As a member of the Democratic Party and a Political Science student, I try to keep as firm of a grasp on understanding contemporary political discussion and issues throughout both parties as possible. It can be hard, of course, with so much happening so often plus the wonderful amount of misleading information. And while the Republican Party certainly has its faults, the Democrats are not innocent bystanders of finger pointing and name calling. Plenty of Democrats commit shady actions or plainly exist within the party as rising demagogues. This brings me to discuss someone that everyone seems to be sick of hearing about: Former Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham-Clinton.

Before I go any further, let’s answer some potential thoughts that popped into your head. No, I am not mentioning Bill Clinton at all. No, I am not going to discuss the Clinton Foundation. No, I am not about to demand a recount on an election that happened almost a year ago. And no, I am not about to applaud Rodham-Clinton as some progressive visionary or feminist icon. Speaking of the election, though, Hillary Clinton has recently released a new book, about a month old now, titled “What Happened.” Let’s explore that a bit more, perhaps.

Call Hillary Clinton names, point to her changing opinions with the changing popular opinion, call out Benghazi, or exclaim she belongs in jail. Or, call her your hero, a step in “shattering the glass ceiling,” a prominent figure for women to look up to. However you see her, there is no denying that Clinton was your 2016 Democratic Party Candidate. There is also no denying that she lost the election and is not the current president. In Clinton’s new book, she examines what factors led to her defeat as well as living as the Democratic Candidate in 2016. While I myself have not read the entire book, I did read reviews, summaries, and found direct quotes from it. Combined with this, I also vividly recall the following from an interview Clinton had recently:

"And Sheryl ended this really sobering conversation by saying that women will have no empathy for you, because they will be under tremendous pressure—and I’m talking principally about white women—they will be under tremendous pressure from fathers and husbands and boyfriends and male employers not to vote for “the girl.”"

Not only was I taken aback by this quote, I was downright infuriated. I also didn’t appreciate some of her colleagues joining in with the gender-bashing. I am fully aware of what misogyny is; as a feminist, I think I have the capability of spotting it when it is presented and how to not fall into it. I am an individual with the potential of educating myself, you know. Not to mention, I am pretty sure the entire point of being chosen for a powerful position as someone who is considered a minority is to point to that success and say that it was not achieved because of a person’s gender, but it was accomplished despite any pre-existing bias about someone’s gender.

I did not vote for Hillary Clinton, not because my friends and family did not tell me not to or because I wanted to boys to like me. Contrary to the apparently popular belief, I spent over a month deciding who I would vote for. I decided not to vote for Clinton because I examined factors such as the Electoral College map in relation to by state, how I felt about Hillary Clinton, and who I thought would best represent me when I chose to stand behind someone. I also weighed the consequences of not voting Clinton by examining historical events such as the Election of 1912, where the Republican Party was so split that Woodrow Wilson ended up winning with unification helping him quite a bit.

Hillary Clinton: No, I am not telling you to “shut up” or “go away.” I think the power you have is incredible and I don’t mind hearing from you, especially since many of your current stances on policies align with my beliefs. However, I don’t encourage the prolonging of November 8, 2016 in the public eye. You lost; let’s grieve and move on. Easier said than done, perhaps, but it must be done. So many people are tired for a reason, and it is frivolous to exploit something that you could try to come back from. It’s better to grow from a loss than cultivate those emotions and let them continue to stir. If the Democrats are going to be a force to reckon with, Democrats need to unify and regroup for the midterm election. All in all, the party seems to be fragmented more than anything, and it’s past time to change that.