Talk about jumping the gun! Hillary will give the speech about this triumphant moment for African Americans. Look for it. But hers has not been a "normal" candidacy requiring normal protocol. Think about it: this is the first time a woman has been a serious contender for the highest office in the land. She can't, and shouldn't, just fade away. Her many supporters are feeling very let down right now. This is not "all about her"; it's all about the millions of progressive Americans who believed they were going to see a woman win the presidency for the first time in this country's 230 year history. This is probably also the first time a candidate lost a nomination battle after winning nearly all the most populous states in the country. If I were her, I wouldn't really be feeling like I lost either, at least not yet.
You read "stubborn arrogance" and "disdain" into her words. I watched the speech. I saw neither. I think you want to say this is "all about Hillary" because it wasn't all about Barack Obama. Just wait a little bit, and you'll get that speech. And I hope you feel a little humility when you hear it.
My Email To Hillary
In her self-aggrandizing non-concession speech Tuesday night, Sen. Hillary Clinton invited voters to log on to www.HillaryClinton.com and tell her what we think she should do now. Well, I dropped Hillary an e-mail and, if you've got a minute, I'd like to share it with you. My letter went like this:
Dear Sen. Clinton,
I was offended by your self-centered, combative speech after yesterday's Minnesota and South Dakota primaries. Your refusal to concede the race, to acknowledge Sen. Obama's historic win and to extend common courtesy to Sen. Obama make your statements about Democratic Party unity seem phony. You lost the election yesterday, but rather than step aside graciously, you came out swinging, condescended the winner and tried to make the night all about you.
Your stubborn arrogance was apparent before you took the stage. Even though it was at least half-an-hour after Sen. Obama sewed up the winning number of delegates, you allowed Terry McAuliffe to introduce you as "the next president of the United States!" Shameful. Later, you told your supporters that you were not going to make a decision. But there is nothing for you to decide, because Sen. Obama won the nomination fair and square. The electoral process has made the decision for you.
Whether you're prepared to acknowledge it or not, the campaign is over and Sen. Obama is our party's nominee.
You can be justifiably proud of the more than 17 million voters who cast ballots for you during the primaries. But when you imply that these voters could become "invisible," you are being inaccurate and divisive. Even more divisive was your reference to "count(ing) every vote" (sour grapes over the outcome of the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting) and your smiling silence as your supporters chanted, "Denver! Denver!"
These are not examples of a commitment to party unity. They are selfish, stiff-necked grandstanding.
You played up the significance of your running for President as a woman but ignored the greatness Sen. Obama winning the nomination as a black candidate. You went out of your way to mention the 90-year-old ladies who remember when women could not vote and the parents who pointed to you as an example to their daughters.
But what about blacks who lived under Jim Crow and remember what it was like when black folks couldn't vote? What about us black parents who point with pride to Obama as an example to our children? We weren't important enough to merit a mention in your speech. By ignoring the monumental racial importance of Tuesday night, you insulted Barack Obama, black America at large and the heroes of all races who fought, suffered and died for racial equality from slavery up through the present day.
Your disdain for Sen. Obama was clear in your patronizing statement, "I would like all of us to take a moment to recognize him and his supporters for all they have accomplished." Gee, thanks. Here we are at one of the most significant social and political milestones in American history and you treat it like a footnote. Sen. Obama has literally changed our nation but the only thing you gave him credit for was running "an extraordinary race" and inspiring and empowering voters to get involved in the process. Contrast your dismissive acknowledgment with Obama's glowing praise for your history-making campaign and it's easy to see that his character is made of much greater stuff than yours.
And you wonder why black folks cheered when Father Michael Pfleger mocked you.
As a final insult on Tuesday night, you didn't even phone Sen. Obama to congratulate him on securing the nomination. Instead, you waited for him to call you and then allowed his call to go to voicemail. Twice. You finally got around to returning Obama's calls an hour after he'd left his messages. That was rank arrogance, disgracefully poor etiquette, bad sportsmanship and the opposite of party unity.
Our party and our nation deserve better.
Sincerely,
Cameron Turner
Cameron Turner is a veteran entertainment journalist, cultural critic and founding commentator for the African-American news and opinion site, UrbanThoughtCollective.com.
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Cameron, Not withstanding the fact that most of the points in your long e-mail to Hillary are correct what does it achieve? This is what makes Barrack Obama such an exceptional candidate. He is not small minded. For you to have written to Hillary is one thing. For you to share it with the rest of the world is completely unnecessary. Lets put this bitterness behind us. No human being is perfect. We all have our faults. Yes. Even me.
You ask too much, sir. For the sake of party unity we are to let Hillary Clinton's juvenile behavior go without even calling her out for it? No. I am bitter toward her and I have every right to let her know it. Yes, Clinton has her faults as do we all. But human misbehavior needs to be corrected. She is not exempt from being condemned for her lack of graciousness and her apparent inability to see beyond the tip of her own nose. Clinton has shown not only the Democratic nominee Obama disrespect, but also the Democratic party as a whole. There is absolutely nothing wrong with letting her and her supporters know.
That is a very different thing than the so-called Clinton supporters saying that they will never vote for Obama. Those of us who are upset with Clinton are upset because of HER actions. There is nothing that anyone can point to that Obama has done or said that was disrespectful to Clinton. I say the "so-called" Clinton supporters because I don't believe these people truly support Clinton or the Democratic Party. Just as we are supposed to allow her and her supporters time to heal and give her the space to give the concession speech she was supposed to give on Tuesday, give us the time and space to get over her betrayal of the party. It's only fair.
My thoughts exactly.
After Senator Clinton's speech, I was just sad, but physically forced myself to have an open mind about her lack of graciousness. She earned the time to consider her options, which I can only assume would be taking it to the Convention, or at least the Credentials Committee. Fair enough since she campaigned her heart out, earned millions of supporters and lost narrowly. I can empathize with how heartbreaking that might be. Then I watched Senator Obama's speech and the glowing words he had to say about her despite her lack of acknowledgment, and the emotional gloves came off.
What some forget is that while there are staunch older women supporters who are upset about her loss, there are younger women who looked at her for guidance and as a beacon of hope but are disappointed by the manner in which she chose to 'refuse to lose' with grace or dignity. We younger women are the future and she did not set a good example. But she certainly could have, in spades. It's such a shame.
The most telling thing for me was that it took HER political supporters to reign her in and basically demand that she be gracious and concede sooner rather than later. If those who voted for her become invisible (which I highly doubt will happen), it might be because she shoved them in a dark corner.
Obama's win wasn't "narrow". 100 pledged delegates = 2 big states such as PA and OH
The negative fallout has already begun: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06/04/clyburn-clinton-supporters-flood-office-with-hate-calls/
Rep. Clyburn's office has received dozens of racist hate calls from those indentifying themselves as Clinton supporters because of his endorsement of Obama. (Bill Clinton (per WSJ article) using an expletive name to Rep. Clyburn himself may have contributed to this?!?)
While I don't endorse FOX, please go to link and then do as I did, contact HRC, Pelosi and other Democratic public officials to tell them HRC must get in front of this NOW! She needs to condemn this type of negative action as well as the cretins who utilize these actions.
While trying to not 'blame' Clintons, her speech on Tuesday only further enflamed many of her 'angry supporters' - and No, I am not discounting the possibility some Republican Whackos put this in play.
However, the important issue is for us to counter with positive actions, such as having our public officials come forward and take a united stand against these bigots.
Her lack of grace was shocking. Senator Clinton for all her smarts simply has no class. I loved Rendel's comment "even if you are Hillary Clinton, you don't bargain". I don't think she will every really get it. And did you read where Bill is now looking for a "relationship" because his marriage is "complicated". No surpise there! Don't really blame him.
I don't believe she is smart, she is well educated and there is quite a difference.
"Montana" primary. not Minnesota.
And Fr Michael Pfleger was HILLARIOUS!!!!
This must be the 1000th time I've posted that here. Catholic priests ROXOR!!!!
Very good post, btw :)
This election season has been remarkable. An African-American has just won the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States! The excitement this has ignited among other black Americans can not be doubted, nor can the fact that black American voters are still not appreciated, and are quickly marginalized for political expediency.
I could care less whether the media or 'those who know them personally' feel the Clintons are not racists. They wore the uniforms and repeated the cheers of racists to win this election, and that may be worse.
Mr. Turner,
Thank you for your post. I was equally hurt and horrified and offended by HRC behavior Tues. I am so proud that in this country it is now possible for a African American to become the President. It's an honor to our country to finally have this in our credits. However, HRC disregard for the black community that night was reprehensible, and I hope that this something the white and black communities do not forget. She has shown her disloyalty to many people of color who supported her and her husband in the past. It has proven to me that HRC really doesn't care about anything but winning. It is also equally disturbing the way her surrogates and supporters have tried to cover up for her. She needs time to digest this, she's tired. Then they want her to be VP ? Does she really represent the U.S. ? Not by most peoples standards. What does it say about our democracy when a candidate thinks they can ransom off voters and keep a party hostage by trying to foil the nominees chances of winning? HRC didn't even have the decency to come out the very next day and try to mitigate what she she did. Personally, I feel she does not belong in public service any longer as she does not represent "for the people or by the people".
I just keep re-reading it and I am ASTOUNDED by the arrogance.
WHY IS IT HER JOB TO PRAISE OBAMA? WHY? Why are you going on and on about what she didnt say.
You act as though her ENTIRE speech should have been about this wonderful thing obama accomplished.
So she HE be giving speeches that go on and on and on about HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS?
Of course, her job is to tout HERSELF, the head of the Narcissm Party, the one with the moronically bitter twisted supporters who will jetison Grandma's Social Security just to be spiteful because their little princess didn't get the crown.
I expected no graciousness because I remember 2000 and how the Clintons squandered all of the recources of the presidency and the White House on her senatorial campaign, and gave NADA to Gore for his FAR MORE IMPORTANT race, at least to the rest of us who belong to the Democratic Party (and how Bill badmouthed Gore to the press, besides). Then they appeared at the convention hall and sucked all of the air out of the room (who can forget Bill on that long walk down the hall), and then bleeping disappeared, and both sat on their hands and hoped for Bush to win the election.
It was absolutely necessary for their plan to for her to run in '04 that there be no Democratic incumbent. Same for '04 when they didn't campaign for Kerry either in order to keep the '08 seat warm for her. Now she has her bitter surrogates doing the dirty work for her to keep the seat warm for her in '12 (which again requires that the Democratic presidential candidate lose).
Too bad these women ignore the history of the Clintons and how little they have done for the two candidates who ought to have followed them into the White House.
She did not show a commitment to party unity, and she did not concede the race. Those are the two main points.
She failed in her role as statesman.
Don't be ASTOUNDED.
It is political protocol.
It is etiquette.
It is class.
If you have it, show it.
I understand how it feels to believe strongly in a candidate, and so I can imagine that it is very difficult to see that candidate come up short. I remind myself of this when I see Clinton supporters bashing Obama. I hope, however, that just as I can try to put myself in their shoes, they can try to imagine what Clinton's supporters would have said had the situation been reveresed. I truly believe that Obama's candidacy would have been declared dead long before hers was and am quite sure that if he had refused to admit defeat, as she did, people would have demanded that he man up, accept his loss and get out of the way.
I hope that Obama's supporters can follow his lead and behave graciously, but I also hope to see the same for Clinton and her supporters. Respect is a two way street and threatening to elect McCain is not a great way to earn it.
It's really hard to behave graciously to Hillary and her sore, whiny supporters.
I'm thankful that there are enough Hillary supporters who are nice, logical people to counter the ones that continue to act nastily.
It isn't the lack of praise that has myself and the majority of Sen. Obama's supporters as well as the MSM so pissed it was the total disregard of Sen. Obama throughout the primaries. Whenever HRC won she would thank only her supporters never did she acknowledge the ones who did not vote for her and when she lost she never said congrats to Sen. Obama for winning only that your state doesn't matter b/c you didn't vote for me. He did praise her on Tues. night and just about EVERYTIME he gave a speech. He said that Hillary was an inspiration to HIS daughters and other little girls who now think that as women they could do anything including be POTUS. He also said that he was not only a better candidate but a better PERSON for running against her. Also during her speech she constantly said I this, I that... now contrast that with Sen. Obama's speech as he constantly said WE will, WE can...
I see the Obama Supporters are still addicted to Hillary Bashing....Please continue...it only assures they will never get on board.
Hillary's speech was PERFECTLY APPROPRIATE. Just becase Obama played politics on Tuesday, and lined up enough SD's to ensure his "winning" would occur when he LOST South Dakota, DOES NOT MEAN SHE NEEDED TO CONCEDE IMMEDIATELY.
Her speech was VERY moving, and I really dont think her supporters turned out to hear her praise and worship Obama. THATS THE MEDIAS JOB.
appropriate has she won.
"....it's easy to see that his character is made of much greater stuff than yours."
Easily the best summary of the candidates written. Direct, accurate, and right to the point.
One note though, the final primaries were Montana and SD, not Minnesota and SD.
I see one flaw in your otherwise excellent message. You say,
"You can be justifiably proud of the more than 17 million voters who cast ballots for you during the primaries."
Not really. Some of those folks blindly voted for her without listening to what either she or Sen. Obama had to say simply because Sen. Clinton is female or Sen. Obama is Black (making them unworthy supporters of anyone) and--and this directly addresses the question of "justifiable pride" on Sen. Clinton's part--others uncritically accepted what Sen. Clinton had to say about Sen. Obama when she repeatedly lied about his policy positions, about his experience, and even (implicitly) about his religion.
You were just being polite, I know, but you inadvertently glossed over the very reason that Sen. Clinton is not just another losing candidate: she is a ruthless liar, a trait to which some of her millions of supporters fell prey. Lying--and its consequences--aren't things of which she should be proud.
She didn't really get 17 million votes. If you minus the stuffed ballots and Repub "chaos" crossover, I'd say about 10 million people voted for her.
Some of those folks blindly voted for her without listening to what either she or Sen. Obama had to say simply because Sen. Clinton is female or Sen. Obama is Black (making them unworthy supporters of anyone)
=============
WOW.....so i am sure you will have no problem when these "unworthy" supporters decide to back McCain instead.
Such ignorance and arrogance........
Yes and no:
(1) Any Democrats who don't want to support Sen. Obama are free not to. I suspect that most of them will merely not vote--just as I would have, had Obama lost--but not vote for McCain. There are many other good Democrats down-ticket for whom to work and vote.
(2) You were entirely right to object to part of what I said: I didn't say it correctly and it wasn't what I meant. What I should have said was that it's one thing for a candidate to have the votes of ignorant bigots, but quite another to take pride in having them. Taking pride in having those votes diminishes a candidate--actually catering to bigots is worse.
Under our system, even ignorant bigots are permitted to vote--but that's not exactly the best feature of our system.
You're down to your last bullet, and it's a dud. Threatening to vote for McCain is so yesterday. No one cares.
Mr. Turner,
Thanks for your post. It makes a point that I've made in a number of recent comments on this site -- how graceless it was of Hillary Clinton to fail to acknowledge how historic it is to have an African-American nominee. It was especially disappointing given that African-Americans are the *reason* the Clintons are where they are today. Bill Clinton would never have won his first election in Arkansas were it not for the support of African-Americans. You'd think that Hillary would at least have recognized what this moment means to the voters who, more than any other group, are responsible for putting her and her husband in office in the first place.
Although I fully agree with you, in a way, I'm a bit sad that your point had to be made by an African-American. Americans of *all* races should be proud of this moment. Yet, to read the comments of white women like Rachel Sklar and Jane Hamsher on this site, you'd think that the only thing that mattered was how disappointed some white women are. Their self-absorbtion has led them to miss what Obama's nomination means to the descendants of African slaves, to the people who endured Jim Crow, who risked life and limb for the simple right to be treated as human beings.
I think maybe I'll post this link in the comments section of their posts . . .
Posted June 5, 2008 | 08:34 PM (EST)