Locals Give Their Opinions On Clinton Nomination

Hillary Clinton’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention makes her the first woman to ever make it this far in a presidential race.

KVRR took to the streets and talked to some women in the Red River Valley about the nomination.

Women in the area have some very different ideas on what this nomination means for equality; there is no question about that.

There is however a consistent theme that rings throughout.

The year 2016 brings the U.S. its first major–party female nominee and it has many women excited and inspired.

“Another woman seeing a woman being a president, that’s something. I think that’s something. It kind of shows women like, ‘Hey we can do this!’,” says Fargo local Quinci.

Even so, women still face issues like under-representation and career advancement.

Some don’t know if the nomination will really change that.

“It’s not like companies are going to be like, ‘Oh there’s a woman president I should make this woman go up higher!’,” says Ciera a Fargo local.

Others are somewhere in between.

“You could probably look at how well African Americans have benefited from having Barack Obama in the presidency. I think that we still have many hills to climb as you might say and a lot of work to do in front of us,” says Fargo local Olivia Janis.

Most of the people say privately that they believe Hillary’s nomination is a step forward for women but don’t want to say it on the record, saying they don’t want to appear to endorse Clinton personally.

In some cases personal opinions of Clinton make it difficult for people to embrace the historic side of this election.

Dr. Ann Burnett with NDSU points out cases where media may have trivialized the moment.

“In today’s paper the lead article wasn’t about this historic decision, it was about a break in in a museum. The lead article is not about this historic decision it’s about a break in in a museum,” Dr. Burnett says.

How much of a difference Clinton’s nomination will make for women in the long run is something we’ll just have to wait to see but the one thing everyone seems to agree with is that there’s still a lot of work to do.