Those of us who have not supported Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Race (I was initially for John Edwards and now for Barack Obama) and even criticized many of Hillary's campaign tactics (as I have blogged on HuffPost) must now give Hillary her props both for an eloquent and gracious concession speech, and for advancing the cause of women's rights in her campaign.
Hillary's speech hit all of the right notes. She gave her due to her supporters, particularly women hoping to break the ultimate glass ceiling ("it now has 18 million cracks in it"). But Hillary finally did the right thing, in unequivocally endorsing Barack Obama over John McCain and embracing his campaign theme proclaiming "Yes We Can".
She made it clear to her supporters that if they care about universal health care, the mortgage crisis, access to a college education, combating global warming, preserving a Supreme Court that protects the rights of individuals and a woman's right to choose, ending the war in Iraq, and restoring America's moral leadership in the world, then the best vehicle now available for achieving those goals is putting Barack Obama in the White House.
It is incomprehensible that anyone who supported Hillary because they believed in her issues could consider voting for John McSame or sitting out this historic election.
To those Clinton supporters who are still grieving, I must add that I understand your disappointment-after all I'm a progressive Democrat and have had my share of disappointment too. But disappointment must be turned into determination. Unless someone supported Hillary for no other reason that that she was a woman (and would be as happy with Condoleezza Rice in the White House as Hillary because of their common gender), then the only way to advance the issues Hillary campaigned on is to do everything possible to ensure that John McCain does not become President. McCain opposes everything important that Hillary has run on-- he's for replacing our current health care system with one in which everyone competes for care in the private insurance market that would refuse coverage to McCain himself with his pre-existing history of skin cancer. He's for preserving the Bush tax cuts and giving new tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy. He's for keeping American troops in Iraq for 100 years.
One day, in the not too distant future, there will be a woman President of the United States. It will not happen this year. We can, however, do something just as important--begin to put behind us the legacy of slavery on which this country was built by electing the first African American President.
From the point of view of this progressive, neither Barack nor Hilllary are perfect vehicles. I would, for example, prefer a candidate who supported universal single payer health care, rather than putting a band-aid on our wasteful system of private for-profit health insurance. But this election goes beyond the individual candidates, as important as electing a Democratic President is. This election is also about the movements that will be strengthened through this election campaign and will hold a Democratic President's and Congress' feet to the fire to enact a progressive agenda.
Let Hillary backers, Obama backers (and yes Edwards, Richardson, Biden, Dodd and Kucinich backers) now come together to begin to change this country and the world after eight years of Republican-backed devastation. Yes We Can!
UDATE: In reading many of the comments to this post, I find myself bewildered and disturbed by the level of animosity between Barack's and Hillary's supporters. If John McCain, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and George Bush were to read some of the comments below, they would be dancing up and down and breaking out the champagne.
This should not be about the bruised feelings of the candidates or their supporters, but about undoing some of the damage of the past 8 years of Republican rule. Hillary, who has seen her dream of 40 years to be President fade, has behaved with grace and dignity and endorsed her Democratic opponent. Barack, who has endured a kitchen sink worth of attacks, has behaved with grace and dignity as well, praising Hillary for the historic campaign she has run, and for the women and working people she has brought into the process. Surely, their respective supporters can show the same grace and dignity.
This isn't just about Hillary and her supporters and Barack and his supporters. It's about the future of the country and the world. Either we will come together to defeat John McSame and have the chance to provide health care for millions of uninsured Americans, universal pre-school education, college for all who will work for it, Supreme Court justices who uphold the rights of individuals and a woman's right to choose, an end to our dependence on foreign oil, a lowering of our output of greenhouse gases, and the creation of millions of well-paying green jobs, the return of our troops from a mistaken war that has not made us safer, and the care for the returning troops that they deserve. Or we will see 4 more years of middle class decline amidst government neglect and 100 more years of wasted foreign military adventures? Assuming readers really care about Barack and Hillary have been fighting for, and not just your own bruised egos, then let's keep our eyes on the ball--a Democratic President and increased Democratic Congressional majorities in the fall, so that the gridlock in Washington may finally be broken.
As Hillary said yesterday, "Every minute wasted looking back keeps us from looking forward."