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Dear Senator.
I believe there is nothing important left to gain by your continuing to contest the fight for the Democratic nomination for President against Senator Obama, once the final primaries are concluded. And because of that I fear, if it seems you are holding back from embracing Democratic unity when the voting finally ends, all it will accomplish is strengthening negative conspiracy theories that those who are most suspicious of you have about your real intentions.
I don't buy those theories that some spread about you, Senator. I don't think you want to see John McCain beat Barack Obama for the Presidency in November. I don't think you are trying to set it up so you can run as a Democrat again in 2012 against a Republican President. But it is profoundly unsettling for us as Democrats when theories like this about a leading Democrat like you gain any currency, let alone significant currency in widening circles. For the purpose of what I have to say to you now, it doesn't matter if none of that is fair, if none of that is your fault. It is toxic. It is toxic to you, and toxic to the Democratic Party that such things are now being said. You can argue that others are irresponsible with their accusations against you. That and a New York City Subway Token won't get you on a New York City Subway, since those tokens have all expired. And the universally recognized contested portion of the 2008 Democratic race for the Democratic nomination for President expires this Tuesday.
You don't have the votes Senator Clinton. You have to know that. It's not because you will finish behind Barack Obama in total pledged delegates when the tallying is done. That's not the point, I agree with you there. No, it's because Barack Obama will shortly have the support of enough delegates to win the nomination, and you don't. Some say this has been apparent for a long time. You can certainly argue against that view point also, and to an extent I agree with you there. But that too doesn't matter. It is apparent now that you can't win. Even so I continue to accept that there were multiple reasons for you to fight this race hard until the finish line is finally crossed, and winning was always only one of them.
There were numerous principles that you fought for, and fought for hard and well Senator Clinton. I am sympathetic to your view point on many of those, others can and do disagree. But whether others see the validity in what you chose to fight for to the finish is not germane, what is germane is that you and your supporters did. And that gave you a reason to keep fighting, even as the Democratic nomination became an ever longer shot.
I can't pretend to know all your reasons for fighting on Senator Clinton, but I can guess at some. Here too it doesn't matter if I agree with all your reasons; since when did Democrats agree on everything? The test for me is simple with each one of them: What can still be gained vs. what can still be lost by continuing to contest this nomination beyond June 3rd?
For the sake of discussion let’s presume that you are right in all of your arguments regarding each one of these positions, starting with the most basic; who between you and Senator Obama will make the best Democratic Candidate and American President? You argue that you are that person Senator Clinton, and since that is at the heart of what a nominating contest is ultimately about, how can you be blamed for making that argument? It is yours to make and for others to accept or reject, you can only do your part while they do theirs and I can’t fault you for making your case as well as you can. Ultimately that is the responsible thing for any candidate to do. But when your opponent comes from within your own party and shares many of your own core values and positions, when the contest is effectively over it is time to close ranks. Once it is clear that Senator Obama will win the Democratic nomination for President, the relevant comparison shifts from between you and he, to between him and John McCain.
Barack Obama does not yet have the announced support of a majority of all delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and all of our nations Democratic voters have not yet had a chance to cast their ballots for their preferred nominee. Yes the contest is still on, yet the contest is drawing rapidly to a close. So we will see it through to the end as it should be. Let all the voters vote, there is nobility in that position, especially within our Party, the Democratic Party. It is a rare thrill for Democrats in Montana, in South Dakota, and in Puerto Rico, to have major Democratic candidates for President out campaigning on the issues in their midst. Many of those people won’t get a chance to see another Presidential candidate campaigning where they live for another four years, maybe not for decades the way presidential politics works in this country. I salute you Senator Clinton for the resolve you have shown to get up every morning and take this campaign for President to these people. But after Tuesday there are no new states left to campaign in.
You are the first woman in America ever to reach the very brink of winning the office of the Presidency, Senator Clinton, and I recognize that your campaign today has echoes for our future. Your strength, your perseverance, your resiliency and your resolve all erase historically dated perceptions of the limits women are capable of, and they lay down markers bold enough that from this date forward, any candidate for the Presidency, male or female, who henceforth faces trials and tribulations, will be measured against your standard for exhibiting inner strength and unwavering will. That is the ultimate blow to sexism, and few yet fully grasp how surely you have landed it. Well done Senator Clinton. That work will be completed on Tuesday.
Your campaign for President has sounded important notes that resonate for the future inside the Democratic Party and our nation. There are issues that are dear to you, there are voices which you fought to make sure got heard, these were important reasons to carry your fight forward through to the finish. The crime that universal health care still is lacking in America, the crisis that millions of Americans face trying to make ends meet at the end of each week, these are failings in our society that you have been passionate about Senator Clinton. There are millions of women who have long felt overlooked in America, who now feel you are looking out for them. There are millions of blue color workers who felt voiceless in America, who now feel that you heard them speak. Win or lose your campaign had meaning for them, and through them then for all of us.
Now our Democratic nominee for President must listen to those oft ignored voices and address those oft forgotten needs, and you have a key role to play in that, to make sure he does so as well and as fully as humanly possible inside of America’s political system. Yes I said he, because we do now know who he will be, and you now can maximize his ability to accomplish all that by throwing your full support behind him, enabling him to draw you closer in his counsel, uniting our Party, furthering our mutual mission for America. The hour for that approaches, and it approaches rapidly Senator Clinton.
I don’t deny that there were real principles and not only partisan politics involved in the fight we all just witnessed over the ultimate resolution for seating Florida and Michigan’s delegations to the National Democratic Convention. Again it doesn’t so much matter now if I or others all see eye to eye with you over what those principles were. People of good faith, Democrats of good standing differed on them. Sometimes situations exist where positive principles may stand in conflict with each other, and sometimes someone’s partisan position is sincerely consistent with their principled position, with sincerely principled people finding themselves in temporary conflict over sincerely held positions. Your side made its case with passion on Saturday, but other cases were made with equal passion. Compromises were arrived at; efforts to be fair that leave room to differ on over their ultimate fairness. Your team fought hard through out those deliberations, from start to finish, and that is as it should be. Now that meeting is over and a resolution was arrived at.
The principles that were argued about in that rules committee meeting, from all sides, are indelible and they will stand up under the scrutiny of time for generations to come. For that reason alone the spirited debate held in that rules committee meeting was positive for our party, and for our Democracy. So I don’t begrudge a single moment of passion, or even any instances of grandstanding. It was all for a very worthy cause. But the bottom line is this. While the fight itself was significant, the final resolution of it isn’t. Yes the debate was important, but the final division of delegates wasn’t. The core values that were argued are timeless, but the closure that was reached is temporal.
There were no important precedents set; all involved know that an imperfect pragmatic agreement was arrived at for an imperfect painful process which defied a perfect ending. That’s all it is. Let the transcript of remarks delivered speak for the ages, but let this compromise end the bickering and usher in the unity that our party now needs to win the important contest that awaits us in November. There is so much our nation stands to gain if a Democratic Administration replaces to current Republican one, and so much our nation stands to lose if Republicans are allowed to consolidate their hold on the Executive Branch of Government for another four years under John McCain. You fought a superb and important fight Senator Clinton. Now let’s move on the next one. Together.
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