History is made! Hillary Rodham Clinton is the first woman to be the nominee of a major political Party in the United States. We have the opportunity to make real the preamble to our Constitution which called on us to 'form a more perfect union'. Electing Hillary Rodham Clinton America's 45th and first woman President moves our nation closer to its destiny.
To do this we need to unite the Party. With the help of those who believed in and supported Senator Bernie Sanders we can take back Congress and move a progressive agenda forward. Senator Sanders and his supporters changed the discussion in this election bringing forward issues of income-inequality; universal healthcare and affordable college. Those issues will remain a part of the Democratic platform and be part of the goals we all fight for.
The debate has never been about whether we should move those issues forward rather how we do it. Those of us who have spent a lifetime supporting progressive causes and supported Hillary have never argued with these goals. We also know no one person alone can accomplish these and other goals Hillary Clinton campaigned on.
There is an urgency to reforming our criminal justice system; passing comprehensive immigration reform; equal pay for equal work for women; full civil and human rights for the LGBT community; raising the minimum wage; and moving forward on fighting climate change; all of which we can only accomplish by working together.
We face a Presidential election with two candidates who couldn't be more opposite in their policies and the direction in which they want to lead the nation. One wants to divide us and go back to the days of "America First'; the other wants to unite us, build ladders of opportunity for all, and be a responsible leader and force for a better and safer world.
America voting for a Donald Trump Presidency is frightening. He is a man who attacks the ethnic background of judges disrespecting the judicial system for personal gain. He said his appointments to the Supreme Court would be acceptable to the very far-right pledging to turn back Roe v. Wade; reverse marriage-equality; support Citizens United; and declare the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. A President Trump promises to deport eleven million immigrants to Mexico; ban all Muslims from coming to the United States; be fine with more nations having nuclear weapons; and tear up climate change treaties because he believes climate change is a hoax.
Or Americans can join together as Democrats, Independents, Republicans and decent people of all backgrounds to elect Hillary Rodham Clinton President. Someone who will make progress on progressive goals and work to make this a safer world. A President Clinton would expand climate treaties; appoint Supreme Court Justices committed to overturning Citizens United and supporting a view of the constitution guaranteeing civil and human rights to all people and respecting the separation of church and state. President Clinton will work to eliminate nuclear weapons from the world and build coalitions to put diplomatic and economic pressure on nations that threaten world peace. A President Clinton will support the United Nations and NATO so responsibility for protecting the world doesn't fall totally on the United States. A president Clinton who understands the United States President is also the leader of the free world and is prepared to take on the mantel of that responsibly. A President Clinton will fight to make this a world where everyone is respected for who they are, for their hard work, and that includes women, the LGBT community and those who don't have a voice to speak for themselves.
As we move forward through the final primaries and the convention when Hillary Clinton formally becomes the Democratic Candidate she has pledged to work with Senator Sanders to welcome and include all those who supported him into the campaign. All of us who are Hillary supporters must do the same.
Just as in 2008 as a passionate Hillary supporter I was welcomed into the campaign of Barack Obama I want to be part of warmly welcoming supporters of Senator Sanders and standing arm-in-arm with them as together we work to defeat Donald Trump and take back the Congress.
Clinton supporters must recognize it will take some time before many of Sanders' supporters join the campaign and that is fine. Many of Hillary's supporters in 2008 took time to come around to supporting Obama. Passions don't turn on a dime and campaigns are about passion without which you can't work 24/7 for the candidate you believe in.
But we must join together because we have a common goal. We need to defeat Donald Trump who is a racist, sexist, misogynist, homophobic candidate of the Republican Party that wants to take our country backwards. We will work together to keep the White House; take back the Congress; and make the United States a better place to live and work. We must do this for all who are here now and all who believe in an America where we still live by the words engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty welcoming all who enter New York harbor, 'Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore'.