Sen. Clinton Appeals to Young Voters in Boston

BOSTON__Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton stopped by Boston Symphony Hall this Wednesday to address 3,000 plus supporters made up of mostly young adults from throughout Massachusetts at the largest fundraising event New York Senator’s has ever hosted in Boston.

While the event was targeted to appeal to young adults, with a performance from the Buffalo band the Goo Goo Dolls and affordable ticket prices, Clinton’s statements were aimed more toward encouraging women voters to spread the word to help make the her the first woman president.

“American can be anything we want it to be,” Sen. Clinton said to the sold out crowd. “If someone tells you we can’t elect a woman president, you tell them ‘yes we can’.”

And a slew of the state’s most prominent women such as State Senate President Therese Murray, Boston city council president Maureen Feeney and founder of the Barbara Lee foundation to get women involved in politics, Barbara Lee reiterated the need for a woman president.

Most of Clinton’s speech addressed the array of issues that have consumed the Democratic presidential campaigns in the past months such as healthcare reform, ending the war in Iraq and taking jabs at the current administration. However, Clinton took some time to tell to the student filled crowd what she plans to do for students if she were elected president.

“The cost of college has gone up faster than the cost of healthcare in the past ten years,” she said, making a promise to young voters that any “student who works hard will be able to go to college.”

But Clinton’s promise to make college affordable for all didn’t rally the crowd as much as her anti-administration slander and bring the troops home promises. The crowd nearly erupted every time Clinton uttered a word about stopping the war in Iraq.

"We're going to end this era of cowboy diplomacy," she said to a raving crowd.

Large groups from local colleges including Boston College, Harvard, Simmons, Mt. Holyoke, Boston University, Emerson and Wellesley, where Clinton received her undergraduate degree came to the event to show support for the candidates or hear what she had to say. Many of the young adults used the event to network with each other and get to know other supporters who are planning to carpool up to New Hampshire to campaign for Clinton in the first primary in the nation.

Many young students said they were Clinton supporters before they heard her speak, however, many students on the edge said Clinton's performance pushed them to fully support the her for the presidency.

“Honestly, I wasn’t really sure if I was going to support her before I came tonight,” Lillian Schruben, 18-year-old freshman from Mt. Holyoke said. “But she was so engaging and passionate tonight I think I’ve changed my mind.”

The ability to vote also invigorated Wellesley freshman Katie Sheahan, 18, who came to the event with a group of classmates supporting the candidate and cheer on three of the university’s acapella choir groups that performed for the fundraiser.

“This is the first time I can vote and it’s a pretty historical and powerful election.” Sheahan said. “That’s why I think I’m so interested in figuring out which candidate I’m going to support by going to events like this.”