a message to former Hillary supporters

[cap]

Why Give Up the Dream?

Women across the Democratic Party and many Independents and even, some Republicans dream of the day when a woman will be president of the United States. Hillary's campaign meant a lot to women who have watched their lives get tougher under the Bush administration. Under the Bush administration, women have lost Federal protections against violence when the DOJ closed its office on the Prevention of Violence Against Women, lost Federal workplace protections when the EEOC was eviscerated, lost assistance to Women Owned Business. As our economy tanks, women are bearing disproportionately the burden of layoffs, the increased burden of supporting family needs in childcare or eldercare as government budgets are slashed, and the absence of the spouse forced to work longer and longer hours. As we speak, the end of the Bush administration will be a Gotterdamerung of massive anti-women federal government rule changes. Abortion rules are changing. The groundwork to prohibit contraception is being laid. Trust me, there is more bile to come.

Women are not in the mood to play. Some women can believe in Obama's message of hope; but others aren't satisfied unless a 5 point program is laid out in front of them -- you know, like the ones Hillary proposed. Women know that the devil is in the details, because the details have been used against them.

The massive amount of ridicule that Hillary evoked during the campaign led many women to wonder if that's what the men are really thinking about themselves behind their backs. Hillary's campaign became, for many, a personal struggle against many of the same forces of sexism that they themselves face every day.

Both Hillary's pain was personalized and her triumphs as well. But her triumphs are not well publicized. Many pieces of legislation sponsored by her indirectly as First Lady or directly as Senator are not well known. Many women face this lack of recognition every day.

The Democratic Party stood silent as many of these personal attacks went on. Many women face this type of isolation every day as they are ostracized, cut out of old boy networks, or given the silent treatment.

Many women are feeling a smackdown. Their symbol of a great change in male-female relations has been defeated. Each day, they are feeling more pressure from a failing economy and a lack of safeguards. Unfortunately, choosing to sit at home and stay silent will give consent to a candidate who will continue Bush's anti-women policies.

Maybe Obama isn't all that one would hope for. But, given his campaign structure of grassroots organization, there is hope. That hope lies within a lever of power that women can grasp. The power of grassroots organizations lies within people talking to people. These networks will exist long after the campaign and can be used to pressure the Obama administration into taking action. If Obama isn't delivering the goods to undo the Bush administration's war on women, and increase women's rights, then women will have the networks to pressure the administration and Congress to change. Women need to "Surge For Obama", not for Obama's sake, but for their own. By joining with Obama, women can take control of their own destiny. If Obama's platform on women's rights is too vague, then, by gum, women, at the grassroots, can define it for him. His campaign is set up to listen to the people. Hillary understands this and is working for him. She understands that substantive change can happen for women even without the symbology of a woman president. A McCain presidency will make Hillary's work on women's behalf much harder.

Sitting at home or voting with McCain will not make anyone feel any better and it will do a lot to make women feel worse. You won't get over it and on with your life by voting for someone who has been consistently voting for legislation that hurts you: whether it's McCain's votes against affirmative action, abortion, contraception, etc. His attitude towards his wives has been abysmal. The role model that Cindy McCain projects is exactly what women have found so onerous with Laura. Cindy McCain: 4 more years of sit down, shut up, and walk 2 feet behind her man. Hardly an inspiration. Enough to make you pop some more pills.

It's time for women to take Hillary's defeat and transcend it. It's time to raise consciousness and get to work. The first piece of business is to make a change from the top with the presidency and elect Obama. Women can change this campaign, and they can change America and themselves. It is much more healthy for women to take it to the streets on an Obama campaign than to sit at home and stew over a McCain presidency.

[NashVegas]

1. That's a Much Nicer Essay

Than Tim Wise's essay. I still want that 5 point plan, though, you know?

As far as this "roll up your sleeves" business goes, well, it has not escaped our notice that the people who gave him the nomination by projecting their governmental values and desires onto him were put straight with his FISA vote. I can't speak for every female who voted for Hillary Clinton, but I do know there are a lot of us who feel we've already been suckered once this year by the Democratic Party. We're going to have a President Obama and that's just that for a whole slew of reasons. I'm not stupid enough to think that people of power in the party who turned a blind eye to blatant misogyny, until they realized the potential backlash, are going to represent my interests.

[NYC_SKP]

5. "blatant misogyny"???

This meme has always baffled me. Both candidates put up with plenty of crap from the media, surrogates, and members of the party.

Shall we punish Barack Obama and, more importantly, the American people, by installing John McCain?

I wish everyone would take a deep breath and think about what we want this world to look like in 50 years.

[Darth_Kitten]

37. Yes, blatant misogyny.......

And no, Obama did have it rather easy during the Primaries. But that's all water under the bridge...

[NYC_SKP]

41. It's an ugly world...politics is getting uglier it seems.

But your kitty picture is cute, is it yours?

:hi:

[Darth_Kitten]

49. Of course, every gal has an assassin kitty in their living room windows..

LOL :)

[Whisp]

50. I have to disagree - the press was hounding Obama for every word

and what they called misteps and misspeaks.
just compare the amount of times Rev Wright clips were shown - spead out amongst all the outlets they have had to have been played thousands and thousands of times over. Now this is for something not the candidate himself said and obama explained it well enough for anyone with any kind of retention to accept and leave lie. but no.

then there is the Sniper story. Hillary herself 'misspoke' (how do you mispeak something that is totally false, that's not mispeaking - it's lieing). It got some air time alright but no where near what Obama had to deal with with the Rev Wright clip. Not near by miles and miles. And to top it off it was turned into something light - she even joked about it when on Jay Leno. The media was covering her on this big time - it's there for any open eyes to see.

but the best example of how well treated Hillary was for her many gaffes was the question from a reporter on the conflict of interest about Colombia - where Mark Penn was making deals and her husband supported more free trade with that country. I don't have the clip handy but if you watch it, it downright scary how she answered this most important question - how she answered it with that horrible dismissive laugh like a comic book villain. Now this was a hot issue, free trade, and she should have been hounded on it as free trade is a deep concern for all americans - but no, she got the pass on it.

as for blatant sexism, of course it's out there, it's here on DU, it's on your street and in the media and in every part of our lives every day but to say Hillary lost because of it just does not ring true. She and her campaign started to try to capitalize on the fact that she is a woman with examples like 'my girl' and using her feminimity to sway voters with her 'choked up' phony scenes. Now i know that all or most politicians have to take acting courses, or have image gurus, it's a sad fact of the job, but she should be asking for her money back.

and as far as the 18 million disappointed dems, that is bologna. Millions of them have already moved on and are supporting Obama but certain small big mouthed groups are using this as blackmail, or saying that Hillary some how owns these people's souls and minds. There are many people on this board that ravenously supported Hillary but when push came to shove and Obama won the nom, they came over and are now as ravenously defending Obama against the right wing smears. This is as it should be, and now some of the Hillary people that I so disliked because of their obsession I consider to be the best assets for supporting Obama and I love them all because they are fully aware of what is at stake here. The ones that still would rather have McCain than Obama because of hurt feelings can kiss my ass. and there are far too many that are still here when they should be recycling their pizza boxes.

[NYC_SKP]

53. Agreed. Isn't it sad the way conservatives are getting an assist from progressives? nt

[grantcart]

10. Really?

Just exactly which of the following changes were you personally most offended in the change of the FISA matrix?

Be honest Fisa was just an excuse for you to continue your primary battle and accusing the party of "blatant misogyny" is

an effort to create a permanent state of victimhood for Senator Clinton's campaign failures, even though she started the campaign

with enormous advantages and after six months ended with the same 42% poll rating that she started with.

[LaurenG]

27. I wish I could K and R a post

:)

[1Hippiechick]

66. Interesting that a blogspot is part of the explanation? Here's the link:

http://balkin.blogspot.com/2008/06/guide-to-new-fisa-bill-part-ii.html

[Cha]

15. Poor you..such a victim.

I was suckered by hillary in 2002 when as my senator she voted for the IWR so don't start with your hypocricy 'cause it just doesn't fly around here.

[NashVegas]

17. You Misspelled "Educated Voter"

[Cha]

23. You talkin' to me?

[Straight Shooter]

31. No, that one misspelled "hypocrisy." n/t

[LaurenG]

28. Self deleted because it's not worth the time it took to write it. nt

[BlooInBloo]

55. Yah! Those millions of self-hating female Obama supporters are fucking STOOPID!

God *damn* I heart Clinton supporters! :rofl:

[karynnj]

68. I do not see the "blatant misogny"

From my user name, you can see I'm a woman too. HRC did not lose because she was female - for three years HRC was the overwhelming choice of Democrats when polled. At that point, it was common knowledge that she was a woman - and it didn't matter. The media had floated the view that she would be the first woman President since 1992 and they initially spoke of her campaign as "flawless", when like all campaigns, it wasn't. It was her campaign did things to turn people off.

One of the first instances of this was the reaction after the first Philly debate. She had done a reasonable job withstanding the scrutiny always given the frontrunner, except for the immigration answer. Had she merely clarified her complicated position the next day and moved on, it would have been "flawless campaign" within a few days. The fact that she immediately raised the gender card at Wellesley saying it was the guys against the girl and Bill Clinton threw out that it was swiftboting - when it was not a lie, not covert and not a smear, signaled that this was the thinnest skinned campaign ever. (The campaign then said that Bill did not mean the Democratic opponents mentioned in the sentence before, but the inference was obvious and the surrogates, including Clark repeated it.) This showed 2 unattractive things to me: 1) an unwillingness to accept responsibility - and this was a case where it was not even responsibility for something big. 2) A willingness to smear others to mask your mistake. A charge of swiftboating is serious. (Or if swiftboating is NOT an awful charge to WJC, it is offensive to me - that Kerry's honorable sacrifice in serving could be lied about and it NOT be seen as particularly despicable.

Much of what you say of many women longing for HRC to win is true. Soem isn't. I think HRC did get credit for things she did as First Lady. Consider that the media gave her credit for S-CHIP, where she did persuade Bill Clinton to fund it. They, in fact, used her overblown claim to have "initiated" or "created" it. Consider that Kerry was given no credit in 2004, because his name was not on the bill - though he wrote and sponsored with Kennedy the precursor bill from which many ideas and language was taken. Nor was Kerry given credit for his international money laundering legislation or even much of his legislation for veterans that he sponsored with McCain - because of a fluke in Thomas listing only one sponsor. Using the criterion that the media used for Kerry - that he had to be the First sponsor listed on a bill that had a roll call vote, would have left HRC with far less than the media credited her with. (In both cases, it shows a lack of understanding how the Senate works.)

The problem in what is written is that it ASSUMES that HRC was mistreated - rather than that she narrowly lost. She came into this with ALL the advantages. You are asking the Obama supporters to agree with your view on this, and I for one don't. Not to mention starting a GE campaign with a mea culpa that you used misogyny to win the primary hardly sounds like a good strategy.

I know there were things you could point to, but, if anything the most sexist comment I heard was in the NH debate. HRC said that electing her would be change because she was a woman. That implies that women are different in terms of the policy choices they would make versus men - which is not true. I am willing to bet HRC's choices would be closer to WJC's choices than to Condi Rice's.

[noel711]

2. Sit home or vote for McCain?

I lose patience with those who'd rather 'hold their breath until they turn blue'
brats... So you didn't get your way... you've have long enought for your
'pity party.' Time to grow up...

Time is passing too quickly... we can't wait for Hillary, or whomever
to step up and act for us.

Senator Obama was not my first choice either,
I might not be happy about everything,
but I can't remain 'idealogically pure' and allow
our country to be torn to shreds; its now or never.

Remember the prescient words of Martin Niemoeller..

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Soooo... are you going to continue to keep silent, and pout,
and allow them to come for us.. and you?

Life is about knowing when to compromise...

[Faygo Kid]

16. Good post.

It's not easy. Barack isn't perfect. But he's a good candidate, and the alternative is too awful to contemplate.

[polmaven]

43. I do believe the OP agrees with you -

Sitting at home or voting with McCain will not make anyone feel any better and it will do a lot to make women feel worse. You won't get over it and on with your life by voting for someone who has been consistently voting for legislation that hurts you: whether it's McCain's votes against affirmative action, abortion, contraception, etc. His attitude towards his wives has been abysmal. The role model that Cindy McCain projects is exactly what women have found so onerous with Laura. Cindy McCain: 4 more years of sit down, shut up, and walk 2 feet behind her man. Hardly an inspiration. Enough to make you pop some more pills.

From where did you get the impression that she is going to keep silent and pout? Maybe you need to read the post again?

[KAZ]

3. K&R!

[barack the house]

4. Which is precisely true voting McCain disempowers women and ensures greater suffering...

The next step on the neocon aganda means a long road back for women to even get a seat at the table. It is completely bizarre to feel abandoning the party that honors womens rights will help anybody most of all women.

[azmouse]

6. I dislike how these articles make it seems that ALL Dem women were for HRC.

It's just not true.
I could barely stand her in the '90s and I never wanted her to be President.

[barack the house]

7. To be fair I think the poster did state in the title.

[Darth_Kitten]

35. Be more upset with it's "just try a little harder, girls, it's up to you as always" tone.

n/t

[cap]

39. My message: is women can change the world

and, now, women must change the world. You are right that women should not have to fight these battles... that what women are asking for should be the natural order of things... that the struggle should not be so hard... and that there shouldn't even be a struggle... just a simple tap on the shoulder and a gentle reminder should be all that's required. Sigh... You are so right about that.

Unfortunately, here women sit. Either women can take it to the streets or not. If not, what's the alternative?

The Obama campaign is offering all people a chance to form self-sustaining networks. Women need to take advantage of this opportunity to build these relationships not only between themselves but with sympathetic groups. I see this as an opportunity on the local level to build relationships between women and gays, environmentalists, labor unions, progressives, peace activists. Coalition building is what it's all about. Women are not alone. There are sympathetic voices out there.

It's a lot of work. I certainly understand your frustrations about why one should even have to bother with this at all. But you gotta start somewhere. I forget about the old 60's adage but there is something about how social change starts with self-empowerment.

Nor is my intent to "blame the victim" and if my persuasive skills are lacking on this point, please forgive me.

[dionysus]

62. did obama say that? if not, you've got nothing

[Arugula Latte]

52. Same with me.

This woman was for Edwards or Obama.

[Marrah_G]

8. Who are you talking to? The handful of former supporters, who are not on DU?

I really don't understand you people who have this obsessive need to keep fighting the fucking Primary.

Unless of course, your real objective is to piss us off in hopes that we stop supporting Obama and stay home on election day.

[AllentownJake]

11. Yep

I do not understand the obsession. I was bad during the primaries at times however, it was a leadership difference not a philosophical one. I don't know why its so hard for people to focus on the guy who disagrees with them on EVERYTHING.

[Danger Mouse]

26. Don't listen to them. There are dead-ender idiot supporters of Clinton AND Obama.

[Darth_Kitten]

36. Oh, we are still here.....

I'm certainly not going to be chased away. Why should I?

[Marrah_G]

40. I was refering to those who are not going to vote Dem in Nov.

[polmaven]

44. The OP is on the asme side as you and I...

It's time for women to take Hillary's defeat and transcend it. It's time to raise consciousness and get to work. The first piece of business is to make a change from the top with the presidency and elect Obama. Women can change this campaign, and they can change America and themselves. It is much more healthy for women to take it to the streets on an Obama campaign than to sit at home and stew over a McCain presidency.

It has been a long week. I know! Please read the post again. It really is saying exactly what you and I have been saying about "getting over it".

[dionysus]

63. when PUMA big $$$ people are in the news,damn right it is a topic to be discussed.

and you're clearly bitter over it too.

[Marrah_G]

72. Bitter- no I am not "bitter" about anything

I am however, frustrated by people here on DU who cannot manage to leave the primary behind even after their favored candidate won and insist on finding things to whine about.

[sufrommich]

9. Nice essay,and a much better tact to take with anybody

still harboring any doubts about which party has their best interests in mind.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

33. Why are there still doubts?

What woman, in her right mind, sits there and thinks "Maybe the Republican getting elected won't be so bad for me!" Women who think that are either delusional, or very privileged.

[Arkansas Granny]

12. While I agree with this essay, you're preaching to the choir. I don't know of

any former Hillary supporters still posting on DU who will vote for McCain or sit this one out. AFAIK, they've all left or been banned.

[TriMetFan]

13. Really??

I haven't left.:-) I still don't know if I will waste my time voting for Obama. I do plan on voting for all other Democrats in Oregon. But Obama I might not. Does that make me less of a Democratic? I think not. It is my right to vote for whom I want, but since I don't care for Obama and I hate Mccain, I might have no choice but to not vote either one of them. Now if Obama picks Hillary has his V.P. then I will vote for him hands down and no one will have to ask me twice.

[foo_bar]

14. "Does that make me less of a Democratic?"

No, it makes you someone who's compensating for (presumed chastisement regarding the usage of) "Democrat party" by overgeneralizing the adjectival form as a mock shibboleth, "I'm a real Democratic! My parents were Peruvian Indians- I mean, Democratics!"

Hypercorrection is a linguistic phenomenon which may take any of the following forms:

1. an elaborate, prescriptively based correction of common usage, often introduced in an attempt to avoid vulgarity or informality, that results in wording commonly considered clumsier than the usual, colloquial usage;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercorrection

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sufrommich]

21. If you're a Democrat,you conscience should be telling you

that 4 more years of republican mismanagement could permanently destroy your country. Really, there's no need to fall in love with any candidate,just use some common sense.

[TriMetFan]

24. voting 3rd party

is out of the question for me. People just got to understand that not everyone is in love with Obama.

[gateley]

29. I would usually heartily agree with you --

our voting right is a precious gift, and we should vote how we feel is best.

But at this particular juncture, I am just so AFRAID of what might happen if McCain gets into office. We are teetering at the edge of the abyss right now - McCain winning in November would shove us off.

I give a lot of thought to how I would vote if the situation were reversed -- and I became pretty strongly anti-Hillary as people became anti-Obama (rightly or wrongly). I THINK I would look beyond the person I didn't want as President, toward the future of the country. I am still furious at the FISA vote by Obama - and if there had been somewhere else to turn I may well have. But, even though we technically have a choice, we really don't, you know?

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Arkansas Granny]

19. It is certainly your choice as to how you vote and I would not presume to say otherwise.

I am surpirsed that you are still posting on this board if you have made it known before that you would not vote for Obama. It seems that most, if not all, other posters who have made that statement have been banned from this board or have just stopped posting here.

I had made the decision to vote for the Democratic nominee in the GE even before the primary season started, so even though I am not thrilled about Obama myself, I will vote for him this fall because I cannot fathom what a McCain presidency would mean to this country. Withholding my vote would be the same as giving it to McCain.

[sufrommich]

22. What a stupid way to make a decision. Nobody is asking

you to "feel" anything about Obama personally. How would 4 more years of the Bozo party calling the shots make you "feel"? And yeah, it makes you less of a Democrat.

[Hoof Hearted]

42. People that vote for Obama because he makes them "feel" all hopey and changey inside

but don't know much about him, are they making a stupid decision?

Some people will vote for McCain because he makes them "feel" safe, not knowing or caring what his stands on the issues are.

Emotion and feelings cannot and will not ever be removed from politics. Even people that come to the polling booth well-informed cast their ballots based on feelings. They will vote based on how they feel about issues like healthcare, the economy, and foreign policy. Some of those informed voters will vote Republican, hopefully more of them will vote for Democrats.

The best we can do is to try to inform voters and persuade them to our point of view so that when they look at issues they feel about them much the same as we do.

[LisaM]

20. I'm voting for Obama. What the hell more do you want from me?

I think people are frustrated that some Hillary supporters are voting for him, but just don't fall under his spell. Of course I'll vote for him. But I don't have to LIKE his personality or think that women's issues are going to be his number one cause.

[gateley]

30. I'm grateful.

I know it can't be easy voting for someone you don't feel represents you as you would like or somebody you don't like. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart. :hug:

[Lord Helmet]

25. they prefer to plot on the internet

[Darth_Kitten]

34. Fine, but aren't women sick and tired of working to have their lives.....

taken seriously, and STILL it's a man who will get the credit? :shrug:


Yeah, it's enough to make you want to pop some "more" pills. :eyes:

[cap]

38. you can add that to the list as well

but things won't change until women make it so. Suffragism was not handed to women on a silver platter, although I think it should have been. :)

[Darth_Kitten]

47. Why do women ALWAYS have to fight so?

I'm not certainly going to waste my time convincing people that I'm a full-blooded, 100 percent human being that deserves dignity and respect. :)

I have better things to do.

[newmajority]

45. Hillary would be a poor role model for such women

Because her entire campaign was based on claiming Bill's political experience as her own. When the first woman president is elected in this country (and yes, I do believe we will see it in our lifetime) I truly hope she is someone who CAN honestly say that she got there on her own accomplishments.

[cap]

46. Let's not offend Hillary supporters

let's bring them gently into the fold and agree to disagree on certain points.

[Darth_Kitten]

48. Who should women respect? Oprah?

:shrug:

[newmajority]

56. Actually, yes.

I'm not an Oprah fan, but I know enough about her to know that she's obviously done very well for herself.

To some degree, so has Hillary. She was a successful attorney. She was on the board of Wal-Mart. I despise the corporation, but I guess you can call that successful. It's not inconceivable that she might have ran for a political office at some point on her own, and won.

But I seriously doubt that any OTHER woman from Arkansas would have been able to decide she wanted to be the Senator from a state (New York) she had never lived in. And she did, in fact, base her presidential campaign on her "experience" in the White House.

As far as Oprah being President...... she's certainly got the name recognition. Who knows? How old will she be in 2016??

[newmajority]

58. I'm not trying to offend anybody.

I'm just stating the facts about Hillary, that her campaign was not based on her accomplishments, but on Bill's record. And that would seem to be the antithesis of the female empowerment argument. I believe the first woman who is elected President will be one who can run entirely on her own record.

[StevieM]

54. That accusation is false. Hillary ran on her record and her ideas, while Obama worked hard

to identify her as interchangeable with her husband.

Hillary has many accomplishments all of her own, including winning my vote and 18 million others.

If Hillary did things as First Lady, like travel to 82 countries, then that is something she did and relates to her experience.

I didn't realize that Obama had such an impressive resume which dwarfed Hillary's.

Steve

[dionysus]

64. bullshit...

record?!?!?!?! what damned record?!?!?!? Ah... the tired old "first lady travels = presidential experience" one. that's stale bra, try another...

82 countries!!! by gosh... :eyes:

[Zhade]

65. Well, her proven track records of repeating lies isn't a model to follow either.

NT!

[Awsi Dooger]

51. I'm tired of threads about Hillary

I supported her the last few months of the primaries. This game is ultimate bottom line focus so you move on.

Unless she's the VP nominee, very unlikely IMO, the next proper time to discuss Hillary is immediately post election. At that point it's bottom line focus again. If Obama wins, his long time supporters will shout that Hillary was too polarizing and would have been routed and anyone who supported Hillary was a moron. Not going to happen, but if Obama loses then many Hillary supporters will flock back to taunt Obama supporters with nonsense that Obama was always unelectable. Both versions will be myopic over reactive crap, in other words par for the course.

I guess we'll talk about Hillary's role in campaigning for Obama, where she's sent. That's trivial.

[phoenixriz]

57. Must vote Democrat in 2008

Not everyone will agree with me but I decided long ago that the future of our country is in jeopardy if another Republican like John McCain gets into office. I have been around for many years as a senior even though I am still in the work force by choice. My daughter and I disagreed on candidates in the primary, she being a Hillary supporter and I placing my hope in Obama. The one conclusion we can to was that regardless who the presumptive candidate was that we would vote the Democratic ticket.

I care about who the next supreme court judges are. I care about the reproductive rights and freedom as a woman to have a choice over my own body. I care about the next leader of this country and want one who sees the waste of this conflict in Iraq, the state of our economy, the plight of the citizens who have lost their means of livelihood.

FISA has left the door open for criminal prosecution and that is important. I wouldn't have survived this long if I didn't learn the art of compromise.

I don't want my grandchildren suffering for a wrong or non decision that I make in this election. The bottom line is regardless if it was Hillary or Obama, they had my vote.

My daughter doesn't feel that she is a victim because her candidate of choice didn't win. I have raised her to believe in herself and not have a victim mentality. If she or I disagree with something our next president does or doesn't do we are perfectly capable of standing up for our rights. We will be part of a coalition of like minded individuals and allow our voices to be heard.

[vaberella]

59. Women you say?! Let us be truly clear. You mean WHITE Women

(who supported HRC) us Minority women, paticularly Black women were lumped in with ALL Black people by the HRC Campaign. We were seen by our colour or nationality not by our sex. Now the question is, which is better?! This primary has mocked, marginalized, and eliminated the real importance of Minority women in any presidential Campaign and this was coming primarily from the HRC camp. Actually that's the reason I jumped from supporting anything HRC would or could have done and went straight for Obama. Because he was far from misogynistic....that however doesn't imply the media wasn't racist AND misogynistic.

[NYC_SKP]

60. Nice catch, vabarella...

...you are so right. It really makes them seem all the more pathetic and petty.

I'll be glad when this is over.

[vaberella]

61. I couldn't agree with you more.

This is something that has been surfed over, glossed over, and made unimportant by the HRC campaign when they started the entire thing. I will NEVER forget Ferraro's words. She may claim to be non-racist. Her comments say otherwise. Black women voted in Mississippi, that stupid mouth piece of crap almost made me want to go through the television screen. Then she has the nerve to say Obama should pay HRC's debt?! My ass. I've been done with the HRC campaign and I don't know why these people still crop up from the woodwork periodically.

[Beacool]

71. Excuse me, but not ALL women of color supported Obama.

I've seen plenty of AA women working and volunteering for her campaign. As well as some who supported her in the primary, such as my coworker who sits across from me. She and her family voted for Hillary on Feb. 5th citing Obama's lack of experience.

So, even though Obama garnered the support of most AA voters in the primary, there were some people who still preferred Hillary. One of the most avid volunteers I know is an AA 25 year old man who volunteered for Hillary in 7 or 8 states. After much soul searching, he now volunteers for Nader. He told me that try as he could, he simply could not support Obama.

[1Hippiechick]

67. Written to former HRC supporters, and well written, IMO, for those HRC supporters who lurk....

I think you did a bang-up job writing your post in a manner that would have kept HRC supporters reading. Otherwise, had you begun your piece about why the HRC supporters should vote for O, you would have lost many who would have read no further.

Congrats. (And in this atmosphere, let me issue this disclaimer: "I, 1Hippiechick, have been a supporter from Obama from the get-go. Agreeing with this poster does not imply any endorsement of HRC, so please extinguish the torchs, set the tar buckets down, and stop plucking those poor damn chickens!)

[JoFerret]

69. Past time for you to acquire politiucal acumen and lose the condescension

Supporting Hillary was not about electing a woman. Not "just" about that.
Just as supporting Obama is not about electing an African-American. Not "just" about that.

So please hush up with your patronizing assumptions. Where do you get such nonsense from. And where have you been living?

It's time for you to get with the program and acquire some sense of decency, insight and political acumen.

Please get over yourself. It's past time.

[Beacool]

70. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know the mantra:

"Obama is better than McCain." Obama is the nominee and most Democrats will vote for him. That's it, enough with trying to make us "see the light".

Voting for the nominee doesn't meant that one must like him, please be content with the vote and give it a rest.

You should have omitted your last paragraph, IMO it comes off as patronizing. I'm Obama's age and have campaigned for quite a few Democrats. I don't need to be told how to feel, who to campaign for or even how to vote!!!