For some SC women, Hillary is long overdue

Kaye Koonce met Hillary Clinton at a Fourth of July picnic in her Arkansas hometown in 1982.

At the time, Hillary Clinton was campaigning with her husband, Bill, who was trying to regain the Arkansas governor’s office. Koonce was struck by how likable, funny and down-to-earth Hillary Clinton was, in addition to having an impressive resume.

More than three decades later, Koonce recalls then thinking: “I hope she runs for office.”

This week, Koonce, an Arkansas native who now lives in South Carolina, will cast her vote at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia for Clinton, helping the former Arkansas first lady secure her party’s presidential nomination.

With that vote, Clinton will become the first woman to win the presidential nomination of a major U.S. political party.

It is a historic feat that is long overdue, some S.C. women say.

Other S.C. women are less thrilled.

While a woman presidential nominee is welcome, Clinton is not fit for the job, says one of South Carolina’s two female state senators.

A majority of S.C. women appear to agree.

In February, 376,744 S.C. women voted in the state’s Republican presidential primary, more than the total number of voters – men and women combined – that cast ballots in the state’s Democratic primary, which Clinton won.

‘A missing piece’

S.C. Democratic women say the nation is ready for a woman leader.

“It’s just been a missing piece in this country,” said former S.C. Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler of Columbia.

For too long, Fowler says, the country’s leadership has not reflected its people.

“It hasn’t been that long since our entire government was run by a bunch of white men,” Fowler said. “This is not a country made up of only a bunch of white men.”

Twenty-year-old Amanda Fitzgerald of Columbia, who aspires to be a lawyer, says Clinton is inspirational.

That inspiration translates into “I know that I can do it,” said Fitzgerald, adding it is amazing Clinton is making history.

Still, she said, society doesn’t think a woman “can do half the things a man can do.”

Bree Maxwell, president of the Young Democrats of South Carolina, said the nation is ready for a woman to run the country.

Maxwell, a 31-year-old from Columbia, said she thought the nation would have a woman presidential nominee before an African-American nominee.

But, thanks to Barack Obama, events happened the other way around.

“It just shows you that the Democratic Party is the party of change and the party of moving forward,” Maxwell said.

Charleston’s Koonce, a superdelegate at the Philadelphia convention, thought a woman would be nominated sooner for president, too.

In 1984, at her first Democratic convention, Koonce voted for U.S. Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., as the first female vice presidential nominee of a major party.

After that history-making vote, Koonce said she took it for granted that a woman soon would be nominated for president.

“Thirty years is a pretty long time,” she said.

‘So well-qualified’

This week, Koonce expects to see organizations at the Democratic convention that are primarily made up of women or specifically deal with issues that affect women, she said.

She also expects issues that affect women to be a part of the conversation, including equal pay, an issue that Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the GOP nominee, endorsed Thursday.

To have Clinton, “one of the foremost advocates for (those) issues at the top of the ticket, is obviously unique,” Koonce said.

As a superdelegate, Koonce can vote for anyone she wants. “We’re the folks who can vote based on our best judgment, not strictly on the outcome of the primary.”

Fortunately, Koonce’s judgment aligns with that of S.C. Democratic voters who gave Clinton 74 percent of their vote over U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the state’s primary.

For Koonce, the longtime Clinton supporter, that result was welcome.

Koonce supported Clinton’s presidential bid in 2008. When that campaign failed, Koonce did as Clinton asked of her supporters, working to elect then-Democratic nominee Obama.

This year, Clinton prevailed because she is the best candidate, regardless of gender, Koonce says. “We’re electing … the best possible person in my lifetime.”

Former S.C. Democratic chair Fowler agrees.

“She is just so well-qualified to be president – if she were a man or a woman – you just cannot question her qualifications.”

‘Need the right female’

State Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, isn’t buying that.

In a state not particularly friendly to women politicians – only two of 46 S.C. state senators and 23 of 124 state representatives are women – Shealy stands out, the sole Republican woman in the state Senate.

It would be great to have a woman president, the Lexington Republican says.

Women are organized and strong, Shealy said. “(But) we need the right female, and I don’t think (Clinton is) the right person for the job.”

Clinton is not someone the nation can trust with its national security, says Shealy.

Other S.C. women have questions about Clinton, too.

Clinton is “not the ideal candidate,” said Shacquerra Hamilton, a 21-year-old University of South Carolina student from Charleston, noting the FBI investigation into Clinton’s use of personal email to conduct State Department business.

But Hamilton is opposed to GOP nominee Donald Trump, saying he is too unpredictable.

Clinton was not the first choice of Deborah Adams of Cheraw.

Adams, a Democratic delegate, initially supported Sanders. Now, however, she plans to support Clinton.

Clinton is more than qualified to be president, Adams said, noting Germany, Great Britain and other countries long have had female leaders.

It’s time for America to join, she said.

“It’s past time.”

This story was originally published July 23, 2016 at 7:32 PM.