by Ronald Mortensen, columnist at Utah Standard News

On October 27, I talked with people attending a Rally in Salt Lake City led by the Chair of the Democrat Party, Donna Brazile. (This event took place before the announcement of the FBI director that he was reopening the investigation into Clinton’s e-mails.) I identified myself as a columnist for the Utah Standard News and I generally asked a combination of these questions: 1. Why are you here? 2. Why do you support Clinton? 3. Are you concerned about the accusations of corruption against Clinton by the release of e-mails by WikiLeaks?

Democrat rally with Interim Democrat Party Chair, Donna Brazile

The following are the comments of those I talked with in their own words.

WOMEN

I like her foreign affairs experience. She is ready for the job now and I’m an Army vet.

I’m not concerned about the allegations of corruption because after 30 years of service they can’t prove anything. Hillary has always worked for women and children, always been for them. I think she is wonderful. I can’t possibly believe everything that the Republicans and right wing media put out. The WikiLeaks guy is a nut and puts out contradictory information.

Hillary is the most qualified with a proven record. She will do what she says. A lot of the WikiLeaks stuff has been debunked and besides previous Secretaries of State did the same.

Women look up to her and admire her. I want to be able to say that I was there when the first woman President was elected.

WikiLeaks started out doing good things but I don’t know what they are thinking now. Assange is a criminal although I supported him initially. I like Hillary because she is positive, has a plan. Trump is hateful. Both have baggage so we have to look at who has the most and what kind of America we want to be.

Why is so much said about the e-mails. Bush deleted millions. No one is perfect and the other side is just hateful. Key policies: climate change; immigration—11 million here and it is absurd to try to deport them. We are a country of immigrants. Education is the most important issue facing the country and Hillary is a strong supporter of the public schools. Health care—Republicans bad mouth Obamacare but look at the huge amounts that insurance company CEOs are making. Republicans did nothing to improve Obamacare or try to save it.

I’m here because I’m excited to see Donna Brazile. I’m definitely voting for Clinton. WikiLeaks hasn’t had much impact because I dislike Trump so much.

Clinton is very competent and has taken a lot of hard knocks because she is a woman.

Hillary is very well prepared, superb experience. She has been working to help children (CHIP) abd veterans. She helped first responders get benefits after 9/11. She worked to get health care passed when her husband was President and continued to push it. What we have is not perfect but she wants to reform it. I’m not worried about WikiLeaks and accusations of corruption. Anyone who has worked as hard as she has has made mistakes in life and in politics. They have learned from their mistakes and are better for it.

I’m not politically savvy enough to follow wikiLeaks. I’ve never been a fan of Clinton because of welfare reform but we need a person who understands families and their needs.

I’m here to see Donna Brazile. I’ve already voted for Hillary. She is the best, amazing for the country, for women, for equality WikiLeaks doesn’t bother me. I don’t believe all of the information is correct and they are just digging to cause trouble.

MEN

Hillary supports all families. She will be a President for everyone, even those who oppose her. I’m not concerned about corruption accusations. She is a lawyer and she has a job to do. She does it with the laws. She has 30 years of experience and ongoing accusations won’t change my mind. I’m so sick of the investigations that I could puke.

If we are hiring the most qualified, Hillary is clearly the one. I am concerned to a certain degree by the WikiLeaks information but then again it is politics as usual and when someone has been in politics as long as Clinton has there will always be things.

I’m supporting Hillary because she is bright, competent and inclusive. As far as WikiLeaks documents go I haven’t seen anything beyond normal campaign chatter but I do think it is terrible for a foreign government to intervene in our elections.

MILLENIALS

We just love Donna. She is such a great role model for women. WikiLeaks is nothing, just trying to derail things but we’re not buying it. Too much Alt Right stuff.

Having something show up on WikiLeaks or elsewhere online is normal for people of my generation since we are so open through social media, e-mail, etc. It is, however, not fair to take a person’s correspondence out of context. I believe that I know Hillary Clinton and her record. She has made a decision to help families and people.