Yes, She Can & Yes, She Did!!!

"We must work with optimism and confidence" - perhaps a more sophisticated version of "Yes, we can."

Jim Bourg/Reuters

I truly hope that this post will be accepted by the Hillary Clinton supporters in the manner in which it is offered, with sincerity and gratitude. Thank you Senator Hillary Clinton. Your speech was graciousness personified, especially the parts in which you embraced and endorsed Senator Barack Obama.

Even before she struck her first line, she began to do her characteristic "clap, clap, point, clap, clap," but she caught herself and stopped after one point and went back to a rousing applause before launching into her speech with a witty, yet-not-too-cute opening remark: "This isn't the party I planned, but I sure like the company." Every note was hit right for the occasion, every word rang true, every phrase was joy to the ears of Democrats across the country who yearn so desperately for the unity that Mrs. Clinton expressed and encouraged today.

Thank you Senator Clinton for your inspirational words that sought to encourage each and every one of your supporters to get behind Barack Obama and make sure that this momentous opportunity at this historic moment in time is not wasted by a lack of unity, a failure to come together as a single party, a failure to rise as one voice coming out of the crowd, chanting "Yes, we can." ("We must work with optimism and confidence.")

The blogosphere is abuzz with congratulatory remarks on Clinton's historic speech, with a few bloggers even suggesting that one of the points negotiated on Thursday evening in Dianne Feinstein's living room was the loaning of a speech-writer or two to help Clinton craft what was easily the best speech she has given during this campaign, perhaps ever given. Congratulations Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton - and thank you for your service, service that you have already given and the service that you have yet to give. Thank you, Hillary, thank you.

Here's the transcript of Hillary Clinton's Speech (Washington, D.C., June 7, 2008).

How Will Hillary Bow Out?

Will Hillary Clinton embrace Barack Obama?

The Longest Good-bye.

Okay, we (Obama and his supporters - of which I count myself) have been magnanimous, although I'm sure our magnanimity has been perceived as condescension to the Clinton Camp. We've waited patiently for Hillary Clinton to take her time, to gather her thoughts, to collect her troops, to envisage her next move, but come on already. It's time to say good-bye, good-bye to the campaign trail, good-bye to the debates, the town halls, the meet and greets. It is time to say good-bye to the dream of becoming president of the United States. It is a lofty goal and to say good-bye to a dream so large is something I cannot imagine, although it is time to admit that this woman's dream is nearly as impossible as my dream of becoming an Indian when I grow up. That is not to say that a woman cannot seek and ultimately gain the position of Commander-in-Chief, but for this woman - it was not to be. There are myriad reasons why it just didn't work out - poor planning, ill-advice, stupid comments - many of these mistakes were not made by the candidate herself, but by her surrogates, her husband, her campaign manager, and other supporters (think Geraldine Ferraro). Nevertheless, it is past time to say good-bye, past time to endorse the only hope the Democratic Party has for reclaiming the White House in 2009, past time to concede that the race is over and somebody else won.

I am holding my breath, hoping beyond hope that Hillary Clinton will find it in her heart, her mind, her soul, to do today what she did not do on Tuesday night. That is find a way to graciously exit this contest with some of her dignity in tact. It is now completely up to her, up to the words she chooses, the signals she sends to her supporters, the path she takes. Because, just because Hillary Clinton is no longer in the race, does not mean that she is inconsequential in the role that she will play in getting us where we need to be. Her role in making sure that Barack Obama is our next president cannot be minimized or marginalized. Her supporters have been described as rabid, vehement, even slightly crazed (think Harriet of YouTube fame), but it is certain that they are looking to their leader, Hillary Clinton, and will take their cue from her as to how to proceed, how to work for a Democratic victory in November, whether to back Obama as the Democratic nominee.

Will Hillary Clinton speak the words to the older white women (a demographic that includes me) who have been her stalwart supporters that echo the words that she spoke to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee when she endorsed Barack Obama with the words "I know Senator Obama will be a good friend to Israel"? Will she say that "Barack Obama will be a good friend to America, a good friend to women, a good friend to soldiers and working class people" as indeed he will be? Will she say "I endorse Barack Obama for president and you should, too"? Will her endorsement ring true or will it come tinged with the sour grapes from which so many of her supporters are feeling the stinging juice? Can she bridge the gap between experience and change? Will she back off enough to allow Obama the room he needs to make his very best choice of a vice presidential candidate? We will know the answers to these questions and more that I haven't thought to pose here, in just a little over an hour. Vamos a ver.... vamos a ver, indeed.

Eulogy for a (Clinton) Campaign

Well, the post I started to write last night was entitled "It's the Delegates (Not the Popular Votes), Stupid!" But that seemed too harsh, and I never ended up finishing it, and I obviously did not post it.

Tonight I am writing a different post altogether - a conciliatory post if you will. It sucks to lose. I know what it feels like to have your back up against a wall that you did not build. I know what it feels like to be painted into a corner especially if you did the paint job. I can only imagine the hard feelings that are welling up in Hillary supporters tonight. But the jubilation that the rest of us are feeling at the fact that this country, this Democratic Party, has finally nominated a person of color is equally, if not, more momentous. I have goose-bumps on my arms, not unlike the goosebumps I felt when I first heard Barack Obama speak at the 2004 Democratic Convention. I said to myself then and there that we just heard from the first Black president of the United States. Here's a link to a transcript of that speech. Yeah.

This is from a blogger who uses the moniker "Scoopster" who blogs over at Four Freedoms Blog: "I've got my cola, I've got my ice cubes, I've got my smooth-sippin' rum...But most of all, I've got some great company with all of you here.. not just to witness some serious history but also in a celebration of what is destined to become the turning point of this country - away from some of the darkest times we have ever experienced. Tonight is truly the beginning of the end of the Bush criminal enterprise."

That is the most wonderful part of this evening - we, the people, will end the terror of the Bush/Cheney administration, we will end it on November 4, 2008, we will end it with a candidate who truly represents what America is all about. We will end it with a new beginning, a fresh start, a clean slate, with a man - a man whose mother was white, whose father was African, who was raised by his single mother and her parents, who lived for a while on food stamps, who attended public schools, but who earned his way into Harvard Law School where he was editor-in-chief of the prestigious Harvard Law Review, he who can captivate an audience with a handful of carefully chosen words, who inspires us to be better human beings, to be better Americans, to just be better. Thank goodness for Barack Obama for being in our world right here, right now, right on to the White House.

Transcript of Obama's Victory Speech in St. Paul, Minnesota.