Sherry Chandler » from Hillary Clinton

from Hillary Clinton

this message:

…on Saturday, I will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank everyone who has supported my campaign. …I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy. This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans.

I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party’s nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise.

When I decided to run for president, I knew exactly why I was getting into this race: to work hard every day for the millions of Americans who need a voice in the White House.

I made you — and everyone who supported me — a promise: to stand up for our shared values and to never back down. I’m going to keep that promise today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.

I know as I continue my lifelong work for a stronger America and a better world, I will turn to you for the support, the strength, and the commitment that you have shown me in the past 16 months. And I will always keep faith with the issues and causes that are important to you.

Meantime, Big Tent Democrat reports, via CBS poll, that 59% of Democrats want a unity ticket. I personally do not, for reasons I’ve articulated earlier. But I think this indicates that a solid majority of our party want it known that they approve of Senator Clinton and the values for which she campaigned. Two historic candidates and we don’t want to have to make a choice.

Added: Meanwhile, some people just can’t quit being nasty (here and here). This kind of stuff strikes me as monumentally stupid. Anybody who thinks this has been a rough primary should read their history books.

This primary has been historical. The Democrats have broken barriers. It will change electoral politics. I cannot begin to predict how. I hope at the very least it discredits big media pundits (and even bloggers) as king makers.

Hillary Clinton at the Indianapolis Star
Clinton Derangement Syndrome
The Hillary Factor
Hmmm
One more quote

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Thursday, June 5th, 2008 General Trackback URL for this entry

2 Comments

  • 1. koshembos replies at 5th June 2008, 11:11 pm :

    These primaries were different from all Democratic primaries since the depression. Racism against white people was front and center, race baiting was used by Democrats. one of the candidates was called s monster, whore, savage. Term used before about Black and Jews and the candidate was neither.

  • 2. sherry replies at 6th June 2008, 7:37 am :

    I am not forgetting the misogyny, Koshembos, nor do I plan to forget it. I hope no woman does. This stuff has been brewing for decades (since Reagan/Bush decided to give legitimacy to the far right wing) but it took a sharp uptick after 2001. Anybody looking for documentation should read Susan Faludi’s The Terror Dream. Senator Clinton’s run brought it to a head.

    Nor do I think we should forget that Senator Obama colluded in the sexism, at best was passive in allowing himself to benefit from it, and has yet to speak out against it, though he’s trying to put a band-aid over the wound it’s created.

    The question is how to go forward constructively. I’ve said three things here consistently:

    1. Real leaders come from the people, not the politicians.

    2. It’s policies, not personalities.

    3. If Senator Obama wants my vote, he has to give me some solid policy. What Lambert calls bullet points.

    For the moment, I like Jeralyn’s formula for going forward:

    The message if there is one: We will all survive. I plan to use Obama’s promise of change to make specific requests on how to bring it about. I’m not a party activist. I’m an advocate for causes I believe in. I am going to support Barack Obama, but I’ll be nudging him along every step of the way to do more. No free passes for anyone.

    I am not declaring support right this minute, but I’m declaring a clear-eyed neutrality. Actually, I like to think that, angry as I’ve been, I’ve always been fair.

    My current position has been described best by these words from NYCWeboy:

    But our nominee will be Barack Obama. She’s said it, and it was for her to say. And so, the question is… what now? What do I do with all that’s changed? What do I do with the concerns I have - concerns I share with other Clinton supporters - about Barack Obama?

    I don’t know. Not yet anyway. I think of these things as a journey and my journey to figuring out Barack Obama’s candidacy is starting. My choices in this, though, are really not about emotion. They are practical conerns, about the issues, about what I expect from leaders, and from my government. I didn’t pick Hillary Clinton because I liked her; I picked her because I thought she would work on the issues I care about.

    …

    I’m a Democrat. I vote for Democrats. And when I don’t, I need a solution that makes sense. Right now, what makes sense… is probably Barack Obama. But we shall see. Let’s keep looking, shall we? And I promise - I’m not here to tell you what to do. Because no one’s going to tell me what to do, either.

    If Senator Obama is not the candidate we want, then we need to push him into being that candidate. If he doesn’t listen. well, that’s one reason I’m not pledging my unqualified support. My vote is sacred; I’ve said that. I won’t give it away cheap.

    Right now, I’d like to see him (and Senator Clinton, too) do something to stop this FISA mess that has risen from the grave.

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