I'm fairly new here so perhaps I should begin by introducing myself.
Hello.
My name is Dawn, and I am a democrat. I have been a democrat since late 2003 when I awoke to my liberalness as a result of being deeply inspired by Howard Dean's campaign. He was the first politician I had EVER donated money to. He was the first person in over a dozen years to inspire me to even register to vote. And I registered as a democrat so I would have the opportunity to vote for HIM in the primary.
Sadly he was out of the race before my state (Colorado) had had a chance to vote. And by the time Colorado came up, Kerry pretty much had the nomination sewn up. Now, Kerry wasn't my first choice (obviously), he wasn't my second choice (Clark), he wasn't even my third choice (Edwards), he was tied for fourth with Ghephart. So, needless to say, I was quite disapointed and less than inspired with what we all ended up getting. Regardless I knew that Bush had to be stopped and I resigned myself to vote for Kerry in the general. By the time November came around I was actually starting to feel pretty good about it.
And we all know how that went.
This time around, I didn't find anyone even close as inspiring. I eventually came around and supported Edwards, but, yet again, he was out of the race before my state even got a chance to vote. When faced to chose between Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton I chose "neither" and stayed home. It's not that I didn't like either of them. Quite frankly, I liked them both equally. I recognized they both had their strengths and weaknesses but on the balance either one would make a fair to good president. These troubling times may require a GREAT president, but I could take or leave either of them.
It was never important to me WHO won, but it was still very important to me HOW they won. And it was always important to me that whoever won in November be a democrat.
I have come to accept that the primary is over. Clinton put up a hard fight and while she may continue to take that fight all the way to convention, the primary selection process is effectively over. I do not say this as a way of disparaging Clinton or her supporters, who have put as much heart into Clinton as Obama supporters have put into Obama. And if the closeness of this race has taught me anything, it's that both Clinton and Obama are excellent candidates and we would be fortunate to have either in the White House. But this is the reality of the situation: Barak Obama will be the nominee.
This race is now between one democrat and one republican. It is time for all of us to come to understand what this means:
It is time for Obama supporters to stop trashing Clinton. And It is time for Clinton supporters to stop trashing Obama.
Bill Clinton said it best during the 2004 primary (at Tom Harkin's Steak Fry which I saw on CSPAN becuase I'm not important enough to get an invite...obviously) In the primaries we should vote with our hearts, but in the general we need to vote with our heads.
Both Clinton and Obama supporters have put so much of their hearts into this primary that, from the outside looking in, it has been incredible for me to watch. Sometimes it has been very disturbing, but sometimes it has been very uplifting. And from the outside looking in I see that both have far more in common with each other than they have in opposition.
We all want the war to end, and we all want it to end without starting a NEW war. We want to regain the respect of the world that has been squandered by Bush's careless cowboy antics. We all want every American to have quality healthcare coverage. We all want to balance the budget and stop the looting of our public money by corporations. We would all rather invest that public money more in infrastructure and education and healthcare and less on wasteful and ineffective defense programs and a foreign policy that demands we be the bullies of the whole world. We all want to take fast and SMART action to eliminate our dependance on foreign oil and our contribution to global warming. We all want to defend reproductive rights and the rights of those who are already born. And we all want to further the rights of our fellow citizens who are still given less than the rest.
We all want that. But, fellow citizens, we will get absolutely NONE of it if we get a republican in the white house.
It is time to come together. It is time to realize that United States policies have real consequences for millions (arguably BILLIONS) of people. It is time to realize that it is less important WHICH democrat we elect than it is to get A democrat elected.
It is time to stop fighting each other and time to start unleashing our collective power on the one man standing between us and the redemption of our country: John McCain.
I am not saying, as I am sure some of you might think, that Clinton supporters should stop promoting Clinton or that states that have yet to vote should not vote for Clinton. I am merely saying that Clinton supporters have GOT to stop trashing Obama. And I am saying doubly so, that Obama supporters have GOT to stop trashing Clinton. This cycle of anger and contention has GOT to end, and it has got to end with US.
For Obama supporters and for Clinton supporters, it is time to move on. It is time to put side broken hearts and hurt feelings and do what is best for our country.
To do any less, would be antithetical to being a democrat.
My name is Dawn. And I am a democrat. I hearby commit to support Barak Obama for president.
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