On Wednesday, Time writer Philip Elliott tweeted “Millennials realize Hillary Clinton is a "badass," seem to have broken the Bernie Fever”. The Time article, by Sam Frizell, was headlined “Millennials Finally Find Something to Love in Harder-Edged Hillary Clinton.” Yes, “Finally.” In case you didn’t know Time was impatiently waiting for them to come around.
Frizell found young voters like Mary Alice Kukoski, who discovered “Badass” Hillary at the presidential debates:
There Clinton was, Kukoski recalled, wearing combative red and sparring with Donald Trump, calm, methodical and deadly.
“My beef with Hillary Clinton was that she was such a scripted politician,” said Kukoski, who voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary. “But she stood her ground against Donald Trump.”
“The debate was that badass moment where I thought, ‘If I wasn’t 100% with her before this, I definitely am now,'” she said.
It wouldn't be surprising if young Sanders voters are coming "home" to the party nominee. Sure, there’s some “redirected antipathy” to Trump in the mix, Frizell admitted, “but methodical takedowns of Trump at the debate and consistent campaign against the Republican nominee have endeared her to young voters....they say they are for the first time detecting a glimmer of authenticity in her fighting style.”
“She has her own charm. She has her own power,” said Chris Proano, an 18-year-old student in Philadelphia who also supported Sanders during the primary. “You saw at the debate how calm she was and confident in her preparation.”
Time didn't take any time for find anti-Clinton millennials, or challenge the Bernie fans on how new WikiLeaks disclosures make Mrs. Clinton look remarkably insincere on Bernie's favorite issues. Frizell's whole article was quoting Hillary campaign officials and newly impressed millennials. It turns out Frizell found a pile of them in a Hillary phone bank. Doesn't that make it easy to line up your sources?
On a cool Tuesday evening in Charlottesville earlier this month, Mary Alice Kukoski was one of a couple dozen students making phone calls for Clinton from a campus classroom. Most supported Sanders during the primary, but after watching Clinton next to Trump during the debates and withstanding a fusillade of social media outreach, they are supporting the Democratic nominee.
“Obama has a likability and a charisma that a lot of people think Hillary lacks,” said Cameron, a student making calls who declined to give her last name. “But the more I actually watch Hillary, the more I hear what she has to say, the more I find myself liking her.”
