Hillary, It's Time to Pass the Torch
I am of the same age group as Barack Obama, and I am an avid supporter. As an African-American woman who grew up in the 1970s post-Civil Rights era, his personal story resonates with me in a way no other public figure has before.
The way he struggled to navigate both the opportunities that were now open to black folks, as well as the continued burden of race and racial stereotypes.
Knowing that yes, we could now be anything we wanted to be... if we put our minds to it. But that we might have to work harder than some whites to get there. Knowing that in our workplace, we would have to "prove" ourselves, and be on the frontlines of a fight for freedom that was brand-new in its victory.
Barack struggled with his identity as a black person, and as a person who didn't live in an all-black world, who had white family and friends. I grew up in multiracial 1970s Los Angeles as a light-skinned black woman who went to predominantly a white elite private school. So I knew exactly what he was talking about: Where do I fit in? Who am I?
This question goes beyond racial identity. It's a question we all ask of ourselves when we're young and struggling to define who and what we are.
I also identify with Barack because he is of the same generation as me. Too young to have been part of the 1960s, but having the juggernaut of older baby boomers continually shaping and defining the culture and politics of our lives.
When I read his book, The Audacity of Hope, this quote jumped out at me:
"Despite a forty-year remove, the tumult of the sixties and the subsequent backlash continues to drive our political discourse. Partly it underscores how deeply felt the conflicts of the sixties must have been for the men and women who came of age of that time, and the degree to which the arguments of the era were understood not simply as political disputes but as individual choices that defined personal identity and moral standing.
I suppose it also highlights the fact that the flash-point issues of the sixties were never fully resolved.... And maybe it just has to do with the sheer size of the Baby Boom generation, a demographic force that exerts the same gravitational pull in politics that it exerts on everything else, from the market for Viagra to the number of cup holders automakers put in their cars."
Yes. In all my voting life, the Baby Boomers and their perspective have defined politics. And Barack put the nail on the head for me when he wrote:
"In the back-and-forth between Clinton and Gingrich and in the elections of 2000 and 2004, I sometimes felt as if I were watching the psychodrama of the Baby Boom generation--a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago--played out on the national stage."
And this is why I am not a supporter of Hillary Clinton. Her moment, the political moment of the Baby Boomers, is over. Hillary, we've seen you and your husband for so many years. But it's time to release your generation's tight grip on the reins of power. I suggest you do as Al Gore has and devote your life to public service or philanthropy.
Because the playing field has changed, and you can't keep up.
Hillary's recycled ideas, her demonizing of the Republicans, her "us vs. them" bunker mentality, the lack of candor, the waffling on Iran and Iraq, the pandering--it all just feels like some stale television re-run that we've been watching over and over and over again. Can we please change the channel?
The new channel now includes the Internet. And Hillary's Clintonian tactics of locking down all media with über press control is not going to work.
Americans have too many opinions to try to control them. And Americans are smart enough to see through the Old-School methods of media spin. Americans can now leave their comments in Internet news stories, and those comments are going to call her on blatant B.S. (Kindergate, anyone?) Americans are tired of being manipulated by politicians.
This need of Hillary to try to continue to be on the national stage is like the overbearing parent who can't stop controlling the family, even when the family members are more than capable of dealing with their own affairs.
Hillary, relax. Let go. Do good work.
And pass the torch.
It's time.
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I'm a registered Democrat, part of Gen Y (whatever that means), an African American male, and a Hillary supporter. When I talk to my uber-pro Obama family about why I'm voting for her or why I think that she's the best for the job, it all seems to devolve into "Us black people need to stick together" or "Its because of people like YOU is why Black people can't get ahead!" To me, using this kind of reasoning is racially biased and because of that the judgment becomes suspect. My personal belief why "Black people" can't get ahead is because we continue to think in terms of black and white, Us vs. Them, Us poor Negroes against the Man!
I'm supporting Hillary because I need a more practical choice for the presidency. I want somebody that IS a career politician and that knows all of the ropes in Washington. I want a president that has spent years already campaigning for issues that they feel need to be addressed. I want a flesh eating politician in office to fix this seven year screw up that we're already in. I want Hillary.
Obama is dangerous for us as liberals and as Democrats. Being a liberal party we are extremely easy to divide on issues. Some of us are soft on the death penalty, while others are strongly for or against. Give us some huge statement of change diatribe and half of us go running toward it while the other half stays put. Through Obama, the Republicans will divide us further and then further divide the all important Independent voters. Sucking away our power base and threatening us with four more years of Republican rule. No Republican wants to face Hillary in the general election, they have made that clear. The same isn’t true for Obama, the Republicans will portray him as a drug abusing foreigner that is too different for the American people to rally behind. It may or may not be true, but it might be enough to scare middle America into voting Republican one more time.
Go Lonnee!!
I couldn't agree more with the statement, "Hillary, it's time to pass the torch". And I am not part of the "young group" or an Independent. I am 74 years old and have witnessed too many presidents and too many congressional leaders practice hardball just to prove a point.
Frankly, I am sick and tired of watching Washington play around with the lives of middle class Americans. We haven't had a voice in Government for far too long. It's time for a whole new group to have a chance to give us back our Government.
As a Democrat all my life, I finally believe we have someone who can represent our party and raise our standing in the world. Hopefully we can once again be the Nation of Peace and prosparity, not a Nation of war.
Joanne Urish
Glasford, IL
61533
"False Hope." I was diagnosed with the disease last night. Senator Clinton, who I at one time supported, delivered the bad news to me.
As I thought about my life "pre-diagnosis" I realized that I have been addicted to hope my entire life. Having graduated at the top of my class at Occidental College, I chose to become a US history teacher at a public school because I believed that I would make something more valuable that money. I would make change and a difference in the lives of others. For the last eleven years I have always believed that I, one teacher, could improve the lives of children. What keeps me going is that I, with that 55 minutes of a child's day could, in someway, inspire them to do more than they thought was possible.
So, despite this diagnosis, I'm going to get a second opinion. I'm going to maintain that hope and support Barack Obama who believes in me. It's a risk, but not a very big one, because who I have staring at me through that screen is a person whose "prescription" for the future I refuse to take. I am going to do is work as hard as I can to make sure we get the right leader who hasn't given up on the age old idea that the strongest form of democracy is one in which the people are informed and active. They are the makers of history.
I am not going to suspend my belief in hope despite being risky. I'm going to take the chance that the "Dr. Clinton" is wrong and I have been misdiagnosed. My hope is not at all false and that I will elect a leader that doesn't believe that it is either. Clinton, sadly, has little to offer me. Barack Obama has much to offer me.
That is why I believe, like Ms. Hamilton, it is time for Clinton to move on to a different line of work. She no longer believes in the power of the American people.
I'm actually clapping for you right now, Lonnee.
Good Job !!!!!! Thank You.
Lonnee, you couldn’t be more clear about what this race is really about, change. But, it’s not the kind of change that’s going to deal with the international and economic crisis this country is in.
When is the last time Americans sat down and said that it matters, however much, what color my candidate is? When is the last time we said it matters; even though he’s not as qualified as Joseph Biden, he’s not as qualified as Christopher Dodd, and he’s not as qualified as Hillary Clinton.
When is the last time America said that we’re going to make age crucial, that my candidate should belong to my generation?
It makes sense to me now; what happened in Iowa, and after reading your article. We are in the middle of a generational war. We’re in the middle of a war going on between the Baby Boomer generation and a younger one. We’re also in a racial war within the Baby Boomer generation, and Senator Obama is at the center of it, he was born in 1961; he’s a Baby Boomer.
The truth is, those two things should almost never matter; age should only matter when the candidate’s health is at stake, and race should never matter. When we’re racially motivated to vote, it’s wrong. We throw out everything that our Constitution stands for when race plays the slightest role in our vote. We should vote for our candidate based on his or her qualifications and values, not based on the color of our skin. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for that, and I would hope that we could continue his legacy.
Our country is in trouble; we face unprecedented threats now and in the future. Recession is near, and the possibility of nuclear war is greater than it was in the Cold War. If we don’t get serious today about meeting these challenges, and setting aside our generational struggles, then we’re not going to grow as a country. That’s the kind of change we need, and that’s the kind of change I will continue to fight for.
Senator Clinton is as aware of what's going on with progressive voters as the rest of us are, and she's naturally disappointed and doing all she can to regain the spotlight. I was stunned to hear her in the debate claiming 35 years of experience yet finding fault with John Edwards when his patient bill of rights stalled in the House of Representatives after it made it through the Senate. Is this not the same sort of experience, working hard and coming up short?
Ironically, every Democrat has adopted Obama's message, each claiming to be an Agent of Change. Yet Senator Clinton has resorted to very old-school ad hominem sound bite politics as her inevitability has evaporated. The moderators in the New Hampshire debate lobbed her softball questions, and she still struggled to come distinguish herself.
Has her time passed? No, I doubt it; she's probably got enough influence and savvy to be an effective Senator for her adopted New York. If all we needed in the White House could be summed up as "effective campaigner" she might be the best. What we need, however, is not somebody who orchestrates an effective, slick campaign, but rather a visionary that reverses the disenfranchisement of the citizens of this country and restores the integrity of the office of the President.
Well, as a member (albeit reluctant) of that so-called baby boom generation I say "Have at it". Seems to me that our moment in the political sun was a trifle short-lived, but there is just not a lot we can say after producing George Bush. But be careful what you wish for. I've seen one group after another, gen X and gen Y and gen This and gen That come and be gone hardly leaving a ripple in the pond. Lots of attitude, not very much action. Plenty of talk and precious little results. And now you tell us that the new and improved model has arrived. JFK and MLK rolled into one without the 'contamination' of the Boomer generation. Well, sounds good to me. Let's take it for a spin. After all, can it be any worse than what we've had for the last seven years? This just might be your chance...... show us what you've got!
It struck me that the Clintons don't seem to realize that every piece of misinformation they attempt to put out there to create doubts in the minds of voters against Obama can be fact checked in seconds, and/or will appear on You Tube, and will be broadcast and scrutinized within the hour across the country.
Senator Barack Obama leads Americans (including Dems, Reps and Independents) in a successful effort based on a transparent government to create a majority that will overcome the Corporate lobbyists (that fund the Clinton campaign) to take America back.
I agree, Lonnee. I heard Howard Fineman say that he was at an event where Bill Clinton was campaigning for his wife, and it struck him that he was watching the end of an era. For me, also, it is almost like watching an old 8mm film.
Sometimes the desperation being shown as they scratch and claw at holding on to power has me wishing they'd just go home. Really, just stop. I had such tremendous respect for Bill and as time goes it's being eroded into a kind of sad embarrassment.
Amen!
Obama O8!
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