At a conference for businesswomen in San Francisco on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton promised that she will never stop speaking out for women's rights. While she continues to inspire us all with her grace and resolve and remind us to never, ever give up no matter how bleak these times may seem, we weren't completely ready for her to joke about the election yet.
But she went there. "There is no place I'd rather be than here with you," Clinton said, as CNN reports, adding: "Other than the White House."
If she can laugh about it, maybe we'll be able to soon. For now, we're prone to imagining an alternate reality in which people aren't unfairly deported, women's health care isn't under threat, climate change is a thing we acknowledge, and there's not a new scandal in the White House every single day.
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The Twitter account @IfHillaryHad — which imagines HRC as the 45th POTUS — has been helping, if only a little bit. It helps us escape with mini-briefing posts like: "Reviewed policy briefs on sanctuary cities. Called Sessions the devil (and meant it). Sent Bill to Anthropologie for scarves."
Jokes that made us sad aside, Clinton offered a message of hope at the conference and suggested that if she were president, she would be fighting for sorely needed family-leave policies.
"Obviously the outcome of the election wasn't the one I hoped for, worked for, but I will never stop speaking out for common-sense benefits that will allow moms and dads to stay on the job," Clinton said.
She added: "As a candidate for President, I put out a comprehensive plan. I don’t expect you to remember that. In fact, there was a recent study showing that none of my plans were really publicized or talked about, so that gives me something for speeches for at least a decade."
Oh, that hurts. But it's 100% the case that if people had spent more time discussing her policy proposals instead of "EMAILS!" things might have gone differently.
Clinton also criticized the failed Republican healthcare bill, saying that "groups of men" making decisions about women's health is absurd. According to analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the plan would have left 24 million Americans without healthcare coverage for the next decade. The bill also proposed taking away funding from Planned Parenthood.
"When this disastrous bill failed, it was a victory for all Americans," she said, to applause.
Finally, Clinton promised to continue her advocacy for women and girls. "Advancing the rights and opportunities of women and girls is the great unfinished business of the 21st century," she said.
Spoken like a true people's president.