Heading into the final stretch, while the commentariat kept
circulating the bogus story of an enthusiasm gap, Hillary met ardent
audiences everywhere she went.
At
the Pasco-Hernando State College East Campus in Dade City, Florida,
Alicia Machado introduced Hillary Clinton to a wildly enthusiastic
audience.
She said “No, no, no, no!” Mr. Trump will not get her first vote as a U.S. citizen.
At the Sanford Civic Center where she held a canvass kickoff rally, she was on fire!
Hillary’s
last stop in Florida that night was a rally in Fort Lauderdale. She
was just as energized there as she was at her first event of the day in
Dade City.
Before
boarding her plane to take her campaign to Nevada and Arizona, Hillary
greeted early voters in Lauderhill, Florida. Hillary had some very
enthusiastic support in the largely Caribbean neighborhood!
Hillary Clinton rallied early voters at the Plumbers & Pipefitters Training Center in Las Vegas.
Hillary’s
last western stop yesterday was in Tempe, Arizona. She held an early
vote rally at the Sun Devil Fitness Complex. The crowd was huge and
enthusiastic.
Hillary’s
campaign circled back to the battleground state of North Carolina. She
rallied voters at Pitt Community College in Winterville. Eleanor
Holmes Norton and G.K. Butterfield introduced her.
At
the Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek in Raleigh,
Pharrell, Bernie, and Hillary fired up voters in the battleground state.
Mark Cuban introduced Hillary in Pittsburgh where she rallied Pennsylvania voters at The Great Hall at Heinz Field.
Hillary rallied voters at the Eastern Market in Detroit.
Here
are highlights from Hillary’s “Get Out The Vote” event with Beyonce and
Jay Z at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center.
Hillary
ran between the raindrops in south Florida. She greeted early voters
in West Miami, stopped by a field office in Miami, and visited Little
Haiti. Then she went on to a rally in Pembroke Pines where Randi
Weingarten warmed up the crowd and Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina
Fulton, greeted her.
At
the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Katy Perry and Madeleine
Albright rallied voters for Hillary. Earlier in the day, Hillary sat
down with supporters at Reed/s Coffee and Tea House.
Hillary
attended Sunday morning services at the Mt. Airy Church of God. After
services, she stopped off at the Cedar Park Cafe. Then she was on her
way to Ohio for a rally in Cleveland.
LeBron
James brought in J.R. Smith and his little daughter to introduce
Hillary at a GOTV rally in Cleveland. Of course the Cleveland crowd
loved it.
Even when Hillary was onscreen talking about
her issues and plans,
media displayed partisan or ambiguous tickers (see photo above) echoing
the opposition's preoccupations. The meme that Hillary participated in a
nasty campaign is a lie. At every stop, Hillary
spoke to issues she had accrued
while listening to voters for a year and a half. While televising her
speeches, the MSM often ran damaging tickers on the screen distracting
from her words. In the end the same media sources would say it was a
campaign of attacks. That is true in the sense that
Hillary was attacking the issues. The media and the GOP were attacking her.
Gold Star dad, Khizr Khan, introduced Hillary at a rally in Manchester where James Taylor gave a special performance.
The
last day on the trail and that was sinking in for Hillary’s traveling
press corps who took pictures with her on the tarmac in White Plains
before taking off for Pittsburgh.
Hillary published an op-ed that final day of the campaign summarizing her reasons for running and the objectives she developed with our input - all of ours.
This document flies
in the face of Joe Biden's claim that she never figured out why she was
running. Hillary has never done anything without a reason. She
deliberated long and hard before entering this contest and had very
solid reasons for running that she could not ignore or she never would
have done it.
Hillary’s final rally in Michigan was held at Grand Valley State University in Allendale where she met up with Debbie Stabenow.
If
ever there could have been a reminder of the republic that was at stake
in this election, it was the optics of the rally in Philadelphia. The
crowd filled the space where the Declaration of Independence was first
read to a crowd not quite so large. The place where Benjamin Franklin,
when asked what form of government was established, said, “A republic,
madam, if you can keep it,” hosted Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen,
Chelsea and President Bill Clinton, in that order, Michelle Obama,
President Obama, and finally, the woman of the evening, Hillary Clinton
who apparently
stunned Hollywood fashionistas in her scarlet pantsuit.
Those
of us who had followed her through the day knew that she had not
changed her attire for this event. She looked fresh as a rose, and her
busy day was not ending there! She moved on to a late night rally in
Raleigh after Barack Obama played Hillary to Hillary’s Bill and escorted
her offstage at the end.
What
we knew before the crowd at the North Carolina State William Neal
Reynolds Coliseum knew it was that Bon Jovi was on the plane with all
the Clintons when they left Philadelphia for the very last rally in
Raleigh.
What
none of us knew was that Lady Gaga would be at the rally. In a nod to
Madeleine Albright, she sported a big, beautiful pin on the jacket of
her pantsuit. She spoke and then she performed with total Gaga gusto.
And then it was D-Day.
Shortly
before 4 a.m. EST Hillary Clinton’s campaign plane touched down at
Westchester Airport for the last time. Press and staff deboarded, and a
huge hometown crowd was on the tarmac awaiting and cheering her.
Only
a few hours later, the Clintons were at their polling place where once
again they were greeted by a large turnout of their neighbors.
And
then it all went sideways. We watched the returns in disbelief. The
next morning, she conceded, graciously with her chin up.
"...
to the millions of volunteers, community leaders, activists and union
organizers who knocked on doors, talked to neighbors, posted on
Facebook, even in secret, private Facebook sites – I want everybody coming out from behind that and make sure your voices are heard going forward."
Many
of us never hid, were never secretive, and always posted publicly no
matter what the cost. Many of us have always been loud and proud. We
continue to be.
Some of us posted our thank-yous to Hillary here.
There were tributes.
Hillary
was not the honoree at this award event. Christine LaGarde was, but
she joined in praising Hillary who wasn’t even there.
Introducing
Hillary, Marian Wright Edelman noted her overwhelming lead in the
popular vote and called her “the People’s President.” Hillary admitted
that making this appearance was not the easiest thing for her. She said
she wanted to curl up with a good book and her dogs and never leave the
house again. But she said she got up and dusted herself off because
Marian exemplified that for her.
There have been
Hillary-sightings, several of these in the woods, leading to some interesting new Twitter accounts.
Her hometown has rallied around her, of course.
Toward the end of the month,
the campaign responded to the many calls for a recount or an audit.
Hillary made a surprise appearance at the UNICEF Snowflake Gala where her fervent supporter, Katy Perry was honored.
November ended with
the campaign requesting assistance with the recount
which Hillary's campaign had not initiated. Protocol allows and common
sense dictates fair representation of all sides no matter where the
recount request originates.
November began on an optimistic note
and ended with Hillary's team still shaking our heads and not quite sure
what happened except that we were pretty certain
Comey's October 27 letter
did damage as did the wikileaks gusher of campaign emails. Trump's
Russian ties and vile tweets and remarks somehow got passes. More than
three weeks after Election Day, many Hillary supporters were still down
in our cups and dealing with shock, loss, and grief. But we will never
be sorry for the run. It was glorious. We are proud of our Hillary and
will defend her to the end.
Here is the archive for November 2016 >>>>
