DNC HRC & BHO

Hillary Clinton spoke to her loyal supporters yesterday at the DNC as she urged them to vote for Barack Obama. It was a passionate dynamic speech, it played to her strengths, it showed her as a candidate for the future. It reminded me of why I wanted her to win in the first place.

She knows that we’re out here. A group of angry people, mostly women, who still feel the sting of her defeat. We still believe she was the better candidate, we don’t care for Barack Obama. If he loses, they’ll blame us, like they blamed the folks who voted for Nader in 2000.

Hillary asked if we were in this campaign just for her?

No Hillary I wasn’t in this campaign just for you. I was in it for me. I was in it for all of the women who walk that impossible line trying to be strong, but feminine, tough, but likable, loud, but not shrill, the virgin but the whore, the whore but the vigin. I was in it because I saw someone attempting something so big… something I’d stopped believing could happen. And it didn’t happen. But it was so close.

And I watched misogyny rear its ugly head and roar. It wasn’t just men, it was women too. Women! How does society fill us with such self loathing? How many times have a heard women say they don’t like working for a female boss? Or other women? Or that they only have male friends? That women can’t be trusted or are catty?

I voted for Nader in 2000…. Don’t tell me I lost Gore the election, a) I’m in MA and he got all of our electoral votes, b) the election was stolen, the votes were not even recounted in Florida! And c) Gore could have had my vote if he had earned it.

And that’s the crux of it. Omaba can have all of our votes if he earns them.

Hey, Kool Thing, come here, sit down beside me
there's something I gotta ask you.
I just wanna know, what are you gonna do for me?
I mean, are you gonna liberate us girls
from male white corporate oppression?

So sweetie, you want Hillary to make amends and sweep her supporters over to you… because we are bitter and hurt by the way the election turned out… so we, like her are supposed to concede to you and just give you our votes and what… be happy about it? Because we lost we don’t a voice? No, I don’t think so. The party has always trusted that women would just get in line and do what’s right. Always vote for the lesser of two evils. Where does that leave us? Where is our voice in that?

How about instead, you reach out to us and earn our votes. Instead of being insulted that we preferred a different candidate, show us why we should want to vote for you. I promise to keep an open mind about you… what are you going to promise me?

Maybe its a mans world, but we live here too, we out number you and you’re going to have to recognize us if you want to earn our votes. Okay sweetie?

Good luck.

And Hillary, you make me proud.