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I have waited for so long for this night. I believe that Barack Obama will be the next president of our country. I will work very hard to help that happen. He gave an amazing speech and when you put it next to McCain’s lame attempt, there is no contest. We are fired up and ready to go.
I am sad because Stephanie called to tell me that Mia had an accident with Chester, their cat. She pulled him off their fence and broke his leg. They had a choice of amputating his leg or putting him down. They chose to save Chester, but it has been a traumatic and expensive evening for the family. Keep them in your thoughts.
I am also sad because of the lack of class that Hillary Clinton showed tonight by not letting Barack Obama have his night to celebrate his amazing achievement. Gloria Borger on CNN read a Hillary-supporter email saying that this “needed to be her night” and thus it was OK for her to perform the way she did.
To Jeffrey Toobin’s credit, he said “What are you TALKING ABOUT???”, saying that except for the “deranged narcissism of the Clintons” the point would be that she had lost and Obama had won and it was time for her to step aside.
Will she ever give up? Will she ever understand that she has been out done by Obama and his incredible campaign team? Have you ever seen another candidate behave in this way? Look at the class of Gore and Kerry when they lost such close elections to Bush, well, they may have actually won, which makes their class even more admirable.
She asked us to write and tell her what to do so I e-mailed her and asked her to graciously accept defeat and to move on. That made me feel a little better, not that she will pay any attention to me!
Gerrie,
Here’s what Josh Marshall says about Clinton: this is what I would hope to be hearing:
Marshall says: I have to agree with David and Greg that Hillary Clinton’s concession was one of the best political speeches ever given.
I’m from Illinois, so I was an early and enthusiastic Obama supporter. Throughout the campaign, I kept trying hard to take the high road, insisting that I would support Hillary if she were the nominee. At times in this highly competitive campaign, it was hard. Very hard.
As I listened to Hillary’s speech, the thought that kept running through my mind was how gracious and she was. I’d like to think that if my candidate were in her shoes, he would be equally magnimous. Most importantly, I’d like to think that I would accept the words of my candidate in the spirit intended.
The speech would ring hollow if she did not refer to the historic nature of her candidacy, and to its successes. As an Obama supporter, I’m fine with her taking a victory lap; she deserves it.
I hope that other Obama supporters acknowledge our friends who supported Clinton. Clinton ran a great campaign, and it was historic. Our friends should be congratulated.
And as for the times that I may have been negative towards Clinton during this primary — well, that’s what happens during an extremely competitive campaign. I’m glad that my candidate won, but I’m also glad that Hillary is still around. Had Obama lost, I would certainly expect him to remain visible and active in national politics. For the same reasons, I hope Hillary remains in the spotlight.
–Josh Marshall
Gerrie,
We’ve had our differences on this subject, and I must say that I’m very disappointed in the Obama supporters’ ungracious, inelegant, malicious continuation of the tone they set early on and continued right up to the present. Very very close to half, if not half, of the voting democrats voted for Clinton, and did so for good reasons — not perhaps your reasons for voting for Obama but good decent humane thoughtful reasons.
I voted for Clinton, because I was concerned about competence and I distrust charisma without substance. Obama ran a good campaign, which I am grateful to know because it shows competence, but he did nothing to control the outrageous sexism of his supporters — the kinds of misogynism that was exhibited was beyond what I could ever have believed could be publicly indulged in from my fellow Democratic travelers. So my relief that he could run a competent campaign was overridden by his allowing his supporters and the media to continue in their witch hunt. I suppose I can’t entirely blame him, but it doesn’t console me to think that he didn’t make public his horror at the kind of language and attitudes — ballbuster and c… — that were directed at Clinton.
I will vote for Obama. I wish I could celebrate this wonderful moment for all Americans when we have finally overcome our hateful prejudices and nominated a black man for president. Unfortunately any joy I should feel in this moment has been eaten away by the horror show of malice and sexism that seemed aimed at keeping all women in our place. Worse is to see it continue, unabated, and by people who should at least be gracious in their success and certainly are smart enough to see the what was done to Clinton.
I cheer along with others who are proud we can have a black president, but I can’t stand the malice that Obama’s supporters can’t seem to stop feeling. Such maliciousness does no one any credit. And it isn’t likely to make those of us who had good reasons to vote for Clinton to feel much cheer in voting for Obama. As I remember you saying about Clinton, if this kind of malice continues, I’ll hold my nose and vote for him. But I will be hard-pressed to be optimistic about real change in this country.
Oh,yes and….WOO HOO OBAMA! Heard the news last night when we were in Victoria. Haven’t seen Hilary or Obama yet as we haven’t watched any TV, but it was the frontpage story in the Victoria, BC newspaper this morning.
Oh, poor Mia. I’m sorry this happened to Chester and so sorry for Mia.
Poor Mia! I hope that she will be ok. I don’t worry about Chester, as I know he will do just fine.
Yes, I know what you mean about Hillary. Your response to her was a whole lot nicer than anything I could have said, so I’m proud of myself for not writing to her at all.
Warm Hugs Dear Friend
I agree with you 100000%! While I am so excited over an Obama candidacy, I am also disappointed in HIllary. The needs of the party should override her ego. It’s time for her to graciously concede and support him, not hold her supporters hostage for a vice presidential nod. I also e-mailed her and told her to concede. And now it’s on to working for electing President Obama!
I’m so sorry for Chester and Mia. What a hard choice to have to make. My thoughts are with all of them. I hope that Mia understands that sometimes accidents happen. That is a lot for a little girl to deal with.
As for the rest of the post…I’m still trying to digest everything that has happened. But my respect for many people has been lost during this election. *sigh*
My heart goes out to Mia. Accidentally hurting an animal is such a gut feeling, especially for kids. So sorry that she has to deal with this. I know how you feel about the days events. It’s a combination of joy and saddness for me as well.
there is a range of emotions in your post today and i share it with you. i’m reading a book by anne lamott and just last night i read the chapter of her dog dying so there is a sense of joy knowing the cat will still be with the family…how is your grand daughter doing?
I’ll bet she WILL listen to you, Ger.
Cat injury, under any circumstances, = sadness for me. I know a couple of very happy three-legged cats. I’d be a whole lot sadder if they’d made the other decision.