Why This "Hillary Holdout" Is Backing Barack
On June 7th, my heart was broken. The candidate of my lifetime and my dear friend Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton suspended her historic Presidential campaign.
Over the past two months I have become the poster-child, in the press, for the so-called Hillary holdouts; Hillary Clinton supporters who were angry and frustrated with the way she was treated in the primary and post-primary and weren't ready for unity. I was frustrated at the incredible amount of misogyny in our political process and in our media. And I was embarrassed that my party, and its leadership, never came to her defense when she faced a barrage of attacks based on her gender.
I still bear some wounds, but I've thought long and hard about the issues I support and that I believe in and Hillary has led me to understand that Senator McCain supports little of what I champion.
The turning point for me was the Democratic Convention in Denver this week. I saw how Hillary was treated by the Obama campaign and his supporters and I saw how President Clinton was greeted as a hero in our party and our country.
This was not an easy decision, not because I dislike Senator Obama or think he's not a good public servant, but because I so strongly believed that Hillary was the stronger candidate.
I will never forget about Hillary and will continue to honor and support her -- Hillary's grace and commitment will always guide me and my convictions. Her campaign was a turning point in my life and in my activism. And after working many months on her campaign, there was no doubt in my mind that Hillary would provide the leadership that we needed in these daunting times.
After eighteen months and 18 million voters, she is so much more defined, known and respected by voters across America and opinion leaders of the world. People have seen how brilliant, compassionate and dedicated she is to her country and I think we can all agree that she came into her own during this campaign. But part of losing is looking back and using your mistakes as lessons. We must never allow misogynistic attacks in the media or in our political process ever again. In May of 2008 I co-founded WomenCount (www.womencount.org), a political action committee dedicated at that time to encouraging Hillary to stay in the race and not bow out under pressure. Now we have turned WomenCount into a 527/PAC dedicated to battling the gender bias in our media and political process. I like to think of it as a Moveon.org for Women. And its most important work will serve to protect women like Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain, and Hillary Clinton from misogynistic attacks. I know that Hillary's most important work is yet to come and I know with a President Obama, her dream of Universal Health Care for all Americans will come true. Senator Obama has done the right thing; he has honored her and her policies in the way they deserve to be honored. Do I wish she were at least Vice-President? Absolutely, but that's water under the bridge. We live in dark times and we need the kind of leadership that can take on our problems head-on and I know Senators Obama and Biden will do just that. So I hope everyone will join me and Hillary in saying, NO WAY, NO HOW, NO MCCAIN.
For more Huffington Post coverage of the Democratic National Convention, visit our Politics @ the DNC page, our Democratic Convention Big News Page, and our HuffPost bloggers' Twitter feed, live from Denver.
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I too am a Hillary fan and supporter. I have been waiting anxiously for 8 years and was very upset that a relatively unknown contender had ruined her chances. I have been so frustrated and upset at the criminal actions of this administration and I felt Hillary Clinton was our only chance to end this nightmare. Thankfully, after hearing Mr. Obama speak and witnessing the party come together in support of him, I am once again encouraged and confident that we can finally end this criminal administration. I only hope that for once since Nixon, we can finally bring these crooks to justice. I would love to see Bush handed over to the world court for his crimes.
Thankyou Hillary for, as always, taking one for the team. I truly hope you get another chance at leading or at least helping to lead us into the future.
Sometimes the Olympian you root for gets trhe silver.
Thanks! Life is about peace and love. :)
Actually Michelle Obama and Hillary have a great deal in common. They are both strong and powerful women. Lawyers, mothers, married to Leo's (LOL). Michelle is where Hillary was when Bill became president. The media and the boys club attacked her from everywhere because she demonstrated her intelligence and strength. Michelle Obama has been attacked as well....an
Believe me it will get worse!
""The turning point for me was the Democratic Convention in Denver this week. I saw how Hillary was treated by the Obama campaign and his supporters and I saw how President Clinton was greeted as a hero in our party and our country.""
Ms. Buell, did you really expect H'illary to be treated with anything less than dignity at her own party's convention?
And did you really think that, at the end of the day, Bill's party would bestow anything less than uncontrollable (even B'ill couldn't silence it!) adulation upon him?
Thank you
I do thank you, Susie Buell, and I give Hillary credit too. Her brave speech and her leadership yesterday will make it easier for many people to analyze the real choice we all have now: an extension of the Bush administration, or something new.
What a beautiful post. As a woman (and long time Obama supporter)
"No Way..No How...No McCain!!"
Obama/Biden '08!!!
The thing that has has gotten me about the 'Hillary Holdouts'.
Yes you thought Hillary was the best candidate, good.
Yes you thought Hillary should have won, good.
Yes you STILL wish that Hillary should have won, fine.
So, sometimes the person we think should have won doesn't.
Lots of folks think that the Patriots should have won the Super Bowl. So? They lost the game they should have won. But only the sore sports run around blaming the rules or the referees, and only the insane would use it as a reason to act against their own self interest.
But we see supposedly progressive supporters of women's rights saying that they will vote for someone completely opposed to their interests to 'make a point'. Make what point? That they are capable of behaving irrationally?
To whom are you addressing this rant? Ms. Buell? Did you just read the headline?
She's allowed to still believe Hillary was the best candidate.
She's allowed to STILL wish that Hillary had won.
Further, in this article, she explains that she will now support Obama.
What is your problem? Do you want her to change her mind back, so you can rag on her some more?
This is why there are still hold outs... not because of Senator Obama but because of some of his ignorant supporters who really don't have a clue to what is going on. What I found funny was a lot of you people were bashing the Clinton's for weeks and when both of them came out and gave fantastic speech's in support of Obama, I notice very few apologies for the assumptions that were made about President and Senator Clintons. The Obama supporters just need to learn to shut up and realize at the end of the day we have no clue to what is going on behind close doors and pretending we do makes us look stupid and foolish.
As an Obama supporter from the beginning.
Therefore, I find it pointless, to attack people who supported Hillary, but who are now willing to step forth and support Senator Obama. I would like to personally thank Ms. Buell for her candor.
Thank you for your gracious and obviously pained revelation. Personally, I can identify with the angst in having your candidate lose, but am thankful for your account and turn-around for whom to vote come November. We MUST always remember to vote for those who will fight for the issues that mean the most to us and at this point in time, it is NOT a Republican.
I appreciate your article and am happy to join with you and vote for Obama.
It is going to kill me to vote for Obama. That is why I won't do it.
Guess what? It isn't about YOUR EMOTIONS!!! You're saying you don't care about Hillary's policies enough to do what she did, the adult thing, the patriotic thing. McCain's belligerant foreign policy would have us poised on the brink of a new cold war, AND lie us into another Mid-East war (Iran) AND deny us the healthcare we need, that so many of us who are sick and unemployed can't wait for.
It's going to kill, not metaphorically, but actually, more than a few people if Obama loses. That is why you should suck it up like Hillary did, like Susie did.
I am comforted by the thought you are probably a Republican plant. If not, you're just embarrassing.
snarkopoli
I think your comment was to someone else... However...
I do not trust Obama.... Get that??? I did my research and do NOT trust "O"... You may not get why I don't, but at least understand
Hillary's powerful talk from her heart brought me to reconsider my choice... I will vote for the Democrat for President.
I will keep an open mind about my trust issues with him...
And NOT Hero worshipping Obama does not make anyone a lesser Democrat, or a Republican, or a Ra@ist.... Please drop that crappy manipulation of others....
You could always consider it a vote AGAINST the Bush administration.
olivia...
"O" supporters behavior, with all the nasty comments and name calling, influenced me in deciding, the Obama I did not like or trust, was not going to get my vote... Neither would McCain...
It was Hillary's flowing of her Love of this Nation, got me to reconsider my choice... Love inspired me to rethink, as no amount of being bashed and called a Ra@ist several times by "O" supporters could have done... I was even blasted as a Repugnant and a Ra@ist when I spoke out that "O" supporters were undermining his chances and needed votes... That was considered attacking him strangely enough...
Reacting to "O" supporters was hardening my resolve to not vote...
Hillary, God bless her, inspired me to rethink and vote for the Democrat..
Love can inspire Unity that nasty never will...
If Hillary Clinton is not a person you can follow, why vote for her. She has said loud and clear that McCain would be a disaster, she is willing to work for Obama because she believes he is much better than McCain and she knows both of them.
You say it would kill you??? Why you don't like equal pay for women. You want more judges like Scalia on the bench a corporate shill. You want more jobs sent overseas with assistance from the taxpayers who are being asked to pay taxes to get fired, Just don't stop McCain. You want more taxes for yourself while McCain cuts taxes for Chevron.
I hate to say this, it isn't about you, it is about the country. If your sensitivites cannot be set aside for the good of the country you are a sorry person indeed.
I doubt you were a Clinton supporter. Clinton is a brave woman who stood up and begged her supporters to vote for Obama, a lot harder for her than your piddling notion that your heart would stop if you voted for Obama. I suspect you are a McCain troll attempting to pretend that you are just too sensitive to be an American.
I just watched "An Unreasonable Man", a documentary on the life of Ralph Nader. I'm embarrassed I cared one way or the other about Hillary or Obama. Pepsi or Coke lol. I guess the misogyny against Hillary is a concern, and the gullibility of the american people to buy Obama-mania, but its too late in any case. America is f***ed and it aint never getting better no matter who's up there.
It's actually like a load lifted from my shoulders. It's pointless who cares.
Oh, Susie! I didn't see that you'd changed the purpose of your organization. Count me in! :)
QT
Ms Buell you are a PATRIOT! I agree with the misogyny. It was disgusting, but it didn't come from Sen. Obama, who worships the ground that his wife and daughters walk on. It came from the media and Rush Limbaugh's Operation KKKaos!
It is time to take our country back!
DEMOCRATS IN 08!
Well said!!!
And Susie - welcome to the club! :) we are so glad to have you aboard, and knowing that what the Democrats attempted to accomplish actually worked is so uplifting.
Thank you.
Indeed. It's clear which candidate sees their wife as a full and equal partner and which considers his wife a Miss Buffalo Chip.
Obama also has great admiration and respect for Hillary, for both Clintons.
The greater part of the blame lies not with Limbaugh and the media, it lies
with people like Carville and Penn, Lanny Davis, Wolfson and Rendell, who refused
to see what a great 'woman' Hillary is, and instead presented her as a package
of 'testicular fortitude'. As a woman she would have been unstoppable. But in
her loss she discovered herself, and America gained a champion,
You make a very good point. I just realized that at the convention she looked and seemed somehow more feminine. It works for her. It suits her because, well, she is a woman, and a beautiful one. Trying to be more like a man denied us some of her best qualities. Maybe we'll get to see more of her feminine side in the future.
Welcome Susie back into the fold, and I agree we must stand up against misogyny. AND we must stand up against racism that we've seen in the media during the primaries and are still seeing. I hope you stand up against that as well.
Great blog! This has been tough. I support Obama, but I have new respect for Senator Clinton. I really do.
This HAS been tough - but now i look at it as a relationship that has gone through hard times and realizes that we love each other and we're all together in this.
I think the Dems have come out stronger than the Republicans could have ever imagined, AND tougher than the Republicans themselves.
I'm so proud of us!
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