Reconciliation from the Bottom Up
As a sense of finality settles over the race for the Democratic nomination, we are all left wondering if the wounds inflicted will heal, if the party will once again unify, or if a win in November will slip from our grasp. We know that Barack Obama will attempt to mend the divisions; we saw in his victory speech on Tuesday a sense of reconciliation. He has and will no doubt continue to celebrate Hillary Clinton's strength and achievements as well as the core values of our party.
But for reconciliation to be real and lasting, it must, like the movement that has led Obama within inches of the nomination, come from the bottom up. There has no doubt been a certain level of vitriol aimed at Hillary Clinton, her campaign, and to some extent, her supporters. As one of her most disapproving critics, I am certainly guilty of as much. I do not apologize for disagreeing with her campaign tactics, her style, or her willingness to risk the party's welfare for her own; I believe my comments, and those of many others, to have been justified, and grounded in fact. But I do believe strongly that with the race now coming to a close, we can all look back with admiration at what Hillary Clinton attempted, and what she accomplished in so doing.
The Clinton's were an extraordinarily important fixture in our government and our lives, presiding over an economic prosperity that feels as though it were born out of another world when compared to our current plight. Her biggest policy failure was a valiant attempt to provide health care to all Americans. Her biggest personal crisis was handled with poise and grace on a stage far too public, in an environment far too raw. Her tenure as a Senator from New York was marked with significant policy accomplishment and a bipartisan recognition of her talent and skill and commitment. Let us not forget that though the Clintons sought power for most of their lives, it was not power for power's sake, but rather power as a means to improve the lives of all Americans.
Though she will not ultimately succeed in breaking "that highest of glass ceilings," that she reached for it with such tenacity and strength, that she came so close to having achieved it, is proof to every schoolgirl in America that the ceiling can, in fact, be broken. The presidency is something to which they can aspire; its attainment is within their grasp.
Those who have supported Hillary from the beginning know this about their candidate. They see what was, for Obama supporters insufficient, but what for them was clearly so much. And ultimately, while we have disagreed on who should lead us out of the darkness, we all know the direction from which the light shines; we know the direction home. What will follow from here is as much our choice as it is theirs; it is as much our decision as to whether we will move forward as one, united in the belief that the promise of America must not be stolen again, that the eloquence of our founding and the persistence of our perfecting can continue on as we've always envisioned.
We cannot move forward without each other, no matter the depth of our wounds. Four more years of the last eight years could disfigure our nation beyond recognition, and perhaps beyond repair.
The bridge from primary to general must be woven with olive branches. Reconciliation must start from the bottom up.
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"we can all look back with admiration at what Hillary Clinton attempted..."
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NO DYLAN, WE CAN'T AND PROBABLY NEVER WILL because what hillary attempted and the way she went about it was straight out of karl rove's neocon/republican playbook - despicable, reprehensible and revoltingly selfish
"though the Clintons sought power for most of their lives, it was not power for power's sake, but rather power as a means to improve the lives of all Americans."
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ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? dude, you need to stop drinking the clinton campaign's kool-aid...
if we kiss and make up with hillzilla and pretend like what just happened didn't just happen, we are doing nothing but capitulating to the corruption and the politics of destruction which she has so ably demonstrated
IF HIS FIRST IMPORTANT ACT AS THE FUTURE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS TO EMBRACE, CONDONE AND IGNORE THE VERY CORRUPTION AND WASHINGTON POLITICS HE CLAIMS TO WANT TO CLEAN UP, IT WILL BE A VERY TELLING MEASURE OF THE MAN HE CLAIMS TO BE AND I WILL BE EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED IN BARACK OBAMA
we have lived through 7 long years of watching the democrats kiss bush's ass - this is no time to start kissing hillary's
btw - LET HILLZILLA PAY HER OWN DAMN BILLS - barack could offer to reimburse (on behalf of the national democratic party) the local vendors and little people that hillary has shafted along the way
"we can all look back with admiration at what Hillary Clinton attempted..."
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NO DYLAN, WE CAN'T AND NEVER WILL because what hillary attempted and the way she went about it was straight out of karl rove's neocon/republican playbook - despicable, reprehensible and revoltingly selfish
"though the Clintons sought power for most of their lives, it was not power for power's sake, but rather power as a means to improve the lives of all Americans."
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ARE YOU KIDDING US??? dude, you need to stop drinking the clinton campaign's kool-aid
Mr Loewe:
You are premature in talk of reconciliation. And I think you are off in your assesment of Sen Clinton and President Clinton. She is still spouting poison; today it's racist poison. And they are in this for themselves.
Mitch
Hilary's run ," is proof to every schoolgirl in America that the ceiling can, in fact, be broken." If she can withstand the insults, sexist remarks and accusations of witchery, dragon lady, testosterone addled,manipulation, comments on her dress, body parts and moods and every other possible female streotype she can break that ceiling.But it'd help to shoot hoops.
No, it would help to possess a modicum of decency and to not make clearly racist comments, to possess an understanding of politics or at least bother to read the Intel before handing illegal rights over to warmongers, or to not have a history of betraying those she initially pledged to support by supporting her biggest funders at their expense.
Whatever sexist attitudes may have been on the table, Hillary made her own bed--and it would be the same bed-bug ridden mess were she a man. Except that we probably wouldn't have gone quite as easy on her for so long if she were a man who had whined about nonexistent tougher treatment while her opponent received the hardest questions and least leeway.
it'd also help if she had an ounce of integrity or a shred of dignity, which has nothing whatsoever to do with genitalia -
I think we can respect the motives of the ordinary people who supported Hillary. But I remember what a mutual friend said when Bill Clinton first ran "He's smart. He reads good books. He's charming. But he'll never go to the mat for anything except his personal future." Alas, too true...
As opposed to a string of losers like Adlai Stevenson, Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Michael Dukakis, and John Kerry.
Even if your armchair psychological assessment is true, then it's also true we have Clinton's personal ambition to thank for two precious seats on the Supreme Court that might have been otherwise.
just can't let go, eh?
You Obama folks are missing the forest for the trees! Hillary is the champion of the blue-collar white working class-- the very same group that the Democrat party came into being to represent in thje first place, and the very group that backed FDR and won WWII ! (Have any of you ever heard of the sobriquet, "The Greatest Generation"??
You scorn this salt of the earth citizenry at your peril...
Flat out no.
My scorn is heap solely toward Sen. Clinton's hijinks.
Even then I ridicule her actions, not the person.
Please explain to me why you blue-collar white people are the salt of the Earth. That sounds like an elitist comment to me. I am not white but I consider myself salt of the Earth also. You don't have a monopoly on that topic. Also, I heard about a white man in Indiana who refused to shake Obama's hand. What kind of person is that? You all might want to ask yourselves.."What Would Jesus Do'?
I do not want any of my kids to use her as any kind of a role model. That is like them looking up to a Mafia boss who gives away fruit to the poor kids.
Reconciliation is not coming from this part of the bottom she considers voters like me.
Then that makes you part of the problem that Senator Omaba"s CHANGE is all about
Maybe you should read your answer to kirafa and think about it
But your mafioso comparison is exactly the argument against the culture out of which the Obama's are emanating, and which formed the recent criticism. Whenever people like Farrakhan or Wright are faulted for extreme rhetoric or outlandish philosophies, the response from their apologists is always, "But they do good in the community."
Sure. Senator Clinton is making the first move right as we speak by alienating all non-white voters AND all non-racist white voters like me.
Let me say this: as a white person I am ashamed of the conduct of this woman and her campaign. I do apologize to every person of color and honor for what is happening. My support for Senator Obama is stronger than on the first day I saw him give a speech. He is the future of this nation. He will bring us together. And among all candidates left standing he is the only one worthy of the presidency.
I invite all voters to consider again what Senator Obama has to offer and to compare it to the old and hateful divisions that have marred American politics in the past. We can not have those any longer. We need to be one people, without colors and without divisions. We can have our differences but we can not let power hungry politicians use them to divide and conquer us.
You are sooooo out of touch, buster!
What are you ashamed of? Are you ashamed of your Ma an Pa for sireing you and feeding you? Maybe if they had a chance to do it over, you would have spiraled down the sink in a cascade of Listerine.
Happy Mothers Day!
That's just nasty. Anyone who reads "messenger"'s comment can see what you say is not warranted. Yuck. That kind of barbaric stuff just makes you look ugly.
Oh, now after helping tar and feather the good woman, you send your thinly-veiled, condescending pat in the back to HRC.
For all you BO fans who have been rabid in this campaign, you kept saying that she's tearing down the party and that she'll be responsible for his defeat in November (again, already setting her up to blame for any negative outcome on the vote). Maybe I can sum up her role in this nice and easy: Yes, she wanted to win the nomination, and yes she used every tactic that a skilled politiican would use in a GENERAL election. All she's been saying these months is that when the nominee finally leaves the protective Democratic gates, that person will be facing the Republican wolves. She exposed the weaknesses in Obama's armor and for that she was jeered by some of his unthinking fanatics who felt that their lamb and salvation should not be dirtied so.
If Obama becomes the nominee, which is now becoming likely, then he'll have HRC to thank for toughening up his skin. But I for one would like for her to continue for as long as she can. This country needs to see this lamb toughened up a whole lot more. A pretty, fluffy, undirty creature will lose to wolves every single time. Just ask Kerry and Gore.
I wouldn't say that. The GOP has already lost two seats in the house it held for decades trying to tie the democrats to Obama. Newt has already come out and said a normal GOP campaign will not work against Obama, and he's right. Hillary proved it, and the two lost house seats proved it.
People think Obama is weak or needed to get toughened up. However, I think it's the other way around. I think we all need to toughen up and start living by actual principles and not falling for political gimmicks or distractions. But this is why Obama's presidency gives me hope. Not because there's a turning of the page in race or gender or anything of that. For me it represents a turning point into presidents grounded in ethics, sound principles, attention to facts, and critical analysis - because those are the necessary ingredients for truly solving problems.
A fine narrative. You can cast history that way, and perhaps we Obama supporters should sign on. The time to put our forces back together has come. I for one would like to see a stand-down of hostilities between the campaigns at all levels -- from the top of the ticket to the average person -- led by both candidates. A show of unity between them is needed, as soon as possible. That said, Hillary probably isn't going to pack it in tomorrow. Obama is not calling for her to step aside this minute, so why should I? But the time is coming soon.
But the negative narrative coming from the Clinton camp -- top to bottom -- needs to stop. Now. Moving forward, there is no plausible argument for Hillary to serve as some kind of bush league sparring partner to toughen Obama up. Using the most despicable of Republican tactics is not the way to get this done. I want that crap out of my politics, not integrated into my own party's tool kit.
What he has instead is legions of people who believe in him, will contribute money to his campaign, staff his proven effective campaign organizational structure and speak up for what they believe. The proof is that he's going to be the Dem nominee and he's flush with cash. We have two methods to choose from going forward -- Obama's and Clinton's. It's easy to see which one worked the best.
What she has is around 48% of the party backing her to date. Her legions are about the same size as his. There is no point in continuing to tell them they are devil worshipers. is there? How does continued smearing of her help him?
I disagree. Bill Clinton as governor of Arkansas all but destroyed unions by passing laws favorable to WalMart and the chicken plucker, so all the citizens of that state had to work for minimum wage, no union. When Bill Clinton was president, if he truly was committed to trying to help Americans with health care he would have appointed knowledgeable and respected people in the field to a commission to draft a proposal.
The economic prosperity during Clinton's term was largely the result of the tech boom which, because Clinton failed to tamp down the irrational exuberance, eventually led to a devastating balloon and crash in the stock market. After leaving office, Bill Clinton has spent his entire time going around the world soliciting enormous amounts of money for himself and the misses to use to buy the white house. As for the screwing around part, get down off the cross because the martyr bit is old.
In the Senate Hillary has done nothing except support Bush. In this campaign she has relied on and tried to encourage racism in the voters, and still claims people she vote for her because she's not the black guy.
Yes, the Clintons should depart. No, we should not get dewy-eyed and pretend they are great people. They're not.
"What NAB said"
(nicely said)
Right, Clinton should have come out against exuberance. His motto could have been "no we can't." How trashing the accomplishments of the Clinton years helps Obama is beyond me.
And is the "light shining" now with Clinton's latest disgusting campaign tactic, "Vote White"?
Methinks you wrote this column just a tad too soon, Mr. Loewe.
IS this not more race baiting? Nothing is stated anywhere that she has coined the term, "Vote White". She has simply called the voters what they are and they are white blue collar workers, exactly what MSM called them, as they also stated the African American vote went to Obama. But, this race has always been this way, no matter what is said, it is racist and it is absolutely disgusting. It is like the statement that was made about Dr. King and President Johnson. All that was said was, we needed a President to sign the bill and put it into law. TOTALLY TRUE. Right now, 70% percent of Americans want us out of Iraq, but we have a President who does not listen to his constituency. Without a President who listens to the voice of the people, it does not get signed into law. Of course, without Dr. King and his movement, it would never have gotten to a President and all know that. But that of course was considered racial.
She basically said that non-college educated whites work hard. Which implies that she means that non-whites and college educated others (elites) do not work hard.
You know, as a politician you have to chose your words better. No apologist can tell ME not to be offended. I am offended. And so should many millions of people be. And not that few of them voted for Senator Clinton in the past. I can only guess that they would change their votes, if they could.
If and when concedes, Sen. Clinton can count on my forgiveness.
Not a moment sooner.
The Clintons have never played the race card. NEVER! The MSM has distorted and convoluted every item said, and baited and switched and turned us against each other and it is sickening. I am a Democrat, have been before most of the present voters and posters here were born. I am half native-american and have two African-American grandchildren and one Asian American grandchild. I have never been a racist and never will be, from my family make-up, I know it is there and hate it. But, I have been called a racist more times than I could have ever imagined on these posts. I know what racism is, knew what it was to go see family on reservations, knew what it was when I pushed my grandsons through toys-r-us and saw the looks and honestly, I considered these people to be narrow minded, ignorant people. However, I am finding just as much of it here on the Huffpost as anywhere. We do have to come together and instead of reading this post and seeing it is true, you are still name calling and mudslinging and for that very reason, the dems will lose. How can we mend, when you can't get over your own self-importance and just STFU!
She said what she said. End of story. Her campaign people said it even more explicitly... all the Clinton campaign has left are white voters... and that is who they are going for now. Let them. Let them play a game of racist politics. It worked well in 1950. Let's see how well it works in 2008.
You may not want to write off the Hispanic and Asian voting blocs quite so casually.
Although the very notion that an entire group of people--whether it is members of a particular gender, religion, race, whatever--will vote, monolithically, in lock-step, with no ability to make individual decisions and personal choices is pretty ridiculous. I think every single person who votes will make his or her decision for any one of a number of reasons, and that it will be an entirely individual act. To assume otherwise cheapens the entire concept of a democracy.
Did you just call me uppity?
Let me see how this works. The Clintons continue to play the race card and divide us but we must start the reconciliation from the bottom up. I, for one, will begin when Hillary concedes and us and the country and the party first above her blind amibition. She is destructive and negative to the point that she is ruining our chance to turn this country around. I will never look at the Clinton again acept with disgust and contempt!
I know how you feel. But we have to see past that. For my argument why, see
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harold-pollack/can-we-forgive-each-other_b_100619.html
I like this post a lot.
That post does have merit. It's an olive branch that helps. But there's something about the Clintons. They have an overdose of selfishness. They just won't give up, and the game is over. They should cash in their chips and thank the other players. Obama appears to be better situated to bring the under 30, maybe the under 40 people of the world to the table, and stress continuity for the benefit of all. Although Marx would say it's inevitable, we don't need a messy revolution to get people to let go of power.
Skip4Obama,
I agree with HAP, we must come together and beat McCain! No matter if the winner is going to be Clinton or Obama I am going to vote for one of them because I do not want four more years of Bush/McCain!
I pray that God will bless us and bring everyone together for the sake of the Democrats who are against allowing McCain to be our next President of the United States. If we keep McCain out of the White House, I strongly believe every Democrat wins! Let’s Come Together and Fight as ONE!
May God bless and begin the healing process
I'm all willing to do the "look back and see the great accomplishments of the Clintons," but she too has to be mindful of their legacy if she wants us to remember it. I give her props for her Tuesday night speech (except for the MI and FL reference) and respect her tenacity.
However, when she and her team start splitting up the electorate to plead for votes (as at the ‘Generations of Women for Hillary’ event) or prove her electability (by playing the "I'm more appealing to the white blue collar folks), it is easy to forget the past positives.
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