Shakara Hill wanted to vote for both Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack
Obama as she cast her ballot in the Illinois primary presidential
election.
But when it came to making a
final decision on her paper ballot, Hill chose Obama as her candidate,
although she said Clinton gets two thumbs up from her also.
"I want them together, I
really do," Hill said of her support of an Obama/Clinton or
Clinton/Obama ticket in the general election. "The two putting their
heads together would be better. It wouldn’t be bad if she were
president. She knows the ropes. That really would be change, both of
them together."
Besides the obvious gender
and race changes either Clinton or Obama would bring to the White House,
Hill said she thinks both candidates would make a difference by bringing
the troops home in a diplomatic way, through their proposed health care
plans and what they would do about the mortgage crisis.
"The reason why I chose
Barack is because for one he is a Democrat. Two, I agree with the issues
that he stands on. I agree with some Hillary stands too, but not as
much," Hill said.
The main issue she agrees
with Obama on is his health care plan.
"I like that plan because he
stated that he wanted to make the plan affordable to all citizens of
America, unlike mandating it like Hillary."
The war in Iraq is the other
issue Hill agrees with Obama on.
"[Obama and Clinton] both
believe that our troops should come home, however Hillary thinks that
they should just come home right away and of course, Sen. John McCain
thinks they can stay another 100 years. He just doesn’t care. But mainly
Obama thinks there is a way to go about getting them out instead of just
immediately withdrawing them from Iraq. He believes that there should be
like a discussion. Sit down and talk about it."
Hill voted along with her
father at the local elementary school in her community of Galewood on
the West Side of Chicago. She decided to catch the train from downtown
to her home Monday night so that she could vote in Super Tuesday
elections.
"I thought maybe this was
really different. I thought wow, I am actually voting for the primary
which I think will make a difference and hopefully my vote will count."
Although she did vote for a
Democrat, Hill said she does understand that if Clinton or Obama were
elected they would have big obstacles to overcome.
"I think if Obama or Hillary
wins that the American people are definitely going to have some
obstacles they are going to deal with because it takes a while for
people to adapt to change. I believe they will have to work harder to
try to prove themselves than try to at least satisfy at least 75 percent
of people."
Not paying attention to the
Republican race, Hill said she knows she doesn’t agree with McCain on
the war in Iraq and she thinks he is "above and beyond the age that a
president for the United States of America should be."