When Allaire Diamond stepped into the voting booth Tuesday, her intention to vote for Hillary Clinton was motivated mostly by her regard for her as a “skilled politician” and the work the Democratic candidate had done on behalf of women, children, and gay, lesbian and transgender people.
The fact that Clinton might make history by being the country’s first woman president didn’t strike Diamond, 37, as a huge deal: She said she hasn’t faced a lot of gender discrimination herself, and “sort of takes for granted” rights such as voting and playing sports.
Still, she found herself getting choked up in the voting booth.
“It’s a bigger deal than I thought it would be,” said Diamond, a Jericho, Vt., resident who took a turn holding signs for Clinton and other Democrats outside Lebanon United Methodist Church.
With reproductive rights, LGBT issues and immigration on their minds Tuesday, women supporters of Clinton in the Upper Valley said their votes were mostly prompted by Clinton’s politics, not her gender. Yet the fact that they might play a part in electing the country’s first woman president, 96 years after American women received the hard-won right to vote, didn’t go unnoticed.
Tuesday afternoon, outside of the church, Babette Hansen, 79, expressed it like this: “We’ve come a hell of a long way in less than 100 years.”
The Lebanon resident said she chose Clinton based on her views on abortion and women’s reproductive rights.
“We fought long and hard for that. Then to just toss it all away?” said Hansen, who recalled girls having to drop out of high school, and a sorority sister who left the then tuition-free Queens College after her father decided educating women was “a waste of money.”
She was among several women voters who worried a Trump presidency would reverse gains for women and others.
“I hope we don’t lose progress,” said Diana VanderClute, 22, a Lebanon resident who described herself as “more of a social voter.”
While some say such issues aren’t important, “it’s literally people’s lives in the balance,” for Muslims, Latinos and LGBTs like herself, said VanderClute, who had initially supported Bernie Sanders.
“I think this is an important election.”
Hartland resident Elyse Payson stopped into Damon Hall with her 6-year-old daughter, Lyla, to vote Tuesday afternoon.
With the next presidency, she wants to see women’s rights continue to be important, and for women to maintain the right to choose what they do with their bodies, she said.
“I couldn’t in my right mind vote for Donald Trump, especially having a young daughter.”
“It’s wonderful” that Clinton is a woman, but it’s not as big a deal for her as it seems to be for some people, Payson said.
Hetal Patel, of Lebanon, voted in her second U.S. presidential election at Kilton Public Library. After hearing both of the major candidates discuss immigration, her choice was clear.
Clinton “is really fair to all people,” not just those born in the United States, said Patel, who is originally from India.
But what really inspired her about Clinton was her ability to forgive Bill Clinton husband for his affair with Monica Lewinsky, and put her family first.
“People do make mistakes in life,” but forgiving requires a big heart, she said. “It’s not easy at all.”
And is the fact that Clinton is a woman important?
“We want (to elect) the first female president” in the United States, to have a woman in power, said Patel, who was at the polls with her mother, Ruxmani Patel.
Before casting her vote, West Lebanon resident Linda Glazer had researched Clinton and liked what she found. And she’s watched Clinton over the years, “what she’s done for our country,” Glazer said. “She’s really been in service for a long time.”
For Glazer, who grew up with Clinton “in the spotlight,” seeing her run for the country’s top job seemed like a natural progression, she said. “Now we’re ready for a woman president.”
Several Trump supporters said Tuesday they’d like to see a woman in the White House, but Clinton wasn’t the one.
Bestey Adams, of Hartland, said she supports lower taxes and less government interference, and hopes that whoever was elected would boost the economy and jobs.
“I think we’re still feeling the recession a little bit,” and most people would like to have “a little more money” to spend and save.
While she voted for Trump, in the future, she’d like to see a woman become president, Adams said, “because I’m a woman and I think a woman can do the job.”
Aimee Caruso can be reached at acaruso@vnews.com or 603-727-3210.