have noticed that Hillary Clinton's campaign has been appropriately blasting Rachel Platten's "Fight Song" when she takes the stage. It's interesting then that Platten's second biggest hit, "Stand by You" ironically embodies all the way young women are failing Hillary across the U.S.
Hillary is playing her fight song, standing up and charging forward even though she's been knocked down so many times it's amazing she's not been forced to take subterranean shelter. And in response, are the young women of America standing by her? Are we, as Platten sings, ready to "walk through hell" with Hillary? No, we are fucking failing and letting her down. AGAIN.
Back in 2013, when Hillary was ending her tenure as Secretary of State, I remember talking to so many Democrat women my age about what it would be like if Hillary ended up running for president a few years later. At this point, while she had made some mistakes as Secretary of State and received criticism for her handling of Libya, the overall vibe was positive. Secretary Clinton was seen as a success and perhaps even more important "cool." Not only had she handled complicated foreign affairs with aplomb, she had taken selfies with Meryl Streep and become an Internet phenomenon with "texts from Hillary."
The general attitude among these women was excitement. If Hillary ran, many of them said, they would "drop everything" and work for her campaign. I specifically remember one conversation with a Republican female friend who said if Hillary ran, she would even consider changing her party alliance.
Where the f are these people now?!
One could argue that Hillary back in 2013 didn't have the issues Hillary has today, namely the email scandal and Bernie Sanders. But that's exactly what's so frustrating. We support Hillary when it's easy. When she's in the background, rather than in the foreground, we are vocal fans. When she's successful in office, we cheer her on and say--she would be such a good president! But when Hillary then takes that leap and enters the fray, when she becomes embroiled in controversy and partisan wars, we shrink back in hesitation and leave her to fend off the wolves alone. It's infuriating that the same people I spoke to in 2013 are now incessantly posting Bernie memes on their newsfeeds and cheering on the Iowa face-off.
Of course, not every young woman has to go to bat for Hillary and people have the right to change their mind. Bernie is indeed an excellent, respectable candidate and Hillary is one hundo p flawed. But I truly believe that women are not abandoning Hillary now because of emails--honestly, for better or worse, no one really cares--or because they've been radically charmed and awed by Bernie's platform. It's something less rational or fair than that. In the rotation of media skewering and national attention, Hillary has once again been cast as a harsh, soulless shrew and it's not attractive to fight for her anymore. We're embarrassed and so we're afraid.
But guess what? Hillary is out there tramping around some of the most suck parts of the United States working her ass off. She is subjected to a verbal ransacking every day. If Hillary wanted, she could be sitting on a desert island with Bill drinking piña coladas and lol-ing over this race. Instead, she continues to fight. The very least we can do is fight with her, speak up for her, and VOTE for her.
This betrayal of Hillary is sickening and the stakes could not be higher. On the one hand, we have a future female progressive president. On the other, we have male republican candidates who are so hateful it's like they've dropped on this earth from some post-apocalyptic wasteland hell.
In short, we should be responding to Hillary's anthem of "Fight Song" with some of the lyrics from Rachel Platten's "I Stand by You."
"Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through (that glass ceiling)
Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through hell (of the GOP) with you
Hill, you're not alone. I'm gonna stand by you."