I come from a “young democracy,” where it’s considered strange to reveal for whom you’re going to vote. The secret ballot should mean something. I also find this incessant posturing of “I will vote for X” bizarrely performative. But if people are genuinely worried about how their vote will affect the election, they should decide according to what results they want to bring about in their particular states (swing states or not, etc.). If they’re not happy with either candidate, there are others to choose. And not voting is also a legitimate option. Politics and change are not determined by an election that happens every four years. People need to become much more aware and active about what’s going at the local level—change moves up from there. A FORMER STATE DIRECTOR IN THE BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN (she chose to remain anonymous) When we talk about Hillary Clinton’s brand of feminism, we have to consider which women her brand of feminism represents and supports. She certainly does not represent all women. Her brand of feminism doesn’t represent poor and working-class women. If it did, she would not hedge on support of a $15-an-hour minimum wage. She would not have served on the board of Wal-Mart, the country’s largest employer, which pays poverty wages to the women who work there. Hillary Clinton’s brand of feminism serves some of her fiercest supporters like Meryl Streep and Madeleine Albright, who are upper-class white women. She frequently talks about women making 78 cents to every dollar a man makes. What about black women who make even less, at 63 cents to every dollar a man makes, or Latinas who make even less at 54 cents? We often hear Hillary Clinton talk about the middle class and working families. What about the poor? What about the unemployed? I don’t expect to hear the GOP talk about the poor. But for the Democratic nominee to dismiss the poor and unemployed is disconcerting. But again, this is her brand of feminism. Additionally, Hillary Clinton had the opportunity to recognize people of color in a real way by choosing a person of color as her running mate. She could have chosen a prominent person of color, like Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey or [San Antonio Mayor] Julian Castro, who are known on the national stage. She chose Tim Kaine, a white man, who is virtually unknown outside of his state of Virginia. It was especially condescending how the campaign highlighted that Kaine speaks Spanish and goes to a predominantly black church. It felt like they were saying to black and Latino voters, “I know you thought we were going to select a black or Latino running mate. We decided to go with another white man, but look, he’s just like you.” It was an extremely insulting form of pandering. It reminded me of when Bill Clinton played the saxophone on “The Arsenio Hall Show.” Of course, it is a great achievement that a woman is the Democratic nominee. But it’s never been important to me for any woman to be the nominee. If that were the case, I would have supported any number of women, such as Carly Fiorina or Sarah Palin. I didn’t support President Obama because he was black. If that were the case, I could have supported Herman Cain or Ben Carson. I voted for President Obama because his ideology mostly aligned with mine, and he was black. I would like to have a female nominee whose views and policies align with my own, but I don’t have that. Hillary Clinton does not represent me. It’s condescending to think that women should support any female candidate because she’s a woman. I think “there is a special place in hell” for women who try to bully other women. You don’t have to be a woman to be feminist. Bernie Sanders has always stood up for women even when he thought no one was watching. On the other hand, some women hide behind feminism to do things that aren’t necessarily beneficial to women. Clinton’s supposed feminism masks policies that don’t support women. We didn’t win the primary. Clinton will win the election, and we will have four more years of the status quo. But this is a movement. And a movement isn’t about one presidential election. It started in 2008 with Obama’s election, and then it grew in 2011 with Occupy Wall Street, and then it started snowballing with the Fight for 15 and Black Lives Matter, and Bernie Sanders. This movement of protest and fighting for change will continue to grow. We have to keep going, and we will keep going. There is going to be a revolution of some kind. It’s happening. We all can feel it. We all know it’s coming. It’s just up to us what it’s going to look like. Born and raised on the mean streets of New York City’s Upper West Side, Katie Halper is a writer, comedian, filmmaker and the host of “The Katie Halper Show,” a weekly WBAI radio show and podcast. Her writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, Salon, The Guardian and The Nation, and she has appeared on MSNBC, RT, Sirius Radio, Fox News Radio and “The Young Turks.” You can follow Katie Halper on Twitter at Kthalps. Your support matters…

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#2016 election#barack obama#bernie sanders#bill clinton#democratic national convention#donald trump#electronic intifada#feminism#hillary clinton#katie halper#philadelphia#president#rania khalek#tim kaine#women