Why I continue to run

simba · May 25, 2008, 6:39pm

…

I am running because I still believe I can win on the merits. Because, with our economy in crisis, our nation at war, the stakes have never been higher - and the need for real leadership has never been greater - and I believe I can provide that leadership.

I am not unaware of the challenges or the odds of my securing the nomination - but this race remains extraordinarily close, and hundreds of thousands of people in upcoming primaries are still waiting to vote. As I have said so many times over the course of this primary, if Sen. Obama wins the nomination, I will support him and work my heart out for him against John McCain. But that has not happened yet.

I am running because I believe staying in this race will help unite the Democratic Party. I believe that if Sen. Obama and I both make our case - and all Democrats have the chance to make their voices heard - in the end, everyone will be more likely to rally around the nominee.

I am running because my parents did not raise me to be a quitter - and too many people still come up to me at my events, grip my arm and urge me not to walk away before this contest is over. More than 17 million Americans have voted for me in this race - the most in presidential primary history.

I am running for all those women in their 90s who’ve told me they were born before women could vote, and they want to live to see a woman in the White House. For all the women who are energized for the first time, and voting for the first time. For the little girls - and little boys - whose parents lift them onto their shoulders at our rallies, and whisper in their ears, “See, you can be anything you want to be.” As the first female candidate in this position, I believe I have a responsibility to finish this race.

I am running for all the men and women I meet who wake up every day and work hard to make a difference for their families. People who deserve a shot at the American Dream - the chance to save for college, a home and retirement; to afford quality health care for their families; to fill the gas tank and buy the groceries with a little left over each month.

I believe I won a 40-point victory two weeks ago in West Virginia and a 35-point victory in Kentucky this past week - despite voters being repeatedly told this race is over - because I’m standing up for them. I’m standing up for the deepest principles of our party and for an America that values the middle class and rewards hard work.

…

But no matter what happens in this primary, I am committed to unifying this party. Ultimately, what Sen. Obama and I share is so much greater than our differences. And I know that if we come together, as a party and a people, there is no challenge we cannot meet, no barrier we cannot break and no dream we cannot realize.

[Hillary:</a> Why I continue to run](<a href=“http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/05/25/2008-05-25_hillary_why_i_continue_to_run.html?page=1]Hillary:”>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/05/25/2008-05-25_hillary_why_i_continue_to_run.html?page=1)

aapride · May 25, 2008, 7:24pm

Yes it is all right to say what one want to say. But if befor or during convention they make her the democratic candidate, AA comunity will not vote for her. Infact without AA, all democrat willloose house and senate seats. It will be sucidial for democrat party. Hillary and her husband has done a lot but it is time for change of guards.

sueinphilly · May 25, 2008, 7:32pm

pratically EVERY woman I know over the age of 50 (who voted for Hillary in the primary) will not vote for Obama, they are all either sitting it out or voting for McCain. this is not what the Democrats want.

aapride · May 25, 2008, 7:37pm

SUE:

Would woman will say samething if there is a woman VP candidate as as Obama potentail running mate. This is about winning the presedentail game. If Hillary gets nomination,then she can get a AA Candidate as a running VP. But who knows in that case repblican will bury us. She will get AA support too in that case. These are the only choices democrat have got. What do you say now. This is a game of high stakes where Obama aspresident and probably kansas governor as running mate. Go Obama go 08.

mini · May 25, 2008, 7:53pm

She has about the same chance of being the nominee of her party as Huckabee has of his. (Actually, I think, seriously, that Huckabee has a greater chance - there are lots of health risks that could disqualify McCain before the nomination, and I don’t believe Obama will be assassinated. Whoops! I’m not supposed to say that - even in the negative. :rolleyes:)

aapride · May 25, 2008, 7:56pm

I still think Obama will win without substantail woman support due to oil prices and economic decline. Democrat will blame Republicans for the economic mess. Obama 08 :)

newparent · May 25, 2008, 8:17pm

We will have to elect basedon qualification. All three candidates are fine as long as they make US strong.

calmom · May 25, 2008, 8:24pm

Obama has plenty of support from women. (Most of the women I know are now supporting him! and I am definitely over 50).

aapride · May 25, 2008, 8:27pm

calmom :

Do you think this home value decline will continue till election, This really is going to help Democrat and Obama. If there is a change in Oil prices and we are out of recession, Democrat will have tough time. Voters have short memories. Republicans will try to chnage the game to Religion or something else.

Newjack88 · May 25, 2008, 8:33pm

Sue:
Almost all of the newly registered voters will not go out and vote either. In addition, African Americans will turn out in much smaller numbers AND independents will flock over to McCain’s side.

Also, there is no way Hillary will win come November. Her negatives will be too high once the Republicans start to go after her. Obama has been incredibly easy on her and he hasn’t really rummaged through any of the Clinton’s baggage.

Lastly, Hillary has been saying that sexism is the reason she is going to lose the nomination… Well, if sexism caused you to lose during the primary, is sexism going to magically disappear in the general?

sueinphilly · May 25, 2008, 8:38pm

Calmom, are you in California? Maybe it is an east coast thing. Yes, they would vote for Obama if Hillary was on the ticket. But they can’t bring themselves to vote for a black man. And these aren’t racist people. They just really wanted a woman in the Whitehouse (as more than a first lady).

Here is an op-ed piece my son wrote for his school paper over a month ago. there were MANY comments from people who echo what I have said about women not voting for Obama
[Dems:</a> Hillary and Obama are closer than you think - Opinion](<a href=“http://media.www.nyunews.com/media/storage/paper869/news/2008/04/08/Opinion/Dems-Hillary.And.Obama.Are.Closer.Than.You.Think-3308634.shtml]Dems:”>http://media.www.nyunews.com/media/storage/paper869/news/2008/04/08/Opinion/Dems-Hillary.And.Obama.Are.Closer.Than.You.Think-3308634.shtml)

swimcatsmom · May 25, 2008, 8:48pm

I don’t understand why women who believe in the Democratic process (and are Democrats in their beliefs) would choose to not vote for Obama in the presidential election if he is the Democratic nominee. Or why those that voted for Obama would not get behind Hilary if she were to win the nomination. Hilary should not get the nomination just because she is a woman anymore than Obama should get it just because he is black. The whole point of the primaries is to choose the nominee. Once that nominee is chosen then Democrats of all ages, sexes and colors should unite behind that nominee.

Any woman who chooses to not vote for the chosen nominee whoever he or she is just because their candidate did not win the nomination is a true disapointment to me as a woman (unless it is because they truly do not believe in the nominee’s stance on the issues - but as these are similar that would be a little difficult to believe). I would feel the same whichever candidate wins the nomination - you have to get over the dissapointment if yours does not win and rally behind the nominee. That is the whole point of the democratic process.

People who do not want to abide by the democratic process should not be allowed to vote at all. There were wonderful people who fought and suffered to get women and minorities the right to vote. It will be a real tragedy if the first time a woman and a minority are actually running for the chance to run for president that we turn on each and refuse to honor those very right and the democratic principles those people fought for. They can’t both be the nominee. We have to be adults and deal with the results and move on.

Are Democratic women really so petty that they would rather have another 4 years of Republicans and have the next 2-3 supreme court judges chosen by those Republicans just because a woman does not win the nomination? And at this moment she is not winning however she tries to spin it. My goodness I hope not. That would make me ashamed of women. Which believe me I am not usually. And yes I would have loved to see a woman as president. I truly hope than Hillary comes up trumps a supports Obama wholeheartedly if he wins the nomination. And I would hope he would do the same if she won it.

calmom · May 25, 2008, 8:49pm

Sue, anyone who “can’t bring themselves to vote for a black man” is racially prejudiced, whether you consider them racist or not. How would they feel about male voters who “can’t bring themselves to vote for a woman”? I’m sorry that Obama is going to have to lose votes because of people who can’t see past the color of his skin, but if anything those sort of comments give me more reason, not less to support Obama. And if that is the reason for their sentiment – then it isn’t a woman-over-50 thing, it’s a race thing. (or would they support a black woman? where were they when Shirley Chisholm or Carol Moseley Braun were running for President? Do they see all “black men” as the same? What if Obama were running against Colin Powell?) If the issue is race, it shouldn’t be clothed as a gender issue.

By the way – thanks for the link. I agree with your son wholeheartedly and really like the way he thinks and writes, so I guess if you have family discussions on politics, you can count me as one more vote on your son’s side. ;)

sueinphilly · May 25, 2008, 8:57pm

They feel like it was her ‘turn’ and he came along and stole the spotlight. I will vote democratic no matter what. I’m just telling you my experiences. I think that the older the woman, the less likely she is to vote for Obama (based on my unofficial unscientific polls).

If a republican is elected I will question the sanity of the American public. I can’t think of one reason to vote republican. However, I completely respect McCain as a person and for what for his service to this country. I just don’t want his party in power.

razorsharp · May 25, 2008, 9:21pm

The harder she fights, the more I like Hillary Clinton. She is clearly more of a fighter than McCain and appears to be more of a fighter than Obama.

marite · May 25, 2008, 9:24pm

She is certainly talented, smart, and advocated policies that Dems can rally behind. But why this feeling that she’s entitled to the presidency.

As to Obama “stealing” the nomination from her, I don’t get it. Electoral campaigns are all about having more than one candidate, at least in true democracies. As for FL and MI, I don’t like the rules, and I don’t like caucuses; I did not like it when FL and MI were punished by the DNC. But the time to voice complaints and change the process is before the electoral campaign, not in mid-stream.

If Clinton were nominated, I’d expect to fall in behind her, despite my reservations about her. Although I respect McCain, I do not like too many of his policies to vote for him if my preferred candidate does not get nominated. As a feminist, I am particularly worried about filling vacant seats on the Supreme Court. Hillary supporters who threaten to sit on their hands may not only appear as sore losers but also will threaten the very causes they hold most dear. That, too, I do not get.

calmom · May 25, 2008, 9:25pm

Well, the reason to vote Republican is if you support those policies – I’m sure that many of my Republican friends will support McCain. The idea that it was Hillary’s “turn” to run is childish and unrealistic – its a campaign. Obama will get the nomination because he had a better organization, better campaign strategy, and because Hillary made a series of major missteps along the way that hurt her, both in terms of campaign strategy and in things she and some of her supporters have said that has alienated part of her constituency.

Sue, I think your son has it right that being a sore loser is a pretty poor reason to sit out an election or vote for the opposition. I think part of Clinton’s problem is that she acted like she was entitled to the nomination – this is a democracy, we don’t have “turns” and we certainly don’t or shouldn’t have dynasties. HRC may think she represents all “women” but the fact is that she came to prominence riding the coattails of her husband, whose came very close to being ousted from office as an indirect result of a sexual-harassment lawsuit. I mean… she’s not the role model I would choose for my daughter, and I have a lot more respect for the many women in politics without famous husbands. I mean, I am from California, and we’ve got Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi --and in my district we just elected Jackie Speier with 85% of the vote in a multi-candidate special election – and I doubt if most of the voting public even knows who their husbands are or what they do/did for a living. So I’d look to women like them as having the right stuff to be President – not a candidate who was counting on her husband’s popularity with the voting public and sway with her party to put her out front in the nominating contest.

I certainly think that we can and will ultimately have a woman in the white house, but I think it will have to be a self-made woman – and not one who relies on her gender to get elected. As a Californian I can tell you that the fact that our congresswomen and senators are female never was flouted as an issue in any elections --I’m sure that some individuals probably voted for them because they were female, but no one ever made an issue of it. For them it was always about the issues and their records, and as far as I know every one of them has a very long record of public service starting with local party activism and election to local offices before they aspired to statewide and national office.

In other words, IF I were to vote for a candidate to be the model woman to occupy the White House, then HRC would be one of the last I would choose – I think she’s a rather poor choice to represent our gender. Truthfully – she embarrasses me, sometimes in a cringe-worthy fashion.

sueinphilly · May 25, 2008, 9:52pm

First of all, I am repeating what people are telling me, not my views. They feel that she has ‘done her time’ and that he’s the newbie who got thrust into the spotlight in 2004 giving that speech at the convention. They like him as a person but feel that he is green and a bit naive. They like Clinton. They are allowed to have their opinion.

I agree with you about having a woman come in from the bottom up vs a move from first lady to Senator to President. I find it interesting that it’s been over 20 years since any woman has gotten this close.

Me, personally, I would like to see them on the ticket together. I think the VP role could be redefined from whatever it has been recently (puppetmaster). I think Obama and Clinton could work as a team for the good of the people. They both have strengths and weaknesses, but I believe they want what’s good for the country. Lord knows the leadership in this country has been pathetic for a while. This is clearly a case of the good of the many outweigh the needs of the few (shamelessly stolen quote from Spock in star trek 2)

Bush makes me cringe whenever he opens his mouth.

calmom · May 25, 2008, 9:58pm

Er, I think with Dick Cheney in office, the VP has been the master & the prez the puppet… you think that’s what Hillary & Bill are hoping for?

Newjack88 · May 25, 2008, 9:58pm

I don’t understand why many ferverent women supporters of Clinton believe that Clinton is the only realistic chance of there being a woman president. First of all, these “feminists” are not giving women a whole lot of credit. Second, Obama came up from nowhere. It’s highly likely that a viable female candidate will spring up from nowhere within the next 2 or 3 elections.

Why I continue to run

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