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FIVE REASONS THE DEMOCRATS WILL BE UNITED IN NOVEMBER
06/08/2008
Revenge... is like a rolling stone, which, when a man hath forced up a hill, will return upon him with a greater violence, and break those bones whose sinews gave it motion. ………Albert Schweitzer
It has been a long and hard fought primary campaign, the closest we have seen in our lifetimes, with two ground-breaking Democratic candidates vying to the be the "first" presidential nominee who is not the typical white male. Passions ran high on both sides. Racial innuendo and sexist comments made their way into the race. There was going to be anger and hurt when the contest was over and one of them had to lose.
Now we hear supporters of Hillary Clinton expressing great anger, directed at Barack Obama, his supporters and the media, desperately trying to explain her loss as undeserved so that they can retain some pride in their cause and the candidate they desperately wanted to win. A good number are saying they will not vote for Obama in the Fall. On the other hand, when it seemed Hillary Clinton might use the superdelegates to overcome Obama's lead in elected delegates, supporters of Obama were saying they would not vote for her.
Emotions are still raw, but time will heal the hurt, and I believe the Democrats will be united in the Fall. Here are five reasons why:
1. Time
Right now, Hillary Clinton's supporters are deeply disappointed. Her candidacy was not just about her, after all, it ultimately became about the women of America who have been left out, treated badly and kept from achieving their dreams, merely because of their gender. It was a re-igniting, so to speak, of the feminist movement of the seventies, or perhaps what many women saw as the final chapter, the ultimate breaking of the glass ceiling. Hillary became their champion, the repository of all of their hopes and dreams and resentments. Her defeat feels like their defeat, and it hurts.
Hillary is already coming to realize it was a confluence of several factors that led to her defeat, including a series of campaign and personal mistakes as well as something no one can measure – the psychology of the electorate, the resonance of Obama's message, and the charisma of her opponent coming together in one of those inexplicable historical moments that no one could anticipate. Sometimes these things happen and no one quite understands why.
Some of Hillary's supporters have been saying over the past few days that they will vote for John McCain in the Fall, or write in Hillary's name, or just stay home on election day. I felt that way myself after a few instances of attacks on my candidate. I even said I would not vote for Hillary if she was the nominee after she said some of the things she said.
But one thing I know is that things change over time. In time, as Hillary accepts the real reasons for her defeat, her supporters will follow her. As they begin to accept that Obama did nothing wrong to Hillary, that he didn't "steal" the nomination, and that he isn't the enemy, they will see things differently.
It is very difficult to maintain the level of anger and desire for revenge that would be required for a Democrat who supported Hillary to actually work against the Democratic nominee in the Fall. Anger is exhausting, and doesn't feel good. It eats you up inside and even if it is effective in hurting the object of your revenge, it always hurts you as well. So with time, I believe most of Hillary's supporters will grow weary of their anger, allow their reasoning to control their emotions, give up their desire for revenge, and eventually support the candidate Hillary has asked them to support.
Obama supporters should not fear - and the media should not assume - that what Hillary's supporters are saying today will be what they are saying five months from now. Time truly does heal, and once the emotions run their course, clearer thinking sets in.
2. The issues.
When I hear some of Hillary's supporters insist they will vote for John McCain in the Fall, I think it is for one of two possible reasons. The first is that they are not and never have been true Democrats. Perhaps they were for Hillary because they wanted to see a woman president, or perhaps they just didn't like Barack Obama. These are people who will not change their minds, but I think they are in the minority.
The other reason is that they are simply angry that a woman will not be president, and they are desperately searching for someone to blame. While there was undeniable sexism among some in the media, and perhaps even in some of Obama's supporters (just as there was racism expressed by some of Hillary's supporters), Obama didn't use gender against Hillary. But how does one get revenge against the media? It's impossible. So the only way to get revenge is to hurt Hillary's opponent, who stood in the way of her rise to the presidency, and his supporters who put him there. For some, there is a desire to make Obama's supporters hurt as much as they hurt, even if Obama actually did nothing wrong.
Eventually, however, as the general election campaign goes forward, emotions cool, and the focus turns to issues, Hillary's supporters will see that they have a friend in Barack Obama. The difference between Hillary and Barack on the issues is miniscule. Hillary's supporters who care about the Supreme Court, reproductive rights, equal pay for equal work, a good economy, preservation of the middle class, and an end to war, will never vote for McCain, who will only continue the misery we have endured for eight long years.
Ultimately, most people act in their own best interests, and the issues at stake will become an important reason why Hillary's supporters will eventually come to understand how self-destructive it is not only to them, but to their children and grandchildren, to vote for McCain.
3. John McCain
The Republican candidate is an extremely flawed one. Aside from his biography, there is very little that is attractive about John McCain as a candidate and certainly as president. Once the media begins to really put the spotlight on him, everyone will see this.
Besides being wrong on all the issues, John McCain is showing his advanced age. He is over seventy and seems to have some cognitive slippage. He mixes up the names of "enemies," he says he is for something that he voted against time and again, he can't read a teleprompter, and he forgets things. He changes his message from one day to the next, and even uses Obama's language to counteract Obama's message. (eg. McCain's "Leadership you can believe" is copied from Obama's "Change you can believe in.")
As the McCain campaign goes forward, I believe the American people will not see a stronger and more polished candidate, but one who is in over his head. I expect him to make some major gaffes that have to do with his complete inadequacies as a candidate and the loss of abilities related to his age. Biography alone will not be enough to save him.
When Hillary's supporters see this, when they remember what the Republican George W. Bush has done to this country, they will not be willing to take a chance that McCain could defeat Obama. Obama will remind voters that McCain voted 95% of the time with Bush, that he wants to continue the bad economic policies, including huge tax breaks for oil companies and other large corporations, and for the wealthy, and that he is leaving the middle class behind. He will remind them that McCain voted for Bush's War and wants to bomb Iran.Aside from the death and destruction that would bring, the rise in gasoline prices from another war in the Middle East would be unthinkable. Finally, he will remind them that McCain has no intention of bringing health care to all Americans. As they come to remember that underneath his silly smile and his constant refrain of "my friends," is just another Republican who has made their lives so miserable.
And if all of that isn't enough, we can remind Hillary's supporters of the "joke" John McCain told about Chelsea Clinton. It went something like this: "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." After hearing something like this, no Clinton supporter would vote against Obama, who never said anything this personal against Hillary and her family, and instead vote for McCain, who said something this cruel and ugly against Hillary's daughter.
4. Barack Obama
Time and again in this campaign I have been afraid that Obama would be defeated by something he was not prepared for, some videotape or audiotape, or some lie that circulated on the internet. When his "bitter" comments were recorded, I thought he was done for, especially when Hillary's campaign used it against him. When the words of Jeremiah Wright appeared not once, but twice, to sabotage his campaign, I was sure it was over. But each time something unexpected happened, Obama stayed calm and found a way to repair the damage.
Just this last week, when Hillary did not concede on Tuesday, and thus stepped on Obama's historic moment, I thought he would look weak and this would hurt him. Instead, he didn't act angry or upset, was gracious to Hillary, patient with her supporters, and met quietly with her on Thursday. Today Hillary gave a brilliant speech which managed to combine soothing words to her supporters with a hearty endorsement of Obama, and whatever damage might have been done was undone.
This ability of Obama to stay cool when necessary, to be both gentle and disciplined, and of course to be inclusive, will win over Hillary's supporters eventually. He needs to speak to them of course, and he will, and when they hear a few of his speeches and realize how sincere is his desire to incorporate them into the "we" that he continually talks about, they will come to realize that he will respect them and champion their issues in much the same way Hillary did.
Obama has to do two things to help along this process of unification with Hillary's female supporters. He has to convince them that he understands the historical mission they were on. He must show them – and here he may be aided by his very strong and accomplished wife – that he understands how women have been treated in the past, how they are still treated in some instances, and that he not only wants them, but expects them, to be included fully in every aspect of our national work.
But a second thing he has to do is show them why he did not originally focus on women's issues as much as they may have wanted him to. Obama not only didn't focus on "women's issues," he also didn't focus on "African American issues." This is because Obama and his campaign speak in a language that has moved past the sixties and the fights of that generation. It isn't that Obama doesn't believe in equality and civil rights, it is that he comes from a position that believes those battles, with all of the anger and divisiveness they generated, have been largely, though not totally, won, and that what is required now is to move forward and continue making progress in every arena. He does not see it as worthwhile to re-fight all those battles.
Ultimately I think Obama understands women as few other male candidates do. He was raised by his mother, a career woman, and is married to a strong career woman. To Obama, men and women are equal. He doesn't see it any other way. Once Hillary's supporters resolve their grief, and allow themselves to really get to know Obama, they will see him as a friend of women, and not the enemy.
5. History
Finally, this is a historic election. It has been a historic primary.
For the first time in the history of this nation, we have the chance to elect an African American as president. I know this was the election in which many people wanted a woman to make history by ascending to the presidency. And it might have been, if Hillary had run a slightly different campaign. But instead of a woman ending the white male dominance of the presidency, it will be a black male. This is not just a victory for African Americans, it is a victory for women too. Because never again can white men claim sole ownership of the presidency.
Ultimately, I think Hillary's supporters will want to be part of history. They will want to be able to say to their children and grandchildren that while they voted for a woman in the primary, after their candidate lost, they voted for an African American in the presidential election. They can tell their children and grandchildren that they were part of a movement that changed this country forever, that granted universal health care to its citizens, ended a terrible and unnecessary war, saved the planet from global warming, restored the greatness of the middle class and controlled the scourge of terrorism through the force of America's reputation and diplomacy, not just its military strength.
They can say they voted for the man who barely defeated the first serious female candidate in our nation's history, because he was so much better than the Republican candidate. And they can teach their children that they didn't let their disappointment stop them from doing the right thing. They can say that at first they were angry that their candidate lost, but that they just couldn't allow their anger to overrule what was best for the future of their children and grandchildren.
They can tell them that even though they wanted a woman to be president, their vote wasn't just about that. Their vote was about how to solve the nation's problems and restore America's greatness. They can say that ultimately they voted the way they did because they wanted to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
All content © 2005 outragedcitizen.com
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