After hearing Donald Trump speak last week, I turned off the television feeling depressed and pessimistic about the future of our country. Tonight, I felt a surge of optimism after hearing Hillary Clinton speak.
Although I don’t agree with some of her past work or some of her future plans, I feel inspired by her message. I didn’t have the same reaction to Barack Obama’s hope and change platform, as I was tired of hearing the same rhetoric in many areas of my life where I wasn’t seeing action backing up words.
But the news has been so dark lately and the future so dreary, that the light of Hillary’s message warmed me. The message of us all working together to get through this was inspiring – and in sharp contrast to the message of “I will take care of all these bastards ruining our country,” which by judging faiths and ethnic groups collectively rather than as individuals has a dangerous precedent.
Of course the dark forces looming both within and outside our borders still exist and scenes from “The Apprentice” and “House of Cards” swirl in my mind alongside the campaign speeches and it’s a challenge to keep track of what is real, but for tonight, I’m happy for that one spark of inspiration.