I Finally Got It

For more than a year, for myself and thousands of other Barack Obama supporters, Hillary Clinton has been the epitome of the status quo in politics. Brilliant, sure. Capable, absolutely. But a politician whose vote for the war in Iraq seemed to perfectly encapsulate her reputation as calculating, triangulating and ambitious to a fault.

Then, through the course of the campaign, there was the consistent playing on people's fears, the dividing to conquer, and the re-invention of rules. Worst of all was her less than graceful speech last Tuesday when Barack Obama had officially secured the delegates necessary to win the Democratic nomination and she refused to acknowledge it. It seemed to be a slap in the face of a candidate that had just reached a major milestone. Her supporters' threats to sabotage the Party by chanting "Denver! Denver!" or vote for John McCain only made it worse.

Yet for the past couple of months I have been trying to see things from the Clinton perspective.

For me, the Clintons have always been vastly superior to the Bushes. But they were still a part of a corrupt system. I always felt Bill Clinton was a good president, but not great as he could have been. He gave us a booming economy, but also globalization and outsourcing. He gave us relative peace, but also the inaction that led to genocide in Rwanda. He gave us diplomacy and prosperity, but also distractions and scandals.

After an entire life of politics as sport, most of my generation were simply ready for change. Bushes and Clintons had ruled the White House as long as we could remember. For us, Hillary Clinton simply wasn't the answer. She would be a continuation of partisan gridlock and politics as usual.

My candidate, Barack Obama, on the other hand, was the one that would break down barriers, restore decency, unite the country, and make history.

But today I finally saw something different. My high regard of Barack Obama remains intact. But I also gained a new admiration and understanding of Senator Clinton. It wasn't merely that she endorsed Obama with dignity and grace, calling on her supporters to see the larger principles at stake. It was that I finally saw her struggle in a personal way; I saw what she represented for many women and working class people; I saw her strength and tenacity; I saw the humility to come so close to a dream, only to fall a little short to someone who was her junior in the Senate. I imagined how I would have felt had the roles been reversed, how easy it would have been to lash out at the still very real racism (in Hillary's case, sexism and misogyny); I understood the tendency to find scapegoats, whether the media, the DNC, or Barack Obama himself.

Just as I am reminded of the barriers Obama faces every time I get an email screaming "Obama is a Muslim!" or "Obama doesn't pledge to the flag!" I understood the frustration and anger Hillary's supporters must have felt when she was written off with a thousand different subtle and not so subtle slights. But Hillary never backed down, just as Barack didn't. As Hillary put it, they have done the remarkable so that next time it won't need to be. Next time a women or an African American or any other minority runs for President they will know there is precedent for success. They will know, in spite of still discouraging remnants, that racism and sexism have faded enough that a black man or a woman could be elected by the people for the highest office in the land. That's significant.

I still have some concerns with Hillary Clinton, just as I am sure some Clinton supporters haven't yet completely come around to Obama. But today I remembered, as tough of a battle as this has been and as imperfect the candidates, they have shared a very similar journey over the past 18 months. It's been a tough, arduous, sometimes grueling crucible of an election. But both have not only survived, they have proved what's possible in America today.

Many times over the past year I have turned on the TV and watched Barack Obama give a stirring speech and felt a deep sense of pride and hope for the future. Today, for the first time, I watched Hillary Clinton and felt the same.

Comments

[Clairvaux]

Terrific Post!

[BeyondKen]

"He gave us a booming economy, but also globalization and outsourcing."

Just what did you think caused that booming economy? Could it have been ... "globalization and outsourcing"?

[jeg]

I would say it was the .COM boom. People throwing BILLIONS of dollars into the internet, and expecting billions more to come pouring out of the "tubes". Sometimes it did, but usually only with businesses like Amazon, who knew they were going to lose money for years.

That certainly helped with globalization. I refuse to believe outsourcing is anything other than an evil-- sometimes a "bottom-line" evil, and increasingly, a "necessary" evil, especially as our education system continues to churn out people barely capable of working for Wal-Mart.

That's my cynical side speaking-- My optimistic side is hoping that we can start to turn this train around, and thinks Sen. Obama has a number of really, really good ideas.

[erykah]

Hillary hit the ball out the park yesterday, but do not forget that she was also saving her political ass. She blew it on Tuesday and had she not done what she did yesterday, she would have been done--literally.

[KarateKid]

I thought she hit a double, not a homerun. And one speech will not erase the bad feeling she created with her divisiveness, her lies and her kitchen sink strategy that promoted her by tearing down her opponent.

And the jury is still out as to whether she is done or not; it remains to be seen.

[standard]

Exactly!

She did not accept personal responsibility for her campaign having failed, admit that no sexist attack on her ever came form Sen. Obama or his campaign, apologize for her personal attacks on Sen. Obama , withdraw her considerable praise for Sen. McCain, specify what her preferred role will be at the convention in August, describe her intentions beyond November, or renounce slash-and-burn politics.

Most revealingly: She did not did NOT release her pledged delegates!

For all those reasons , Barack still needs to treat her with extreme caution. Wounded politicians are the most dangerous ones. Never, the old saying goes, pick up a dead snake: it may surprise you.

[jfor]

Are we so pathetic that after a year and a half of Hillary Clintons threats, her divisiveness, her lies, her votes and everything else that made her in reality a subpar candidate we now are going to forgive her? We now are going to be magnaminous and say "you know with all her faults she actually is a good person"? What a bunch of crap. Hillary is where she is today because of the crappy campaign she ran based on ideas of yesterday.

It will take more than a few words for me to have faith in Hillary Clinton, it will take action. She needs to truly get behind Obama and forget about 2012 or 2016 and fully realize that for her the door to the oval office has closed but she can still has an opportunity to make a contribution to this country instead of herself.

[DXM]

For the sake of party unity (and keeping another Republican out of the WH), I am more than willing to forgive Sen. Clinton and move on to the general election with her playing whatever role is needed for a Dem win in November. On the other hand, I will not forget come the primaries in 2016 (assuming Sen. Obama wins the election and continues for two terms) or especially 2012 (assuming Sen. Obama does NOT win the election in which case I will remember Sen. Clinton's indirect role in that defeat) - either way, she will not get my vote.

[KarateKid]

That pretty much sums it up for me, too.

[XME]

Ditto!

[piper1233]

i guess words do matter, funny how one speech after a full campaign of unnecessary hostility and division can sway people to change their opinion about hillary. remember the debate where she praised Obama as her friend and showed genuine respect only to launch into the infamous shame on you Barack Obama speech the next day? Hillary is now seeking to be VP. Her speech in my opinion was to further her own standing in the party, and to keep herself relevant in his campaign. I believe if she wanted to help Obama and the party she should have fully conceeded (not suspend her campaign), fully endorse Obama as the legitimate winner (not continue to suggest that sexism lost her the primaries), tell her hard line supporters that they should ensure that Obama is the next President (not ask them to help Obama get elected), announce that she would refused the VP slot (not suggest that it belongs to her in the name of her supporters), lobby for kathlene Sebilis to be placed on the ticket as VP (not insist through sorrogates that it should be her or no woman. then fade away into the sunset and let Obama do what he needs to do to heal the party and win the general.

[mexamerican]

nailed it. thanks. i got a glimpse today too.

[ssb752]

Stated my feelings, observations, intuition and concerns. Yes, Nailed It.

[Grace2008]

I appreciated the depth and sincerity of Senator Clinton's words today. I just cannot shake, however, the idea that if you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem. Today is the first time I heard the good Senator speak out against racism whilst it seemed that throughout the primaries that she was happy to benefit from it by her silence on the issue.

[Krikkit]

You mirror my sentiments exactly. After watching that speech I'm convinced that it wasn't Hillary's intentions that were her downfall. Instead I think it was her assumption that only she could win the White House and capitalize for the Democratic Party on the weakened state of the GOP that drove a perceived need to "do anything to win."

I think there was a fear driving her that if her opponent won, we would lose. She may still hold some private misgivings, but damn if she isn't going to do everything in her power to make sure her fears are NOT realized. Today, with Obama having secured the nomination, that means she will do everything in her power to see that he is elected.

If Hillary had campaigned from her heart, like the delivery of her speech today, she would probably be our nominee. A more abject lesson on the danger of giving in to fear doesn't exist in my opinion.
Obama could do much worse than Hillary for an ally. The two of them working together will be amazing to see in action. I can't wait!

[MissDaphne]

If Hillary had campaigned from her heart, like the delivery of her speech today, she would probably be our nominee. A more abject lesson on the danger of giving in to fear doesn't exist in my opinion.
Obama could do much worse than Hillary for an ally. The two of them working together will be amazing to see in action. I can't wait!

Amen!

[kavehdabashi]

i thought hillary clinton ran a brutal, divisive and conniving campaign.

but today, her speech had this obama-maniac misty eyed. it was a truly great, personal, and probably difficult speech.

[standard]

One rose doesn't make a summer.

Sen. Clinton was truthful and eloquent today, but the Democratic Party as a whole needs plenty of time to be certain that she has completely abandoned old-style slash-and-burn. lie-and exaggerate politics.

Sen. Obama would do well to entrust her with an important role in his administra­tion--with­in prudent limits. Secretary of Health and Human Services? Fine. In fact: a really great fit. But Vice President--a job from which she can't be dismissed, if need be? A thousand times no! At least, not yet.

Churchill once said of an entire nation that they are "always at your feet--or at your throat." Our Party and our nominee should proceed with all requisite grace--but with all requisite caution, as well.

[jhamm1]

Okay, she did what she had to do in terms of conceding the race and providing a much deserved backing for the good of the party, but let's not go overboard in terms of sympathizing with her previous positions.

At the end of the day, she's still the same person who refused to accept responsibility for her support of the Iraq war, threatened to exterminate 70 million people, and pronounced McCain as more suitable for the office than Obama himself.

For me, Hillary's positioning merits understanding, but not sympathy. Not yet.

[LizM]

I'd like to know when, if ever, we will all finally 'get' what the so-called 'vote for war' was all about, and was not. The presumptive Democratic nominee hasn't demonstrated that he gets it. Ditto for Hillary Clinton. McCain is so out to lunch on Iraq, who really cares what he got about that vote.

It's high time for an honest debate about Iraq - how we got there, and how we get out. Let's begin with the acknowledgement that a vote for the October 2002 resolution authorizing the use of US military force in Iraq etc. etc. was by no means a 'vote for war' or de facto support for this invasion and occupation of Iraq. There must be some of us out there who are capable of understanding complicated issues that cannot be hemmed into the simplistic analyses that we have grown so accustomed to from the media and blogosphere.

[Krikkit]

It was triangulation. Common political wisdom says that in order to secure the Democratic base, you have to swing Left, but to win in the general election where moderate independents rule, you have to swing Right. In the end, you end up on balance in the middle. That btw is the definition of triangulation. It used to work so well that no politician worth his or her merit would consider stepping away from the practice.

Politics have changed overnight in some respects, though, and Clinton didn't get the email. With instant communications and internet blogs, vlogs and etc., triangulation doesn't work anymore. It just looks like manipulation (which it is). What Hillary did, she did out of a desire to strengthen the Democratic Party for the next election cycle in the manner that all politicians have used from the beginning of the modern era. But we are in a new era now, one that her opponent gets and she did not.

[LizM]

I'd like to know if we'll ever make it to the era where the candidate most qualified and best equipped to meet the challenges of the day will be recognized for the real leadership they demonstrate every single day.

Considering all that would have to happen to make that era possible, it seems too much to dare hope for.

[LizM]

Krikkit,

I wonder if we'll ever live to witness the era when the candidate who is most qualified and best equipped to meet the challenges of the day will be recognized for the real leadership that they demonstrate .

Considering all that would have to change to make that day happen, it's probably far too much to dare to hope for.

[altohone]

My clever Liz... it's been too long.

The vote was for war, and Biden is being consulted by Obama despite supporting Bush.

The general didn't start really until Hillary dropped out.
I join you in hoping for substantive debate on Iraq, but the truth is all are at the mercy of Bush. Insisting to know what anybody will face by the time he's through would be foolish. He may even sabotage efforts if a plan is announced. Many even suspect an attack on Iran is coming.

Until we know what we'll face, flexibility and basic planning for various contingencies makes more sense than specifics that can change or be changed.

McCain's overconfidence will no doubt bring some debate that should be interesting though.

[LizM]

Hey altohone...why, it seems like only yesterday.

One of these fine days, my friend, you will see that the world is not black and white but a wonderfully brilliant palette of ... various shades of grey. And, if Obama is half as wise as he is perceived, then he will do far more than consult Biden - he'll do whatever it takes to put the chairman on the ticket with him.

Flexibility and basic planning for contingencies both comprise the beauty of the Biden strategy which assumes that specifics can change or be changed...and, most probably, for the worse.

What do you suppose are the odds on McCain ending up in the White House for at least four years? Go ahead...make my day.

[bigfated]

Hillary, with her speech today erased the negative feelings I had begun to develop as I watched her seem to claw and scratch her way to the nomination. I am a bit surprised....and ashamed...to realize that as I followed her campaign I failed to recogonize just what her candidacy meant to so many women....and young girls. Good for her.
She made me feel very proud to be both an American and a Democrat today.

[boycottrightwingthings]

When I met Hillary in NYC when she was running for the Senate, she gave me a big hug and said to me " we need women like you!" Today she reminded me of what she was really fghting for-to be the best candidate and NOT have to keep on reminding people that she was a women, in the same way that Obama tried to be the best candidate without having to remind people that he is black. Those words that she said to me nine years ago have had a profound effect in empowering me, and I thank her so much for it! We as women deserve respect, and I saw so much derision and nasty sexism, but I also saw hope and felt such pride for her. I am young enough to have switched my vote to Obama right away, but please understand the older women who are as heartbroken as I am, but who are having a harder time bringing themselves over to Obama. You see. these women have been fighting their WHOLE lives for what Hillary has had a measure of success in trying to deliver. If you haven't walked in our shoes, you can't comprehend how much harder that we have to fight to be considered half as good. I am so proud of Hillary! Yet she was right to say, don't look back because we must fight on ahead. OBAMA 08! The only choice that we have now to get our country back.

[standard]

"We as women deserve respect, and I saw so much derision and nasty sexism."

Without question, women deserve respect, there was sexism in the air, and all sexism is nasty.

However, please remind everyone that none of the derision and sexism that confronted Sen. Clinton came from Sen. Obama or his campaign. Please also encourage everyone to recognize that a general respect for women can not be reasonably expected to extend to a woman who, running for office, conducts a dirty campaign. Had Sen. Clinton only been as positive and eloquent during her months on the campaign trail as she was for the twenty minutes of her concession speech, she'd be the candidate today and the ultimate Glass Ceiling would be about to shatter--as it one day will. Coming from younger women, that may help to win over the understandably heartbroken older women whose votes we need to advance all their dreams.

Welcome to the fight! OBAMA 08!

[slg]

Thanks for this. I'm glad it's decided and optimistic about Obama but i do feel for Clinton. The press and public had a feeding frenzy, attacking her on a thousand fronts, it's amazing she held up so well. Funny how those very same press and public, patriots all, never challenged George Bush jr with even one tenth the fervor. I've been watching the entire time awestruck as he gets away with outrage after incompetence of the highest order yet nothing is done to hold him or his enablers accountable meanwhile Hillary gets to be everyones' punching bag. It appears they're too afraid of big bad BushCo so they've vented all their wrath on a surrogate, by coincidence, a Democrat and a woman.

[LeeScho]

Therrrreee she is! This was the Hillary I imagined lurked beneath the surface - an increasingly complex and indefineable surface the more she became manipulated by her handlers. This was the Hillary that I had long supported until her outrageous posturing with the Israeli President on the border of Palestine and encouraging him to virtually destroy those people if he found it necessary. (I longed for the day when Bill would be called upon to follow through on his braccadocio and jump into an Israeli foxhole to defend Israel.)

Or maybe Hillary just doesn't present well under pressure, spontaneously.

He speech today was so natural, so nuanced, so lucid. On the campaign trail she was halting, searching, oftentimes faltering, losing the thread, uncertain of where to go.

She is too bright and knowledgeable to be handled. I never got the sense that through all of his trials and tribulations during the campaign, Obama allowed himself to be handled.

Senator Clinton, I have always refused, ultimately, to work for or be controlled by anyone who was less competent than I. I wish you had, too.

Thank you, and Godspeed.

[Krikkit]

Yeah, there she is. Been waiting a long time to see her, haven't we?

Hillary, pleased to meet you.