Arkansas Democrats cast votes to make Clinton nominee

Elated delegates’ 27 votes cast with pride

Vincent Insalaco, chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, and the rest of the state’s delegates cast their votes Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Vincent Insalaco, chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, and the rest of the state’s delegates cast their votes Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA -- Arkansas Democrats who have known Hillary Clinton for decades cast their votes Tuesday to make her their party's presidential nominee.

They watched and waited for the remaining 46 states to add their tallies. And they jumped to their feet, laughing and dancing, shouting and weeping once the votes had been counted and history had been made.

Other delegates, too young to remember Clinton's Arkansas days, joined in the celebration.

Bob Nash, a friend since the 1970s and President Bill Clinton's White House personnel director, sat on the very front row, slapping backs and trading hugs.

"It's exciting. It's earth-shattering. It's going to change the world. It's going to change the world for the next 40 years," he said.

Jamie Scott of North Little Rock, who campaigned across the country for Hillary Clinton in 2008, wiped her tear-streaked face and smiled as she took it all in.

She said she had witnessed "history being made today for little girls who never thought that this would be possible," adding, "We're shattering the ceilings and we're going to continue to empower young women around the country."

Surrounded by throngs of photographers and television news crews, Arkansas' 27 Clinton delegates savored the moment, snapping selfies of themselves.

The cameras recorded the images, but the feelings were harder to capture.

Jamie Darling of Tuckerman said the Arkansans in the crowd were "completely electrified" as Clinton passed the crucial political milestone.

"Essentially from kindergarten through college, I grew up with the Clintons being the first family of Arkansas. It's great to see the Clinton tradition continue and it's great to finally cross the threshhold for women," she said.

While the song "Happy" blared over the speakers, the Arkansans snapped pictures and marveled that, for the first time, a woman would lead a major party's ticket.

"I'm thrilled to cast my vote for her for president of the United States," said Denise Garner, a delegate who serves on the board of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

Clinton founded the organization in the 1970s and its work continues to this day.

"I don't know [Clinton] like a lot of the folks here know her, but I feel she's a soul mate because she loves doing what I love to do and that's provide a voice for those who don't have a voice otherwise," the Fayetteville woman said.

Nash, the longtime Clinton friend, said a win in November would have long-lasting effects.

"When she appoints two to three Supreme Court justices, they're going to make sure that people all over the world are treated with fairness and equity. Women all over the world, people of color, everybody in the country, including white males, are going to be happy about this," he said.

Karen Garcia, a Clinton delegate from Hot Springs, waved an American flag and held aloft a homemade sign reading: "Hog Country Arkansas Hillary Razorbacks."

"It's very, very exciting. We're a part of living history right now. And as a woman, seeing this come to fruition, it's more than I can express," she said. "All the young girls can know that there's no limit to whatever they want to do in life."

While Clinton allies were exuberant, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' 10 Arkansas delegates were less exultant.

Sarah Scanlon, a Sanders delegate who served as his Arkansas state director, stood near the front and said Tuesday would be a turning point.

"The primary's behind. It's time to move forward. We have great issues to work on, great issues to work towards and it's our job to make sure Donald Trump does not win and that Hillary Clinton does everything that she's telling us that she's going to be doing," she said.

Earlier in the roll call, before the celebration began, Arkansans stood and cheered for their state party chairman, Vince Insalaco, as he stood before the cameras to promote the Natural State and to add its votes.

"Madam Secretary, I rise from Arkansas where we first learned to believe in a place called Hope, where we are equally as proud to be the home of the American poet laureate Maya Angelou and the civil-rights leader Daisy Gatson Bates. Arkansas, where as mother and first lady Hillary Clinton led the fight for access to pre-K education long before it was popular, where she led the fight for Legal Aid services before it was popular, where she led the effort to establish a children's hospital before it was popular and where she fought for our mothers and sisters and our daughters before it was popular. Arkansas, where we are again filled with hope for our children and grandchildren, including my five granddaughters Kaitlyn, Mary, Isabella, Audrey and Avyanna, because we know this is truly a nation that should all be equal. Madam Secretary, Arkansas casts 10 votes for Bernie Sanders who campaigned from his heart and who now in unity joins us in supporting Hillary Clinton because he understands what is at stake. And now, Arkansas enthusiastically casts 27 votes for the next president of the United States, Hillary Clinton," he said.

Insalaco had written the comments Monday night after the convention's first day.

He wanted to acknowledge some of the state's most famous women, while also giving a shout out to his family.

"I had to bring my granddaughters into it. I couldn't help that," he said.

It wasn't easy, he said, to sum Clinton up in one minute's time, but he tried.

"I really thought it was important to talk about things that Hillary did early in her career," he said.

Her priorities haven't changed, he said.

"Forty years later. She's still talking about health care, she's still talking about education," he said.

Metro on 07/27/2016




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Ted Dick, executive director of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, joins the rest of the delegation Tuesday in saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

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