A party for Hillary …
My GPS takes me to an area of Virginia I’d never been to before, although it’s only 20 minutes from where I live. It’s lush and green, like much of the state in the summer. When I’m told “my destination is on the right,” I pull onto the side of a road amid a long line of cars also parked along the grassy edge and walk towards a large home.
The door is open and I enter a spacious house filled with people of all ages — 20s to 60s and older. Men and women. They seem happy — smiling and chatting; eating and drinking. I don’t know anyone, including the host.
But that doesn’t matter. It’s a big night even if it doesn’t feel like it yet, and I’m on a mission. It’s time to introduce myself and interview people about why they’re at the party before they get settled in front of the wide screen TV in the den. Because this is the televised launch of a campaign to elect the first woman president of the United States and everyone is psyched about Hillary Clinton.
Here are a few people who shared their beliefs about Hillary as the convention-watch party started.
Lewis Johnson has lived in Reston, Va for more than 30 years. But he’s keenly aware of the politics that drive issues in the country. “Hillary’s got that tough grit and won’t let the Republicans in Congress get away with anything. She knows the world, she understands diplomacy.”
“Hillary will be the first president who cares about immigration,” said Fanny Laske, who was born in Equador and now lives in Virginia after living in New York for 26 years. She will make the best president ever.”
“I’m with her!” Minnie Orozco says smiling, who runs the Food Assistance and Pantry Program for Cornerstones in Reston. Originally from Mexico, she is dedicated to helping people in need. “We need a change in the United States and we need Hillary Clinton to lead it.”
21-year old Andrea Millman just arrived from volunteering in California to join Hillary’s Virginia team. She’s taking a semester off from school to be an organizer, starting with the campaign’s new Facebook “Hunter Mill for Hillary” page.
“I believe this election is the most important thing going on in the world right now. This is global.”
This party, where at first I knew no one and then met so many people, was one of thousands — in Virginia and in every state in the nation. It was the launch of a grassroots buildup of volunteers throughout the country who will grow by the thousands. Volunteers who believe in Hillary Clinton and never want to see Donald Trump set foot into the White House even for a visit. Hillary Clinton’s campaign is an energized force to be reckoned with.
