I have to admit, I did not understand the depth of feeling of Hillary’s supporters, their sense that Hillary's loss is not right.
Yes, in public I have said for months, “the Hillary people worked hard for their candidate, so naturally they are disappointed”, and “Hillary has made history by being the first serious woman candidate for the Presidency”, and “Hillary Clinton has earned our respect for her tremendous contributions” and so on and so on. And it was all true.
But I didn’t really GET it. Until I saw the glimmerings of tears this week from women I respect. Until I saw intelligent women threaten to vote for …. well, if not actually to vote for McCain, then just not to vote at all.
I had sexist thoughts (I thought us gay guys were exempt) such as: “She lost. Why can’t they get over it?” and “Why are they changing the rules of the game by talking about the popular vote? It’s irrelevant!” I resented that any candidate would feel “entitled” to the nomination.
As a gay man myself, shouldn’t I understand the feeling that we are always dismissed unfairly when the good stuff gets handed out? Nope. I didn't.
But now I do. It’s not enough to say “Obama won fair and square”. It’s not enough to rely on their reluctance to criticize a black man’s victory. Something more has to be done and said. I think that will happen at the convention this week.
We need to put this behind us and unite for an unabashed victory in November.
Happily, today’s NY Times says we are already starting to. Polls from a week ago suggest that although only 43% of Clinton delegates have decided to vote for Obama at the convention, 80% will support him in the general election, and most of those will do so enthusiastically.
After all, a Democratic victory IS the most important thing. We must start repairing the damage from the Bush years as soon as possible.
I am sure Hillary herself believes that. I don’t think Hillary wants this tension to continue.
The vast majority of Democrats – both Hillary and Obama supporters - are people of principle above all.
I am confident we can heal this wound and go forward to victory.
It has never been more important.
Bob
Where on earth will you vote? See www.votefromabroad.org
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4 comments:
Great Blog. I've enjoyed reading all of your posts. Thank you!
Bob - I would appreciate if you could explain what you "got." If Obama won fair and square, then what is all the fuss about from the Clinton supporters? Intense depth of feeling I understand, but you seem to have learned something that I can't fathom about the bitterness toward Obama and the sense of entitlement that she somehow "earned" it or that it was her time. I hope you can enlighten me, and I think others, because I DON'T get it.
Bob...
You're an empathetic guy. But your thoughts are not sexist, nor are the intransigents among the Hillarista set worthy of any special acknowledgement or soothing from the Obama folks. We beat them fair and square, and we beat them despite their kitchen-sink negativity and their invocation of alternative means of vote-counting to undermine the legitimacy of the Obama nomination.
Sure, someone needs to talk to these people and get them on side. But there is only one person who can and should do this, and she's a she and her name starts with H.
The Clinton legacy is on the line here. If HRC--or even her irredentist supporters-sabotage the Obama candidacy, the more this will be seen as a Clinton production. If this happens and HRC runs in 2012, rather than it being a chance to right the "wrong" of 2008, it will be a bloodbath of epic proportions. HRC's only route to is to do what she can to deliver her supporters to Obama, and not pursue a publicly positive stance and privately condone her militants making nice with John McCain.
Bob, the disappointment of Hillary supporters is one thing. For some of them to announce publicly that they could vote for McCain (and happily this trend is fading) suggests rather that the empathy you so generously expressed really should be coming from their direction. Time for every Democrat to show some empathy for the world's pain, should we lose this election by their vote. To her everlasting credit, this is just what Hillary has now done.
Susan (in Strasbourg)
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