Emotional Day for Hillary Backers: My Report From the Speech

Because I live in D.C. and am the Ultimate Washington Insider, I had the privilege of witnessing history today. It was a day that I never thought I'd see: A woman candidate for president, who received the most primary votes of any candidate in history, graciously conceding the nomination to, and pledging to support, the first person of color ever to head a major-party ticket.

Now what was it like in the National Building Museum today?

I attended the rally with a group of active Hillary supporters: Dedicated volunteers and well-wishers. As we stood on the balcony of the museum for three hours waiting for the speech to begin, we kept furtively asking one another what our plans were, quiet so as not to offend the different factions or cause any rifts.

Out of 10 people, two are swearing they will support John McCain (they are part of a splinter group called PUMA: Party Unity My Ass); one has plans to write Hillary's name in on the ballot; the rest plan to support, to varying degrees, Barack Obama (ranging from actively campaigning to just quietly voting for him in November).

So, that small sample would be good news for Obama in his quest to win over Hillary's 18 million voters.

Now for some sketching of the scene. The line to get in encircled the gigantic museum. But, as promised, the doors did open at 10 and I think everyone who wanted to get in did. We were ushered upstairs to the second floor, and we staked out a spot overlooking the press pool. We stood basically frozen in place, fending off newcomers who wanted a peek over the balcony. Well, some of them we let step in to take a picture or something if they promised to then get the hell back out of our space.

From our perch we established a special bond with CNN's Candy Crowley, to stave off our impatience. We waved at her and egged her on as she filed reports and BlackBerry'ed furiously. She was the most well-known on-air talent present on the press risers until Dana Milbank showed up. John King was over on his own stage on the side.

Slowly, famous people appeared on the floor. Terry McAuliffe did several laps, causing little bursts of applause, signing autographs. Then he kept doing it. I thought it was a little bit much, but my friends thought he had earned his ego moment. I don't. Losing elections doesn't earn you anything in my book.

Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen showed up and sat in the small VIP section up by the main stage. Sen. Charles Schumer, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones and that fundraiser guy whose name I can't remember joined them.

But my favorite guest was Ms. Gloria Steinem, who appeared in the larger, standing VIP area directly in front of the stage, wearing her trademark aviator sunglasses, which she then took off; carrying a book, looking very thin but very good in her skin-tight black chemise (oops, am I being sexist here?), talking to people, milling around, not sitting in the VIP seating. I thought that must be a statement on her part, like, Hey, I'm no VIP, I'm just here to see Hillary.

The sound was terrible, I had to cup my hand to my ear to understand the speech, and I was only about 200 feet away from the mic.

One of the Hillary supporters pointed out that there were people walking around wearing Obama T-shirts, and they were really not welcome here. I did find it odd that they were there with their T-shirts, but the longer Hillary talked, with her more than a dozen mentions of Obama, the more welcome they seemed.

After the speech, my friend Kai and I went down to the floor, from the balcony, to see how close we could get to the Clintons. Bill was so red. Hillary looked prettier the closer you got to her, but again, I don't want to be sexist.

So what do I mean by "emotional day"? I watched the speech on the Web this evening again, so that I could actually hear 100% of it, unlike in the hall today. The last six months have been very hard for Hillary supporters. The source of the continual bitterness has been half caused by the victim complex the Clintons have, which infects all their supporters' emotions, and half caused by the hateful, divisive stance of many Obama supporters, at least the online ones.

When you hate someone, everything they do, no matter how innocuous, makes you exclaim your hatred for them. And a lot of people hate Hillary Clinton in that way, so that if she so much as burps, she's a racist monster. If her makeup is off one day, she's a tarted-up Satan Whore. If she clears her throat, she's sending a subliminal message to assassinate Barack Obama. Tonight, a lot of the Clinton Derangement Syndrome (CDS) sufferers are changing their tune, because she proved them wrong with a gracious speech extolling her opponent and basically doing the best thing an opponent can do: Exhorting her supporters to switch to him.

The line of her speech that made me tear up was this, delivered with downturned eyes by Hillary: "It would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours. When you stumble, keep faith. And, when you're knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on."

Personally, after so much bitterness, I look forward to the Democratic unity Hillary inaugurated today. Thank you, Hillary.

Comments

[Boadicea]

Hillary lost (by every measure, no matter what you say; people who check the facts know the truth, and Obama left a lot on the table when he pivoted to the general to fend off McCain while Hillary still went on bashing him) and she finally faced that reality.

Your account of the speech was interesting. Thanks for sharing it. I feel bad for those whose candidates did not win. Someone has to win, and the others have to lose. We all know this going in.

I hope Hillary can undo the damage she's done to the party with her divisive campaign tactics. My gut feeling is that this was Bill's campaign, not Hillary's. Hillary's campaign would have been classier and more successful. Like Hillary.

[IslandGyal]

You with the sad eyes
don't be discouraged
oh I realize
it's hard to take courage
in a world full of people
you can lose sight of it all
and the darkness inside you
can make you fell so small

But I see your true colors
shining through
I see your true colors
and that's why I love you
so don't be afraid to let them show
your true colors
true colors are beautiful
like a rainbow

Show me a smile then
don't be unhappy, can't remember
when I last saw you laughing
if this world makes you crazy
and you've taken all you can bear
you call me up
because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors
shining through
I see your true colors
and that's why I love you
so don't be afraid to let them show
your true colors
true colors are beautiful
like a rainbow

[lincat]

I wish that one thing Hillary had stressed during her speech is that a vote for McCain is a vote against
women. I think that she should have stressed that when talking about sexism. McCain could appoint someone on the supreme court that could set women's rights back.

[lincat]

When you say that Hillary won the most popular votes in primary history, you are wrong because it totally dismisses the caucus states as being meaningless. I am not saying this to make you feel bad, but towards the end part of Hillary's argument was not to disenfranchise those who voted yet she did not count the caucuses.

[athenasword]

Are we done yet?

[Maury66]

One more thing needs to be said.....o­r more accurately needs to be heard, which it probably wont be, of course....­Besides Project Chaos.....­how many votes was that? ....And the Caucus states...w­e are missing a larger picture...­..During those weeks when the "pundits and the MSM" were "demanding" that Hillary exit the race because there was no mathematical possibilit­y.......gu­ess what?...th­ere was NO mathematical possibilit­y!!....peo­ple only said it because it was true.....m­ost especially after North Carolina, it was obvious...­.so Obama turned his attention elsewhere.­...let's use the sports analogy again....t­he home team is up by eighteen with five minutes left and has the ball.....d­o they pass? Maybe not.....af­ter punting on fourth down, with even less time remaining, do they take the usual aggressive defensive strategy? Probably not...Obam­a was three possessions up......sa­y the visitors score twice in three min....the paper will read the next day....Hom­ies Cruise to A Win.....th­e last two touchdowns were meaningless, people....­.Hillary lost two months ago.....Ob­ama was protecting his lead.....a­ll this talk of a close race is bogus...It benefited CNN and MSNBC to make it a race during that long Pennsylvania primary...­.heck, they admitted it more than once....it was not close....i­t wasnt a landslide.­..but it was not close. Hillary hoped for a meltdown or a tragedy...­.likely still does.....b­ut the outcome was never in question after the string of defeats.

[dawlishgal]

Hillary was relying on the perception of momentum to change the minds of super-delegates. And she was lucky that the states most likely to fall for her racist tactics came near the end of the game. When the superdelegates didn't happen for her, she concocted a scheme that could fool the terminally gullible into believing she had more of the "popular vote" (whatever that is). The problem is that primaries and caucuses are not about popular vote....if they were the states that had the most voters would get the most delegates. The number of delegates each state gets is determined ahead of time, and both primaries and caucuses are about how to apportion those delegates among the candidates.

For any losing candidate who agreed on the systemto try to change it near the end is not only bad sportsmanship, it is exploitive of the lack of savy of her supporters. Isn't it enough for you guys that she put on that bogus Appalachian accent (and dropped it immediately after she had the votes safely in her pocket)? She is TOYING with you and your lack of experience and knowledge. You have to buy into a lot of lies and half-truths to even imagine that she won, and BINGO, she hit the jackpot when she assumed that her supporters were going to be too lazy, too uninformed and too inflamed with her sense of victimhood to realize the truth. that she lost fair and square.

[butterworth]

The source of the continual bitterness has been half caused by the victim complex the Clintons have, which infects all their supporters' emotions, and half caused by the hateful, divisive stance of many Obama supporters, at least the online ones.

One last comment: enough with the "more votes than anyone in the history of the world" -type disingenuous statements.

[butterworth]

Sorry, the middle of my post disappeared.

"The source of the continual bitterness has been half caused by the victim complex the Clintons have, which infects all their supporters' emotions, and half caused by the hateful, divisive stance of many Obama supporters, at least the online ones."

I think it's simplistic to claim these are the only two reasons for the bitterness. The major reason the bitterness exists is because it was an intentionally cultivated political tactic on the part of the C.l.i.n.t.­o.n campaign. As for the O.b.a.m.a supporters being “hateful and divisive”, I think an honest person would admit they saw many vile and completely false things written online about O.b.a.m.a by so-called C.l.i.n.t.­o.n supporters.

It’s good that she publicly supported him in her speech, but it’s unnecessary to attempt to deify her for doing something that was in her own political interest. She focused on her core group (women) and talked about the historic nature of her own campaign, but missed an opportunity to point out to those threatening to vote for McCCCain that doing so is not going to advance the women's issues she claims to champion. Why not capitalize on her self-proclaimed status as a fighter by taking on McCCCain specifically? I'll watch to see if she does so in the future or if she's secretly hoping he wins in November.

[IslandGyal]

Oh P-L-E-A-S-E!

[Maury66]

PUMA is a nonstarter­....a comfort perhaps, but destined to go nowhere...­Did any of you listen to your candidate on Saturday? Has she lied to you so many times that you are conditioned to believe she didnt mean it when she asked you to support the Democratic nominee? There will be no reward for this wrongheaded indulgence you call a political party...no reward but more frustration and rage, self defeating and ultimately harmful to your own well being. I'm not talking about political well being...I'­m speaking of health, which depends on a positive attitude and thinking good thoughts, resisting the lure of hate and revenge, etc. I wish you all well.

[granamica]

"....most primary votes in history...­" I could barely stomach reading the rest. Caucusing wasn't new to this nomination process. She didn't win the popular vote. This is why it is hard to take any good away from this woman and her supporters. They believe the lies. Other than that, well done on realizing that the race is actually over and that your opponent is the nominee. I am thankful you went as far as you did I would have been over the moon if you had delivered the line about concession on Tuesday. I wouldn't have minded that you didn't endorse and you could have kept your endorsement even longer. Oh well, next election you can be more imformed on how votes are counted and the rules of the nominating process.

[IslandGyal]

I agree, they believe their lies, so there's no reasoning with them. You can't reason with an illogical person.

[MrZrule]

You can't argue with a grieving person. That person needs time, space and understanding.

[michiganvoter]

Why are you saying Senator Clinton won the most popular votes? That is not true, and to repeat that incorrect statistic is provocative, not healing. While this was a close primary, and Hillary Clinton has much for which to be proud, in the end Barack Obama won the popular vote, the delegate count, including superdelegates, and the most states. Please give him his due. He won by every measure.

You make many good points in your essay, but it's difficult to give them my full attention when I'm chewing on that popular vote bone you misrepresented.

[Americanium]

Scott now that you have taken professional advice and gotten that off your chest, do you feel better??

[shrake]

My rule is to only respond to questions, and ones that are respectfully put. I don't know what you mean about professional advice, but I just wrote what I felt. I do feel better. I'm supporting Obama now. I wanted to give a feel for what happened at Hillary's speech, from the balcony, among Hillary supporters. That's all.

There was bad behavior on both sides. I hope we can all come together now as Democrats and stop taunting each other.

Let me say it one more time very clearly: I AM AN OBAMA SUPPORTER NOW. Clear?

[dawlishgal]

Is there any chance that you will advise Hillary to remove the blog from her website that is serving as a gathering place for people to refuse to take her advice about party unity? It really does make her seem like a hypcrite when she says she wants party unity, yet continues to provide these people with a formum to plan how to subvert party unity.

[BADEN]

"The source of the continual bitterness has been half caused by the victim complex the Clintons have, which infects all their supporters' emotions, and half caused by the hateful, divisive stance of many Obama supporters, at least the online ones."

Yes - I call it the Professional Victim/Volunteer Syndrome - found mostly amongst people who need to transfer their own fears and actions onto some sort of "Mater/Pater figure" who's gonna make everything "OTAY, 'PANKY!"

You will mainly find them amongst the more "well-to-do" who hitch their ego-wagons to a star, and when that 'star' doesn't come through, they'll be damned if they are going to look at that 'other one' until they are darned sure that 'other one' is going to meet their ego-need demands.

I've seen many a good non-profit go down the tubes with this type of mentality and processes.

"If I can't be the Sun in your play, I'm going to take my ball and go home!"....

Egos - such huge, delicate things.

[MissDaphne]

Thanks, Scott, for sharing your experience of being in the presence of history being made--

[KCinDC]

Scott, did you ask people afterward whether the speech changed what they planned to do? Were any of those refusing to vote for Obama won over?

[shrake]

No, the two dissenters in my group held their ground. I'm just doing a "live and let live" thing with them. I disagree with them, but of course they can do whatever they want.

[jfor]

How do you go about being against the war but support a candidate who voted for it and refuses to admit it was a mistake? Oh Yeah you can do whaterver you want/

[ProudLiberalDan]

So, that small sample would be good news for Obama in his quest to win over Hillary's 18 million voters.'
--------------

Actually, this is disastrous. While your sample is not large enough to be statistically significant, if 20% of Clinton's supporters vote for McCain and 10% vote independent, minor, party or stay home, it would be disastrous for Obama and the country. I just don't think there are enough "new voters" to offset that.

How irresponsible and self-destructive can someone get? "I'm going to vote for a candidate who will continued policies Hillary Clinton has fought all her life, and appoint justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, just because I'm bitter I didn't get my identity politics victory." How utterly selfish and irresponsible. I would be just as critical if the shoe was reversed and Obama supporters refused to vote for Clinton had she won the primary season.

This election was never truly about making identity politics history by electing the first ____ or first ____ President. It's about rescuing America from the ongoing trail of destruction that conservative policies and the neoconservative movement are leaving at home, abroad and to our Constitution.

Yes, she faced sexism and Obama faced racism and there is still homophobia and religious intolerance in this county. But don't reward the people who feed off that intolerance, and allow four more years of this tragic destruction to continue. Be disappointed, then get over it and grow up.

[WillBower]

Selfish?

If the Democratic Party won't uphold Democratic principles, who will?

If the voters don't hold the Democratic Party accountable, who will?

[Lemeritus]

With all due respect, Will, exactly what Democratic principles are not being upheld? Without going into agonizing micro-detail, both Obama and Clinton stand for the same things -- and these things are paramount to the well-being of our country going forward.

I will use this as an example: the Bush Administration has declared that Congress cannot use federal courts to enforce their subpoenas. IF, BY YOUR VOTE OR FAILURE TO VOTE, YOU ALLOW THE REPUBLICANS TO CONTINUE THE DESTRUCTION OF THIS COUNTRY, YOU ARE AS GUILTY AS THEY.

Nothing prevents you from working to change the DNC and I couldn't be more unified with you in the fight to (as you note below) "critique and oppose the misogyny, discrimination, and disinformation in the mainstream media, including mainstream blogs and other outlets of new media." But ProudLiberalDan is absolutely right -- your stance is "irresponsible and self-destructive" and your victory, should you prevail, will be Pyrrhic.