The Democratic National Convention presented information about Hillary Clinton that made me seriously interested in voting for her in November. I was unaware of her hard work and persistent actions as a lawyer, a first lady and a senator for children with disabilities. My son was born in December 1996 with lifelong physical and cognitive disabilities due to Spina Bifida. It is because of her efforts that he has received consistent high-quality medical care, physical therapy and early intervention (aka Head Start) through California Children's Services.
The magnitude of costs for the medical care alone, from the second that he was born to now, is huge. He spent the first three weeks of his life in the hospital and he has had fifteen surgeries and hospital stays plus regular visits to the UCSF Spina bifida clinic. The entire cost has been covered by California Children's Services and MediCal. Even people with high paying jobs would not be able to handle the full expense of care that my son has needed so far. I am grateful that someone in such a privileged position cared enough to fight for the rights of children who used to die young due to complications of Spina bifida. I know that would not be the same had she and the late Ted Kennedy not pressed congress to pass the Children's Health insurance Program. My child is one of the 8 million children who has benefited from her effort as First Lady.
There might be mistakes she made as most politicians tend to during a long career. It is hard to separate what is genuine from everything that is reported. Sometimes issues get repeated by the media too many times and it clouds the truth and lies about candidates for public office, leaving a derivative of the real person as if they were a cartoon character. Without close investigation beyond the media, there are important facts that voters miss.
Hillary's acceptance speech on the last night of the Democratic National Convention had a big impact on my opinion of her. She spoke of details that go into creating a law, in particular, one that concerns health care for children with disabilities. Then she paused and stated,"Because it's not just detailed if it's your kid -- if it's your family. It's a big deal. And it should be a big deal to your president." I know she was not just speaking to me, but at that instant it became personal.
I no longer plan to vote against Donald Trump by voting for Hillary Clinton. I will vote for Hillary Clinton because she is going to be a wonderful president.
