Hillary and inspiration.

[ccharles000]

Now that Hillary is getting out of the race and Obama is the nominee we can all move on. Two years ago I was seventeen and not interested in politics. When Hillary joined the race I started the process to pick the person I would support and I chose Hillary. I think the reason I liked Hillary was I disliked bush and other repubs so much that I wanted a fighter someone who would kick the repubs asses. In May I voted for her and I am glad I did even if she did not become the nominee. Thank you Hillary you inspired me to fight the repubs and get a democrat in office. No matter what people say about you there will always be a gay man in NC that adores you.

[NJmaverick]

1. Can she inspire people to heal the rift she created with in the party?

If she pulls that off, she will regain much of the respect she lost.

[ccharles000]

2. I disagree I don't think she has caused a rift.

[Occam Bandage]

3. A quarter of her supporters, at the moment, say they refuse to vote for Obama.

That's a rift, and it's one I hope she has the courage to heal.

[ccharles000]

5. I think that is a mixture of denial and passion.

[paperbag_ princess]

7. well that is one theory

My personal discomfort for voting for Obama has nothing to do with her and everything to do with his campaign which includes his supporters.

sorry...this was a reply for post #1

[EstimatedProphet]

12. But to be fair, Obama supporters say they won't vote if she is VP

And a couple months ago a lot of them were saying they would never vote for her if she was the nominee, period. The rift is deep and is from both sides.

[Occam Bandage]

15. I'm not saying the rift isn't on both sides. This is just the only side that's relevant now.

[EstimatedProphet]

18. Not if we're going to fix it

We need to have participation from everyone. At least that's my opinion.

[Tatiana]

16. That is just bluster. I think I even said that at one time.

I will vote for the Dem ticket. Period. Democrats will vote for Obama even with Clinton on the ticket.

It is the independents and Republicans that will bolt if she is on the ticket.

[EstimatedProphet]

17. And apparently GD:P as well

I've seen it a lot here.

My point is that the rift in the party is from all quarters, not just Clinton. If we're going to heal it, we need participation from everyone.

On edit: why is it just bluster if Obama supporters say it, but a serious threat if Clinton supporters say it?

[Tatiana]

21. Oh they are blustering too. n/t

[Arkansas Granny]

27. I'm not even certain that those supporters were Democrats or true supporters

to begin with. I don't necessarily accept the statements of a stranger that I see on an anonymous message board that they are who they say they are. I have yet to meet a Hillary supporter IRL who will vote McCain or sit out the election. They have agreed all along that the most important thing this fall is to vote for the Democratic candidate.

[NJmaverick]

6. I think her camps cries of sexism and her refusal to bow out gracefully on Tuesday night

along with some of her rather harsh campaign rhetoric (after all she brags about being a fighter) all helped to create this rather unprecedented rift.

[PoliticalAmazon]

19. Pandering to bigots, insulting Obama supporters / African-Americans....

telling the world that she and McCain are read to lead the country but not Obama...the list goes on and on.

If you are inspired by this divisive Bush/Rove approach to campaigning, then I fear for the future of our country.

Fortunately, it appears that many young people have been able to see through Hillary's tactics, so your "inspiration" at using assassination as a campaign strategy is balanced by many young people who can see things a bit more clearly.

[ccharles000]

25. I respectfully disagree.

[Beacool]

26. She didn't create the rift.

It was a two way street.

Most of the Democrats who I have heard say that they will not vote for Obama are saying that it's due to his lack of experience.

[Warren DeMontague]

36. She's dropping out of the race, endorsing Obama.

If she was going to take it to the Convention, that would be one thing. But what you have here is a hard-fought race; even if I don't agree with all of her tactics, I've got to hand it to her for tenacity.

Primaries are over, we have a nominee, she's endorsing the nominee. I think that's a good step in the direction of healing.

[dionysus]

4. good on you for getting involved charles.

:toast:

you're one of the good hillary supporters on this board.

[ccharles000]

9. I switched my support to Obama a week ago.

I still adore Hillary and hope that she does great things for this country.

[dionysus]

11. i know. what I'm saying is you weren't a "shillbot", you're 100% genuine.

there's plenty of fakers on both sides here.

we'll kick mccains ass in november!!

[ccharles000]

13. We will kick McCain's ass and win back the WH.

[Indenturedebtor]

23. She has a real opportunity here to not betray your trust

And to do anything and everything to ensure that we have a Dem in the white house.

I'm glad to see yet another Millenial up to the cause. Did you know that we're the most progressive American generation in history?

We're gonna fight! And we're gonna win! :bounce:

[DevonRex]

8. ccharles, we're all glad you did get involved. I have 2 sons

in their twenties who are also involved in politics. I am so very proud of them and of you for understanding how important this is.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

10. I think we should all give her her due.

I'm an Obama supporter, and though I obviously disagreed with her campaign, I have to give her credit for going further than any female candidate before her.

She didn't get the nomination, but she will be in the history books.

:toast:

[ccharles000]

14. Hillary did break many barriers for women.

[Deja Q]

20. Only if she will let everyone move on.

Even I no longer believe she will.

[cottonseed]

22. She's cool.

I'll admit it. Bill too...

[SemiCharmedQuark]

24. My history teacher once told me that when he voted for the first time, he was told

"Make your first vote a vote to be proud of". Of course, he voted for Nixon, so he was not proud. But I voted for Kerry and I was proud of that. And you voted for Hillary and I'm glad that you and I both were able to be proud of our very first votes.

[hfojvt]

31. write it down and look back on it in 20 years

When I was 18 I voted for Reagan and I would have been proud of that. I thought I was pretty smart, but I didn't know then what I know now.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

32. Well, we'll never know how Kerry would have done but I bet he would have been better than W.

[hfojvt]

34. Well I certainly voted for Kerry

but I expected a landslide in Congress too. When I heard that the Republican Congress had been re-elected I sorta felt we were screwed even if Kerry won. Between the Republican Congress and the M$M and the RWNM, they would have crucified him.

I was thinking that a Hillary vote might be re-evaluated in 20 years. I am still not sure about my Clinton vote. His Presidency was a mixed bag of good and terrible. Would we have been better off with 4 more years of Bush Sr. and continued Democratic control of Congress? Would we have gotten a more progressive candidate in 1996?

Voting against W should never be regretted, but what about voting against Obama?

[tandot]

28. Great post. Thanks, Charles.

:hi:

[Hepburn]

29. Heya, Charles....

...how goes it with you today? Nice OP...:hi:

[KSinTX]

30. Nice job, ccharles

Thanks for this

[shaniqua6392]

33. She has done great things for the Democratic Party.

I am glad she fought so hard. It brought in a lot of new voters to the Dems. It got a lot of people interested in politics. It really made Obama more popular that she was fighting. She has done much to advance the cause of women. I adored her too ccharles!! But she will still be doing great things and we have not seen the last of her!!:hi:

[IndependentDem]

35. nice post.

:hi:

[Warren DeMontague]

37. I salute Senator Clinton and her supporters.

I may not have agreed with all her tactics, but I admire her determination and tenacity in this race. I happen to believe that her dropping out of the race and endorsing Obama should go a long way towards patching up the divisions in the party.