i'm over it

Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic Primary. Like many of her supporters, I hoped until the last vote was counted that she would somehow prevail. I even hoped for some juicy bit of information to come out about Obama that would take his campaign down. Sorry, but if we're going to move forward together, I feel the need to be honest.

But now I'm over it, and she helped me get there. Senator Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention was outstanding. She and her husband said what they needed to say to convince me and many others that they are putting their party, and indeed their country, first by supporting the candidacy of her opponent with whom she and I share many points of view, and that I need to do the same.

But more remarkable than her speech was her action on the convention floor the next day when she asked the speaker to halt the roll call and call for a vote by acclamation for Senator Obama to be our nominee. I could not have been more proud. What she did was above and beyond the call of duty for the candidate not chosen and it demonstrated enormous personal fortitude and humility. I have heard of no male candidate doing the same in any previous convention, and I am endlessly proud that this is what women can bring to politics.

Unfortunately, there are those who don't think she went far enough to flatter Obama in her speech. Yet had she done that, I believe, it would have come across as disingenuous, even if it weren't. There are those who say she is supporting him only in an effort to boost her own 2012 prospects should he not prevail this November. Some are even expected to blame her if he loses. For me, I believe she is doing far more than one can even expect of someone in her position and she's doing it out of a genuine concern for the future of our country. At this point, if Obama loses (perish the thought), it will be on his shoulders and our shoulders, not hers.

It's not an easy transition from one candidate to another. Yes, there was sexism in the race that went unchecked. Yes, when reminded, I am still irked that the Obama campaign took many opportunities to paint the Clintons as racists, but as a wise friend told me, you've got to leave it on the campaign trail. So I will.

It also helped to read an account of how the two campaigns were run during the primary here. Obama won because he ran a more strategic, better planned, and better staffed campaign than my candidate did. This alone gives me the confidence to now fully support Barack Obama as my candidate as it bodes very well for an Obama presidency that he surrounds himself with experts, has an overall strategic vision, and plans for contingencies. Hmmm... we could have used that in Iraq.