1st-time voter believes Clinton is cut from the same cloth as her

One of Joseline Mata’s favorite possessions is a well-worn “Ready for Hillary” T-shirt.

The 20-year-old political science major at the University of Arizona got the shirt about a year ago and regularly wears it to show her support for the Democratic candidate for president.

It may be easy to dismiss Mata as young and politically idealistic, but she has been in the political trenches since high school — knocking on doors for Democratic candidates, working in former Rep. Ron Barber’s office and collecting signatures on campus.

Knocking on doors doesn’t always lead to a friendly conversation. In the waning days of the 2012 campaign, a 15-year-old Mata found herself knocking on doors of the middle-of-the-road independents.

“The man comes out of the house and asks, ‘Do you not see the sign?’ and points to a sign that says, ‘People who come onto my property will be shot,’” she remembers. “He said, ‘I think you need to leave, there is no way I am voting for a Democrat. I am voting straight Republican.’”

Shaken from the incident, but not shot, Mata knows firsthand how polarizing politics can be.

READY FOR HILLARY

Front-porch arguments are rare these days, although Mata finds herself often arguing with other Democrats.

“I do have friends who are Bernie supporters,” she says.

Friends begged her to go to the Bernie Sanders rally at Reid Park last year and, as she tells it, they made her wear a button.

But his message never swayed her away from supporting Clinton.

“Everything he says, as a Democrat, I stand for. I would love for tuition to be free; I would love for all of these things to happen,” she says. “But after I walked out, I asked, ‘how’? How is he going to do all of these things? It is just not in his power to do.”

Visit from GIFFORDS left lasting memory

An iconic image of Barack Obama is one of Mata’s earliest memories, but it was a visit by Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Tucson to her junior high classroom that made a lasting memory.

She remembers where she was when she heard Giffords had been shot in 2011.

“It was one of those things that you will remember forever, thinking that she had died.”

Giffords’ recovery and decision to continue to be active in politics, particularly regarding gun control, inspired Mata.

“She got shot, and she is still trying to do things to make America great. So what is my excuse? Why am I not doing something?”

The Tucson native soon got involved in Democratic politics.

IMMIGRATION

IS A PERSONAL ISSUE

Mata tears up as she describes watching a little girl explain to Clinton, in Spanish, how she fears coming home from school to find her parents have been deported.

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It is a fear she knows well. When she was 7 she learned that her mother was in the United States illegally.

It held her back in many ways. She didn’t get more involved in politics until she was 16 because she didn’t want to risk her mom having to leave the house unnecessarily.

Clinton, she argues, has the most viable plan to fix the federal immigration system. She says executive orders from Obama haven’t worked.

“She is the one that understands,” Mata says. “She has been there for the Mexican-American community.”

“Everybody makes mistakes”

Criticism of Clinton is unrelenting, but Mata believes some of the attacks are more political than substantive.

The loudest and most sustained criticism of Clinton might be over the Benghazi terrorist attacks in 2012 when she was secretary of state.

Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in the attacks in Libya.

Mata says the attacks are deplorable, but Clinton should not shoulder all of the blame. “She cannot be the only one responsible for that situation. I think that is something people need to remember, it wasn’t just her.”

Speculation continues that Clinton will be indicted this year, but again Mata points to public comments made by Republicans.

“It is all politically motivated. We have all heard Republicans — especially important Republicans in the Benghazi committee — who know she is going to be the nominee and they want to hurt her,” she said.

Still, Mata worries Clinton could be hurt in what she sees as trumped-up charges.

“It does scare me, but I am hopeful that isn’t going to be the case,” she said.

The other issue — using a private email server — was a mistake, Mata concedes, but she sees it is a relatively minor issue.

“Everybody makes mistakes,” she says. “Up until this point, they still haven’t found that she has done anything wrong or illegal.”

DAD SUPPORTED HILLARY

Mata, a college sophomore, says her father is active politically. She remembers sitting down with him the first time she filled out a mail-in ballot.

This will be the first time the University High School graduate is old enough to vote in a presidential election.

About a year ago Mata began to research Democratic candidates. She was impressed by Clinton’s credentials and decided she wanted to be part of the generation that elects her to office.

It was, she found out, something she shared with her father. Eight years ago, he backed Clinton — not Obama — in the primary.

When she said she wanted that now-well-worn Hillary T-shirt, he supported her.

“He was like, you should buy one,” she says, smiling.