Clinton finds strong support among early voters in Atlanta

By Gabriel Ramos, Kristen Bryan, Meagan Cutler, and Dylan Maynard

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
addresses constituents at Atlanta City Hall Friday.
Gabriel Ramos, Feb. 26, 2016

ATLANTA – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke to a crowd of supporters Friday in an effort to encourage more votes both on that day, which served as the last day for early primary voting, and on the upcoming Super Tuesday next week.

The night before the event, the venue was changed from Georgia State University to the much smaller and less accessible Atlanta City Hall for security reasons, according to the Clinton Campaign. About 400 supporters filled up the old city council chamber to hear her speak. Among these supporters was Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

“I’ve been thinking about Secretary Clinton,” Reed said while introducing the former secretary of state. “I think about how a woman who went to Yale Law School did incredibly well. She didn’t go to Wall Street. You know where she went? She went to South Carolina, and then she went to Alabama, and then she went to Arkansas. Her life has been helping other people so I don’t know how anybody has gotten it confused!”

Clinton thanked Reed for the support he showed her throughout her campaign, and thanked the city council as well. She also emphasized the importance of the last day of early voting.

“It’s a treat to be here in Atlanta,” Clinton said, “to have this opportunity to thank you (all who are) working hard for my campaign to encourage everybody to go early vote today, the last day of early voting, and to ask each and every one of you to do what you can to make sure everybody else votes on Tuesday, Super Tuesday. The primary here in Georgia will be so consequential.”

Along with early voting, Clinton emphasized her stances on Obamacare, immigration, gun control, and other issues within her platform. The supporters who were fortunate enough to attend the smaller venue included supporters both young and old from all over the Southeast United States who already submitted early votes. Among them was Hannah Clapp, an Auburn University senior who submitted her vote through the absentee ballot of Niceville, FL.

“I was very interested in meeting Hillary Clinton since she’s such a big role model of mine,” she said.

Clapp, 21, who drove from Auburn, Alabama, said she’d given looks to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as other candidates, but primarily out of due diligence in researching all possible nominees. Ultimately, her vote went to Clinton because she felt that Clinton was a good moderate and a good role model for women.

Another voter who had traveled from out of state was Emery Wach of South Carolina. She had voted at home the day before the event in order to ensure she could attend the event, and had similar sentiments to Clapp.

“I mean, I really think that Bernie is more of a romantic candidate,” Wach, 25, said, “but I don’t think he has anywhere near the qualifications she does, and I also don’t think he is a bipartisan candidate like she is. I don’t think that he would do anything to bring the two parties together. I think he’d really polarize them, that’s where we need Hillary.”

Clinton also had major support from local voters. Georgia voter Evan Cleaver went to the ballot the previous Sunday, but still decided that it was important to show support for his candidate by attending her event.

“I wanted to show my support for her candidacy and also hear what she has to say,” he said. “Even though my vote has been cast, I feel there is a lot more that I can learn about her as a candidate… I still want to ensure that I feel the message is positive because there is another election, and also to be 100 percent candid with you, there is a notion that all the young people are backing other candidates, and myself being fairly young-ish, I wanted to get out and show that there are young people who support Hillary Clinton as well.”

Cleaver, 34, said that he agrees with Clinton on how the country should move forward in terms of gun control policies, healthcare, and mass incarceration among other stances. He also said he likes to believe that he gave everybody a chance, including Republicans, but that Sanders and Clinton were the only two he seriously looked at.

He also summed up the thought process behind getting to the ballots early.

“I don’t like long lines,” Cleaver said. “I wanted to make sure my voice was heard but the last time I voted on an election day, to be honest, it got hectic.”