This video of a tearful mom leaving the polls beautifully symbolizes Hillary Clinton’s historic nomination
The 2016 election has been an emotional roller coaster — and plenty of our emotions have, for good reason, been negative. But a viral video of a tearful mom leaving the polls after voting for Hillary Clinton is a powerful reminder that Americans are making history as we speak by casting our ballots for the first female presidential nominee of a major party. It’s a deeply meaningful, emotional experience for many people — and Sarah Dean recorded a video of her mom, 60-year-old Vickie Wilkinson of Montana, who was overcome with emotion after after voting for Clinton.
As she cast her ballot, Wilkinson thought of her own mother who was denied credit, a car, and an apartment after her divorce in the 1960s. At the time, these rights were only extended to women who had a man to co-sign for them.
Dean, who drove Wilkinson to the polling station, said her mom’s reaction put things into perspective for her. Despite this painful election cycle, we have a lot to be excited about — because we’re all making history by voting for Clinton.
“It hit me how important this was, Wilkinson said. “I’m 60 years old and this is the first time in my life, and anybody’s life here, that we’ve actually had a viable woman candidate for president of the United States. And she has a good shot at winning!
As she turned in her ballot, Wilkinson reflected on how far our country has come. “The fight and struggle just to vote for an intelligent, qualified, viable woman ― it was just sort of overwhelming to me on that morning. And I was thanking God that I was able to do this,” she said.
By this time next week, hopefully we’ll have another reason to cry with joy. We may finally have the opportunity to say “Madam President” — and that’s a beautiful thing.
