Friends, I have no deep wisdom on this day on which Hillary Rodham Clinton conceded that Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee to be President of the United States. I was a Hillary supporter. I realize that, among many of my friends, that makes me somewhat of an oddball. I was an Edwards supporter originally... I believe his programs to address poverty were easily the most compelling of the entire field (back when it was a field). But when it came down to two candidates, both of whom I admired for their vision, both of whom I agreed with on many positions, neither of whom I agreed with on everything (primarily the hawk factor), I chose the Senator from New York, and voted for her in the primary.
I have no regrets. She ran a mostly very good campaign, with some noted missteps. But the people (and the Democratic party rules) have spoken. And I will happily pull the lever for Barack Obama and Whomever is his Vice Presidential pick in November, and I won't even have to hold my nose to do it.
I suspect the bitterness, the "We'll vote for McCain first!" is at least partially media hype. The media loves nothing more than a good old knock-down, drag-out fight. But I really believe that Clinton supporters will see, very clearly, that John McCain is Not. An. Option. And we'll come together, and the country will be on a better path.
Go and read this very good piece in today's New York Times by Gail Collins, What Hillary Won. No matter your position on the Junior Senator from New York, she broke some barriers down in the last year and a half. Our Obama-supporting daughters (yes, I have one) will be able to thank us on the day when a woman is sworn in as President of the United States for the trail she blazed.
Now let's get to work.
13 comments:
I agree with you that the amount of potential spiteful votes for McCain is overblown by the media. It's a story of anger and bitterness and the media likes that kind of thing in my opinion. It's like a family feud.
I'm glad for Hillary's run in that it broke down some often ignored barriers and, frankly, it flushed out some insidious "acceptable" misogyny so that hopefully we can keep it in the sunlight and kill it.
I agree with almost everything in the NYT column, with one exception: I'm inclined to think that misogyny played a larger part than the columnist does. Though Hillary definitely made some mistakes, I'm sad that she's no longer in the campaign precisely because she loves the work. She grooves on making policy, and I find that inspiring. I'm grateful that she ran.
And I will happily go and vote for Obama; this primary season was an embarrassment of riches for this particular Democrat! :-)
You are not the only one, sister!
Hillary did break down a lot of barriers. I keep telling that to my Obama loving 7 year old, when in typical 7 year old style (where there is no nuance or grey area) he paints Hillary as bad and Obama as practically messiah.
I love Obama, but like you Mags, my first choice was Edwards. Fingers crossed that maybe he'll be vice president.
Great entry and one with which I agree on every count - except it will be a little more difficult fore me to get with the program on Obama. I had SO looked forward to voting for Hillary in November.
Although I am and have been an Obama supporter, I would have gladly voted for Clinton had she been the nominee. She deserves so much credit and I am grateful to her. It was wonderful to have such great candidates! (I'm an Edwards fan, as well.
I wish I could have the enthusiasm you have for the Democrat nominee, but I can't vote for someone who plainly states he will rid the country of my job and take away what little benefits I have already.
Wyld, I see nothing in his platform as spelled out on his website that indicates abolishing the military. I see "a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq." We always have a peacetime military... you no doubt enlisted during peacetime, if I have your age and service right. So... where do you get that he wants to abolish your job and remove your benefits?
http://libertas01.wordpress.com/2007/03/03/obamas-military-flip-flop/
http://www.transterrestrial.com/archives/2008/02/how_clueless_is.html
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/02/22/military-questions-obamas-claim-that-under-equipped-troops-used-taliban-weapons/
http://www.rightwingnews.com/mt331/2008/03/obamas_brilliant_military_strategy_cut_and_run_and_then_run_back.php
http://www.floppingaces.net/2008/02/21/obama-on-afghanistan/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23338127/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22916060/
http://www.rightwingnews.com/mt331/2008/05/barack_obama_in_quotes_version_1.php
http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=9490
I had another link but for some darn reason I can't get it to work. For the most part the above links are about his lack of knowledge of the military, some cross post to each other. The last one is a record of his votes. You can look up any politician to see how they vote.
Wyld, thanks for posting all those links. I've looked at the first half of them. I recognize that they address Obama's lack of knowledge/ familiarity with military matters on the ground. The ones I've read are also blatantly partisan--- openly "from the right," so I would expect them to be against any Democrat on principal. But even here, I saw nothing that said he wishes to abolish the military or lessen the benefits of military personnel. That's what you said. Where can you show me that?
I don't mean to be combative. I realize I am even more ignorant than our candidates on these matters. But it's important to be clear about the charges we make, to make sure they're actually true. That's all I want to know.
The link that I had keeps coming up as a dead link. It was from a speech he gave prior to joining the Illinois legislature. In this speech there were comments about downsizing the military to minimum levels. Since I can't make it work I will stop my badgering on your site. It won't matter, he still doesn't have my vote and I do vote for every election.
Wyld, you're not "badgering" anyone here. I value your input. You have real life knowledge of this war, something I have only read about.
I'm glad you have posted your opinions here. I hope you will continue to do so.
I second that!
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