Some friends and I went to the Hillary Clinton rally on Saturday. It was held in the gym at Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill. The line wrapped all the way around the building as over 2500 people braved the on and off rain and hail, and a few pro-life Trump supporters to get inside the building.

Tim Kaine spoke first, praising Hillary for 15 minutes; then Hillary took the stage. Her speech had an emphasis on the importance of voting. “When your children and your grandchildren ask what you did in 2016, when everything was on the line, I hope you’ll say you voted for a better America.” Both crowds applauded. “Whatever issue you care about – it’s going to be on the ballot.”

She also addressed Trump supporters. “I want you to tell [Trump supporters] that I understand that they need a president who cares about them … and I want to be their president.” She then went on to talk about Trump himself. She said he is “threatening our democracy.” She went on to endorse Katy McGinty, who is running for the Senate against Pat Toomey.

Afterward, Kaine came to the overflow room, which was pretty great considering we weren’t present in the gym. He stressed the importance of voting. Pennsylvania is a checkmate state,” he said. “If we win Pennsylvania, then you won’t have to wait up until Mountain Time [to know who won]”.

I must say I enjoyed listening to Clinton and Kaine. I’m not a big fan of hers, but hearing her speak made me like her more. I was glad they were stressing the importance of voting, even though it seems a little late to be doing that. I was disappointed that she barely talked about college debt. She said she would make public colleges tuition-free for families that earn less than $125k per year. She didn’t say how – she left it at that and moved on. Considering her proximity to Pitt, I was expecting to hear how she’d help me and people like me more.

Registration has closed in most states, and early voting has begun.

@andrewf61098