Saturday, June 07, 2008

My Message to Clinton Supporters - Don't get over it

I'm not going to pretend I was a hard core supporter of Hillary Clinton, yet this whole belief that is being put out there that now that it's over and Obama has the nomination that everything that happened should just be forgotten is to quote our Mayor "unadulterated B-period, S-period."

The other day Jim Dean sent out an email that I shared part of on here trying to empathsize with Clinton supporters sharing how he felt when his brother did not get the nomination. Over on Writes Like She Talks Jill believes a post written by another Dean supporter gives good advice. Now that the endorsements are trotting out each with a unity message, with Clinton following suit and asking her supporters to support Obama, even more focus will be on these Democrats to "get over it". In fact I've even been told that as well as having seen it directed at Clinton supporters on more than instance in the past few days.

Despite the comparisons being made of Dean to Clinton the situations were very different and if you remove that you go directly head on into what this is all about, "you lost, get over it." To which I suggest, don't get over it. Getting over it means that whatever your reason for supporting Clinton ends if you do. I truly understand the digust and the anger some of you feel with the way you were treated by Obama supporters and how you feel Clinton and women were treated by both the media, Obama and the Democratic Party. It doesn't matter whether "they" think your feelings were valid or not, they aren't you. Elected officials all chiming in on the unity message only rings true if there is a real effort to create unity, which takes more than Clinton supporters now saying Obama is "the one."

Each of you had your own personal reasons for deciding to support Hillary Clinton, some of you continued to vote for her even after it was pretty clear all you were doing was sending a message. To be perfectly blunt this is exactly why women are in the position that they are in with the Democratic Party nationally and here in Ohio. We have been quietly "waiting our turn" the reality is our turn will never come if we just smile and accept defeat without demanding acknowledgement of why the differences existed in the first place.

Did you feel that one particular Clinton position was better than Obama's? Then push for that to be addressed. Was it the historic first of a woman becoming president that drove your support? If so giving up and accepting some of the things that happened doesn't make it any easier for the next woman. It means you are saying that was okay. Shirley Chisholm stated it was harder to win as a woman than it was to win being an African American, perhaps there is some truth to that, or perhaps the real truth is why that is true is because we've allowed it to be true. There comes a point where if we truly want things to be different we have to not give up.

Some of you have made it very clear you will not support Obama no matter what, some of you have made it clear you would support him if he selects Hillary Clinton as his vice president, some of you have stated you will support Obama and some of you are still not sure exactly what you are going to do. There is no "one way to unity", there is no one magical thing that Obama or the Democratic Party can say or do to "heal us" because our reasons for supporting and continuing to support Hillary Clinton are as diverse as we are.

I believe serious changes have to take place in the process of how we pick our presidential candidates, the caucus system is not Democratic and does not follow the principles that we here in Ohio or as a nation believe of "one person one vote" creating the opportunity of all citizens, not just a selected few, to vote. If we walk away, or if we "get over it" that will never change. That's not sour grapes talking, none of us can state what would have been different if all of those who were left out of the caucus process had the same opportunity we have here in Ohio to vote. What we would know though is that every voter had the same opportunity to vote...

John Kerry lost because he did not get the very same voters that Barack Obama is most likely going to need to win, and it's not just Clinton supporters it's moderates and independents who did not participate in our primaries. If the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign can not convince involved Democrats to vote for him, his chances of winning over the non-democrats is even more difficult.

I know for some of you it's tempting to walk away, I'm not going to lie and state I've become an Obama supporter, I can't honestly say what I am going to in November beyond knowing I don't see a scenario where I would vote for McCain. The real decision comes down to more than just do we want "a" Democrat elected as President, it comes down to do we want a better Democratic Party and are we willing to take whatever our reasons were for supporting Clinton and do all that we can to see that our voices are heard. Or do we want to "get over it" grab up the Obama pom poms and fake it, losing this opportunity forever.

I was very disappointed when John Edwards after promising his supporters that he was not going to quit, quit. No matter her motivation, I am glad that Hillary Clinton kept her word. I do hope that this time we actually work towards being better rather than repeat our past.

11 comments:

Roland Hansen said...

I remain a John Edwards supporter.

As far as I am concerned, there is no Democratic nominee for President until the vote is taken at the Democratic Party National Convention.

Furthermore, I think way too many people jump ship way too early in order to jump on a bandwagon. People need to be more committed to their ideals and principles.

There, I've said it! And, I'm not taking it back.

(Now, you know why I always seem to get into trouble and have been labeled by some as a loose cannon -- I say what I mean -- Perish the thought!!!)

Unknown said...

I don't disagree with you at all that if you hold certain principles you shouldn't just switch candidates when told if you don't feel the "new" candidate meets those principles.

I've always thought the rush to end the primary process was a mistake and that too many candidates drop out before a majority of voters even have a chance to see if they could be the one. It's a money and media driven event now rather than what I think a democratic process should be.

Mark W Adams said...

Nothing changes if a Republican wins the White House again. Nothing, nadda, zero, ziltch.

Name another die-hard Edwards supporter who was more committed to him than me.

There is no other choice. Obama must win, period. Any other choice is B Period. S. Period.

Don't forget, don't stop fighting for what you believe in. But don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Unknown said...

Mark, there's a huge difference between being one of those who is saying they'll vote for McCain and being someone who's pointing out that you don't have to fold immediately. If we want things to actually change within the party it's either stand up or give up. Giving up hasn't really gotten us anywhere, especially if you are a woman.

I can't be hypocritical and now pretend that everything is okay and I know I'm far from alone. This whole push to "quiet the dissent" because the reality is that's what it is, that's how you loose elections and voters. If we as a party can't handle people asking questions and wanting to be heard? We have larger problems than winning a presidential election.

mark skeldon said...

I golfed this weekend with a friend who is a conservative. When McCain became the nominee he said he was going to stay home in November. When I asked him this weekend if he was still going to stay home he said no.

My point is he had time to let the disappointment (he really did not want McCain)disapate and listened to both Democratic candidates and realized he agreed with McCain on alot more issues.

So while I'd like to see democrats support Obama, it is going to take some time. The election is 5 months away. I would not expect someone who had him as their 3rd choice to be doing cartwheels now that he has the nomination.

Lisa, I think that you sometimes unfairly paint Obama supporters with a broad brush. You may have had negative experiences with them on blogs, but bigger blogs are kind of like that. Lots of people anonymously calling other people names, which is why I don't post much on cites that contain lots of anonymous posters. I think that there are realistic supporters of all candidates and then there are those that are completely unreasonable and rude, I doubt that Obama supporters are any different on the whole.

Unknown said...

Mark, it goes or at least it should go without saying not all Obama supporters were anti-Hillary to the point where they bashed people or created some of the problems currently being experienced. It's also fair to say some of the Clinton supporters were probably not much better.

There was and is a heavy pro-Obama influence on the Ohio blogosphere, and people experienced some issues beyond Ohio that I've watched or been told about. I experienced some of it but not to the degree that others did, in part because I didn't go out of my way to make this blog or Glass City about Hillary.

I've been "punished" for my beliefs by the State Party by not being selected to cover Denver, which at first hurt but I got over that. I realized they were not interested in someone who was going to try to cover the event from a perspective of non-Obamamania. Glass City has been purposedly rated as "terrible" by some of the more petty denziens of the blogosphere out there to make sure that I dropped from the top rankings for the State.

Now, I could be a cry baby about it but I just deal with it but in the end, it does influence how I feel since I've experienced some of the less than rosy side of taking a stand.

That said, this post was more about the others, urging them to stand up for what they truly believe in. Not to vote for McCain but to stay with the party despite it's flaws to make it better. Whether they decide they can vote for Obama or not we are more than just a presidential election. Some of them experienced much worse than I did...There is a huge amount of anger out there and some of it is justified.

mark skeldon said...

Can't imagine that there are too many more dedicated bloggers in Ohio, so I can understand some of the anger with as much time and effort as you put in.

I agree with Mark who posted earlier that we can't afford another rebublican in office now. There are two many really pressing issues, and I'm hopeful/confident that democrats regardless of who they supported in the primary, given time, will see Obama is the better choice.

Unknown said...

I don't know Mark, this feels at this point like the Kerry V Bush, so I hope I'm wrong but so far? I have not predicted a presidential outcome incorrectly ever. There's always a first time though.

:-)

I've learned to just deal with most of what I face but I've gotten quite a few emails from Clinton supporters on this thread. A few of them still are fairly gunshy, one or two have quit blogging totally after what they experienced.

I'm going to keep pushing for the elimination of the caucus system and the super delegates. I think it would make us a much stronger party and eliminate many of the issues we faced this time around.

CEN said...

most clinton supporters will not insult HRC's legacy or damage HRC's future prospects by voting republican or diminishing her impact on history by refusing to vote in this important election.

Unknown said...

At this point, I know quite a few who have stated they will not vote for Obama. Will they change their minds? Perhaps, but it's clear some will either not vote at all or vote for McCain or third party at this point in time.

If you flash back to 2004 the divisive nature of this primary was much worse than that one.

Robin said...

There are other choices

http://www.2008electionprocon.org/summarychart.htm