On the second day of the Road to the White House, we started our day by heading down south to Aiken County South Carolina. We hung out with the Aiken Democrats where we got to meet the Vice Chair. We went over how they run their party. The first thing I noticed was the average age of the county party being well over the age of 50. Bringing the blunt truth that the party can die with them if they do not do recruitment for younger democrats in the county, even if it is bringing their local college democrats chapter into discussions on where to move forward. This brought the discussion towards the party starting to use social media (not Facebook) to reach young people.
I have to say I was so grateful that they were so receptive, not all older Democrats are.
We brought the party outside when we went to the Aiken County Black History Parade. It was so much fun to see so many people present to celebrate culture and love. When I saw two of my classmates from St. Pete Florida hop in and join the celebration it brought me to tears to everyone so happy. But it was time for the event we were all waiting for, the Nikki Haley town hall. So when we arrived we were definitely different from the typical South Carolina voters. Nevertheless, we spoke to voters, the press, and people apart of Nikki Haley's security team. Then Queen of South Carolina Republicans herself arrived. Here stump speech was good, little did I know it would be the same one I got to hear an additional 3 times this trip. She brought up things I agree with like making sure veterans were treated like the heroes they are.
Other things not so much, being a young Latina myself her remarks that one immigrant coming in could cause another 9/11 was unsettling. But overall it was terrible. We rushed and got in the photo line to speak to her. I shook her hand and she thanked me for being there but went to pose for a picture. I do not know why I hugged her but I think the feeling of a female sticking it out this long, especially in a party that isn't always the most welcoming to women's leadership was nice. But it was over in a few seconds, I was bored but noticed her son was there and we seemed to be of similar ages.
I struck up a conversation with Nithin. It was truly the best opening one-liner I could have come up with it. "So your mom, she a pretty big deal" He laughed and agreed, and I began to ask questions about what it is like. He let me know that if he did not give her approval she would have never run. He was very firm on it being a family decision. But he also let me know that he was on the campaign trail with her also getting college credits, it was cool to relate to him on a human level. At some level we were just two college kids studying politics, but from two completely different worlds. His mom is a known and successful woman in the field, with a private education with unlimited resources versus my public school which I attend with a scholarship from a family who knows nothing and no one in the field of study. But somehow we ended up at the same event studying the same thing on a cold South Carolina night. It is a reminder that regardless of the path or party we are all humans just wanting a better future for our country.
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