Melissa McEwan

Senator Boxer introduces bill to abolish Electoral College

NEW: @SenatorBoxer introduces bill to abolish Electoral College, calling it an "outdated, undemocratic system" pic.twitter.com/amXLNygocm — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 15, 2016 “When all the ballots are counted, Hillary Clinton will have won the popular vote by a margin that could exceed two million votes, and she is on track to have received more […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 15, 2016

They’re rewriting history to pretend Hillary was weak

Hillary Clinton’s opponents and the corporate media — who were too frequently one and the same — spent the election trying to invisibilize her supporters and our enthusiasm for her candidacy. Now that the election is over, the emergent narrative that Clinton was a “weak” candidate is being employed to erase that she was, in […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 14, 2016

We must urgently cultivate empathy with marginalized people

https://twitter.com/Shakestweetz/status/797505874583494656 This is a suggestion with a political and cultural purpose. We live in a diverse country, where the most privileged people are treated as the default humans, and everyone else divergent from that norm. Straight white men are overrepresented in politics, media, pop culture; as investors, venture capitalists, and captains of industry. Anyone who […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 14, 2016

Hillary Clinton defines grace and dignity in her concession speech

Hillary Clinton demonstrated precisely why she was the candidate we supported, conceding with grace and integrity, and urging us not to despair or grow weary, but to keep fighting to build the better country we envision. One thing that will not change and cannot be changed is this: We are stronger together.

By Melissa McEwan - November 09, 2016

Trump’s closing argument: A woman cannot be president

Speaking on a stage with members of the military seated behind him, Donald Trump’s closing argument against Hillary Clinton includes the contention that a woman simply cannot be president. Trump, standing in front of Medal of Honor recipients: “to think of HER — being their boss? I don’t think so…I know what they’re thinking.” pic.twitter.com/BPXLnwHxo5 […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 04, 2016

Clinton’s massive ground game reaches 14.5 million people in final weekend

Clinton camp touting GOTV says this wkd they made 14.5M voter-to-voter contacts: Knocked on 6.2M doors and called 8.1M voters over the phone — Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) November 7, 2016 Hillary Clinton has campaigned hard throughout this entire election, whether she was ahead in the polls or trailing. She has not taken anything for granted, […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 07, 2016

She’s earned it

Every time Hillary Clinton has run for office, she has been accused by segments of the media and by many of her ideological opponents of feeling “entitled” to the office she is seeking. This narrative has been promulgated in many ways, from straightforwardly accusing her of feeling entitled to casting her as an imperious queen who […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 06, 2016

For women, defeating Trump is a message to men who behave like he does

It is a natural consequence of an election primarily between two candidates to explore whether voters are more disposed to vote for one candidate or against the other. There has been lots of polling on that subject this cycle. But what those binary numbers do not reveal is that many women supporting Hillary Clinton are […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 04, 2016

EXCLUSIVE: AFL-CIO calls on Trump to explain misleading “Made in the USA” claims

Donald Trump’s apparel line, the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection, consists of menswear — primarily ties, dress shirts, vests, sports coats, and suits. He was famously called out by David Letterman in 2012 for outsourcing the manufacture of his apparel to Bangladesh and China. “Because of the manipulation of their currency, when you go out, […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 04, 2016

“Hamilton” star covers policy on Facebook better than all nightly news shows combined

According to Media Matters (citing the Tyndall Report), as of October 26, the three major U.S. networks’ flagship nightly news programs — ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News — devoted just 32 minutes to coverage of candidates’ policy issues in 2016. That means Daveed Diggs, star of the musical Hamilton, provided […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 04, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s new ad about children is why she should be president

Hillary Clinton’s campaign has produced a compelling ad about how elections, and the political leaders we choose in them, have important ramifications for children. Our children are watching to see what kind of example we set for them. pic.twitter.com/rAzUyjWsAq — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 2, 2016 “Our children,” says Morgan Freeman, narrating the video. “They […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 03, 2016

I published this photo of Hillary Clinton and the response was overwhelming

My original piece on this photo read: I could write an entire essay about why I love this photo. This very candid photo of a woman doing her job in an unspecial room, surrounded by scattered water bottles and the cords to various electronic devices and notices crudely taped to a wall. This photo of […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 03, 2016

The worst leaks about Clinton are better than the best tweets by Trump

Tens of thousands of Hillary Clinton’s emails — and those of her team — have been officially investigated and publicly scrutinized. Although she said that she regretted using a private server, the emails made public by the investigation contained nothing that revealed Clinton and her team to be anything but ethical actors, doing their best as […]

By Melissa McEwan - November 02, 2016

Trump has made a financial killing on his campaign

Pollster Tony Fabrizio has worked for the Trump campaign since May. According to a report in the Washington Post: [T]he campaign did not make any payments to Fabrizio until September, when his firm received nearly $624,000, federal filings show. Trump’s finance reports show that the campaign owes the firm an additional $55,300 on top of […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 31, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s voters are proudly etching their names into history

Hillary Clinton has made history already. By becoming the first female nominee of a major party, she forever changed American politics. It is an achievement so momentous, I can barely put into words its significance. I still cannot even talk about it without tears spilling from my eyes. And yet: The historic nature of her […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 30, 2016

Poignant VoteVets video honors our immigrant veterans

When Donald Trump announced his candidacy, his opening salvo was to say that Mexico was not sending “their best,” but “people with lots of problems.” His anti-immigrant rhetoric has continued throughout the campaign, particularly centered on Mexican and Muslim immigrants. His words and policies have been rooted in fear-mongering, eliding the many significant contributions that […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 28, 2016

Feminist First Ladies join forces to defeat sexist Trump — what a time to be alive

Donald Trump has run a bitter, divisive, bigoted campaign. It is enough to demoralize even the most hardy optimistic progressives. Watching Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama campaign together for the first time is the invigorating balm we needed. Not just because their shared vision for the future is inspiring. Not just because the policies they […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 27, 2016

They’re already trying to erase what they did to Hillary Clinton

The pre-mortems of 2016 media coverage have begun. In the Washington Post, Dana Milbank takes the media — or certain members of the media, anyway — to task for being “lap dogs” who failed to “bark at Trump.” The watchdogs, he says, “were outnumbered in this election by those who cover politics as horse race.” Animal […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 25, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s sins: A charitable foundation and supporting health care for millions

If you really want to understand what drives U.S. politics, consider the Republican Party’s prime targets: Planned Parenthood, the Clinton Foundation, Obamacare, refugees, migrants, people of color, women, the queer community, disabled people, etc. And then consider that the Democratic Party coalition is built around the party leadership’s defense of these populations and the policies […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 27, 2016

Joyful, enthusiastic Clinton supporters flood #HereIAmWithHer hashtag

The hashtag #HereIAmWithHer trended nationally and was flooded with inspiring photos and comments. Here are just a few examples: https://twitter.com/kellyforamerica/status/791093197686517761 #HereIamWithHer Jewish Muslim Black White Male Female Wisconsin Immigrant. My family. Our America. pic.twitter.com/SPE6OJRWfa — kalsarikännit (@haistanapa) October 26, 2016 I just voted for Hillary's first term as POTUS #HereIAmWithHer pic.twitter.com/SwPEOAlOYW — Herb Rosenbluth (@GranpaHerb) October […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 26, 2016

Meet the Scottish farmer who took on Donald Trump over a golf course

For nearly a decade, Scotsman Michael Forbes and his mother Molly fought a battle against Donald Trump, who used every means possible to try to get his hands on their farmland as part of a golf resort project in Aberdeenshire. When they refused to be bought, Trump threatened to try to use a compulsory purchase […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 27, 2016

Why have pollsters stopped asking if we are ready for a woman president?

One of the curious things about this historic election is that pollsters have all but abandoned questioning whether the nation is “ready” for a woman president. The question has long been a staple of polls measuring national political attitudes: “Gallup have carried out similar polls at periodic intervals since 1937, when only one-third of those […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 25, 2016

Warren to Trump: “We nasty women are going to cast our nasty votes!”

After Donald Trump leaned down to sneer into his microphone “Such a nasty woman” about Hillary Clinton during the third presidential debate, “nasty woman” has become a rallying cry among female Clinton supporters. While Clinton and New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan sat to her side on the stage, Elizabeth Warren informed Trump precisely what he […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 24, 2016

Trump goes after Michelle Obama in divide and conquer strategy

We are all too painfully aware of Donald Trump’s disrespect for women. And he really doesn’t respect women who challenge him. And Michelle Obama has been out front in challenging Trump, particularly on the subject of his contempt for women. So off he went. Trump comments on FLOTUS as surrogate for Clinton: “His wife, all she […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 21, 2016

The significance of Hillary Clinton’s work on behalf of children

Hillary Clinton often says that she has spent her life advocating for children, women, and families. She has — but rarely do we consider what this says about her. And, more specifically, how it crushes so many pernicious narratives about her. Does someone who is, as she is so frequently said to be, ruthlessly ambitious, […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 22, 2016

Republican congressman: “A lady needs to be told when she’s being nasty”

During an interview with Alan Colmes on his radio show, GOP Congressman Brian Babin defended Trump calling Hillary Clinton “such a nasty woman,” after Colmes asked him if he thought it was appropriate. “You know what, she’s saying some nasty things,” the Texas congressman answered. Colmes asked again if the comment was appropriate, to which […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 21, 2016

Newt Gingrich coins “Little Trump”

During an interview with the Washington Examiner, Newt Gingrich ― who was once in contention to be Donald Trump’s running mate ― explained that there are two Trumps: Big Trump and Little Trump. Big Trump, says Gingrich, is “a historic figure talking about historic ideas.” Little Trump, on the other hand, is “very sensitive, particularly […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 19, 2016

Trump’s America: Bad hombres and nasty women

During the segment of the debate on immigration, Donald Trump said: “We’re going to secure the border, and once the border is secured, at a later date, we’ll make a determination as to the rest. But we have some bad hombres here, and we’re gonna get ’em out.” “bad hombres” —Donald Trump#debatenight pic.twitter.com/LvKMgSoUXx — Complex […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 19, 2016

“Rigged” election talk fueled by news media’s utter disregard for Clinton’s voters

75% of Trump voters in Florida think that if Clinton wins, it will only be because of voter fraud: https://t.co/q6gfv6YfNm — PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) October 14, 2016 This belief is not limited to Florida. It is widespread, populating across the internet in email forwards and social media memes. Donald Trump proclaims at his rallies that every […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 15, 2016

That time Trump’s campaign manager accidentally called GOP leaders “Grand Wizards”

You see the donor community starting to come around to their fellow billionaire. They want to help as well. There’s also a generational split here. You see some of the Grand Wizards…the Grand Poohbahs of the party coming over and saying, “I support Donald Trump now.” At the time, it just seemed like a rather […]

By Melissa McEwan - October 18, 2016