My take on primary wars, Senator Clinton, and President Obama!

[jonestonesusa]

In the last day or two I have seen several threads that mention Senator Clinton’s role in the GE, especially her energetic campaign to support the Obama/Biden ticket. I agree that she deserves congratulations for her effort to bring the ticket home, even though she had to overcome the contest between Obama and herself during the primaries. She set a standard that not every Democrat has followed (though I would also nominate Howard Dean as another recent contender in the “losing well” category). Any national Democrat that does less needs to be called out, though. I have written to my senator, Russ Feingold, for not criticizing McCain and Palin for their outrageous tactics this election season (John Kerry, another old Democratic friend of McCain, did distance himself from the GE tactics). Clinton's level of support during the primary made it especially important for her to be a strong supporter of the ticket, for the sake of media perception and voting margins, and she met that challenge.

Having come, then, from Clinton-Obama primary wars to President-elect Obama, where do we go from here? I supported Obama during the primaries, and I had lots of debates on DU with Clinton supporters, mainly about racial politics in the campaign, the legislative records of the Bill Clinton presidency, and the IWR war vote (I'll forgo going there completely now). I may be in the minority in that I feel the primary wars were good for the party because they made internal differences visible not only on the legacy of Clinton/New Democrats but on issues of racism, sexism, and homophobia, and that dialogue needs to continue. One of our new agendas ought to be breaking the glass ceiling regarding women and the U.S. presidency, and it would help us to think about a range of possible future candidates. I wanted Obama to nominate Kansas Governor Sebelius for vice president, and I hope that she will be considered for a future presidential run; I think the primary wars made it hard for people to take seriously the possibility of a Democratic ticket that included a woman but not Sen. Clinton.

On the issue of healing from the primary war divisions - as we continue to compliment Clinton on her work in the GE, I hope we are able to give Obama credit for his successful presidential run. On this forum, I have consistently objected to those that called Obama an "empty suit" with a "paper thin resume," because even if you did not support him or did not think he's qualified to be president, his personal accomplishments are undeniable in the areas of law practice, his books, his work in higher ed, Illinois elective politics, and, yes, his community organizing. In my perfect world, all Democrats would appreciate his accomplishments, including his smoothly managed and historically successful run for the presidency.

I do understand that to bring up the Clintons on DU can easily start a flame war, but I hope that doesn't prevent us all from dialogue when it matters about identity politics and the future of the party. The Clintons seem to inspire a lot of personal attachment of a kind that I generally do not feel with politicians. However, I celebrate the Clintons for the values that I share with them and their past achievements. I have also criticized actions by the Clintons that I do not see as in the public interest, and I’ll do no less with President Obama. I'm ecstatic to see the glass ceiling regarding race broken in America, but at this point in our country we badly need effectiveness in office. So let’s build on the atmosphere of inclusiveness that Obama has helped inspire so far in American politics.

Congratulations to everyone who worked hard for this Obama victory, including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton!