An Open Letter To Hillary Clinton Supporters
I am a 50 something white woman with disabilities. I have lived at or below the poverty level, received public assistance, and I know what it's like to work three jobs to keep a roof over my head. I have advocated for people with disabilities for 3 decades, and I understand identity politics.
I started out supporting Hillary Clinton. I've admired her for years, and always believed she would be the first woman president of the United States.
It's with these credentials, that I plead my case.
I understand disappointment; I have worked on the past three democratic presidential campaigns. So much emotion gets packed into such a short period of time. When it's all over, it's hard to decompress.
It's doubly difficult when your candidate is the first woman who has come oh, so close to becoming her party's nominee. And-how unfair, for it to happen in the same year when a bi-raicial man was running against her.
Hillary sold herself to voters as the candidate who cares about them. But she lost my vote back in South Carolina when Bill played the race card.
Back then I saw Barack Obama speak and oh-my! He inspired me in a way I haven't felt inspired since the ‘60's.
I felt so bereffed during the past eight years with all of my hope for this country dashed by the Bush administration and the way they chipped away at everything I held dear about my country. I wondered if it could ever fulfill the promise of the founding fathers when so much of its foundation had crumbled beneath the weight of Republican Neo Conservative attempts to reconstruct it in their own vision.
And then there was Barack. He spoke to my hart in a way no politician has since Bill Clinton.
He gave me hope that maybe; just maybe we could heal the wounds of the past eight years.
While Barack and Hillary competed for the nomination of the Democratic Party, I began to see a side of Hillary I didn't like. She began winning, but in winning, she used Republican style tactics. She learned well how to use them during her time in the White House. She had to, in order to survive.
As an advocate an organizer I remember being in rooms with other organizers and hearing myself say, "We have to learn how to think like the Republicans. We have to study their tactics and get just as good at using them as they are."
I couldn't envision that there might be a politician who would come along and consciously work to change "Politics as usual."
My support for Barack went from being a vote against Hillary Clinton, to a vote for Barack Obama.
I'm voting for Barack not just because he's good at speechifying, but because I believe he can return this country to greatness. I believe he will end the war in Iraq, strengthen our economy, reestablish Havious Corpus, close down Guantonamo, stop using torture as a means to get information from prisoners (not enemy combatants), use principled diplomacy with countries like Iran and North Korea, and restore this country's reputation in the world as the bright and shining beacon of liberty that others in the world idealize.
I do believe that this country will see a woman become president, and hopefully in my life time.
One thing I know from my work as an advocate, if the timing isn't right, it isn't gonna' happen.
This is Barack's time!
When the first woman is elected president, gender will be a small part of the conversation. Barack is a post racial candidate, only talking about race when it's necessary. Hillary is still fighting the battles of sexism. The first woman president will have put most of those battles behind her, and she will do politics differently than any man before her.
As we move forward into the general election campaign, I urge you to think about whom you're voting for and why you're voting for them. A vote for John McCain is a vote against Barack Obama. That may feel good right now, but think two or three years down the road. McCain will continue the policies of George W Bush, and there still won't be a woman in the White House.
We don't need to come together and sing Kum bi yah just yet, but we do need to keep our eyes on the prize. This is the Democrats election to lose. It's up to you as Clinton supporters to make sure that the next four years are brighter and more hopeful than the past eight years under a Republican administration.
