Politics in the United States goes a little like this:
If you’re from a diverse, liberal state like New York, you vote for Hillary. If you’re from a white Christian state like Iowa, you vote for Trump.
Right? Not according to a recent feature in Marie Claire, in which conservative Iowa woman Lyz Lenz confesses she plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.
It’s a decision that puts her at odds with most of her social group and church community. As she explains, voting Democrat in this particular election is particularly taboo, because Clinton’s husband Bill drew harsh criticism from the Religious Right during the Monica Lewinsky affair scandal.
But it turns out Lenz is not the only traditional Republican who’s #teamHillz. As the article explains,
“There are hundreds of private Facebook groups with names like ‘Secret Hillary Club,’ most of which were formed during the caucus, when Clinton supporters felt alienated by ardent Bernie Sanders fans. But now, these online groups have coalesced into places of support and encouragement for counties that burn predominantly red in the polls.”
While many Evangelical Christian women in particular won't openly support Clinton because of the culture of patriarchy and submission in Evangelical churches—"Wives are supposed to follow their husbands' lead in every matter, including politics," Lenz explains—they harbour secret ambitions to vote blue on election day.
Such closeted Hillary supporters include Jennifer*, a 30-something mother who works for a faith-based non-profit. Her job makes it very hard for her to be "outed" as a Democratic candidate: so much so, that she refuses to give her real name in the interview.
"It's just not worth the capital for me to support Clinton in a visible context," Jennifer explains. "But one on one, I try to convince people that there are other alternatives to Trump."
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