Hillary Clinton: party unifier

I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect last night. I wanted to believe that she could pull it off, rally the troops, inspire her party, speak to the nation.


And she did! Last night's Hillary Clinton was the one I remembered from the time she came to UCSB to campaign for Bill Clinton in Spring 1992.

If you missed it, here it is on YouTube--it's worth taking 25 minutes to hear her unite the party and unequivocally endorse Barack Obama. And if you look at the crowd at the DNC, you can't help but feel that this is what America actually should look like--a real mixed race America.



Ps. I've always been a Chelsea Clinton fan, and she seems to have grown into a really lovely young woman.

Pps. If you haven't already guessed, I'm devoting this week to posts about the DNC--I am a political junkie at heart, but lets face it--this is HISTORIC, and it's important--for every single person on the planet because like it or hate it, the person in the White House in the next four years will have a global impact that only the leader of a world superpower can have.

The Democratic Nominee--Barack Obama

It has been said before but I'll repeat it here: history has been made. Barack Hussein Obama (and yes, I'm invoking the middle-name deliberately to make a point) is the Democratic nominee for the 2008 Presidential election.


[pause for sustained applause and whooping and whistles]

I received a very enthusiastic email message from a friend who is out of the state right now who just can't believe that we are seeing this happen. And I've had similar conversations on the phone and in person with friends and family members who are over the moon about this state of affairs. And we are a mixed bunch, my friends and family. And I think that's important to note, because so much has been made of race by those outside of Obama's camp and supporters--about him being a "black" candidate who has a "Muslim" middle-name and family ties to Islam.

But imagine what this says, to the nation, to the world, but more importantly to the kids at your local elementary school: the Democratic nominee for the first time is not a white man. And in Obama's case his mixed-parentage, and very mixed-upbringing, is also something to take note--that he comes from a complex heritage and claims family across the globe of all different ethnicities.

There are a lot of pundits, talking heads, and reporters who are writing about what this means for the Democratic party, for the nation, for the world. One article I found interesting was in today's New York Times, "Many Blacks Find Joy in Unexpected Breakthrough." I think it's true that African Americans probably do feel a sense of pride and perhaps even surprise that a majority of white Americans (and Americans of color across the spectrum) are behind Barack Obama--that he garners so much cross-ethnic, cross-racial support. But the truth is, I think for any of us interested in anti-racist practices, Barack Obama's nomination is one that inspires a sense of hope--a renewed faith that WE can make a DIFFERENCE in the nation.

And I went back and looked through all of the posts I had written about Obama (there are several--you can type in his name in the search box and see), but I want to link to one I wrote nearly a year ago. It was written on June 12, "Walk for Barack", right after I had participated in the Saturday, June 9 "Walk for Change" that Obama's campaign orchestrated. This is when my support for Obama became concrete--because you don't knock on doors in 90 degree humid weather in the South if you don't feel a sense of passion and commitment.

Here is an excerpt from what I wrote then--the context is that I was relating a conversation that I had had with an older African American man who expressed skepticism that Obama was electable because he questioned whether this country was ready for a black president:

I don't know if the average American voter wants to elect a black president. But what I told this gentleman and what I believe, and what got me out on a 92 degree afternoon, knocking on people's doors, volunteering for the first time in my life to canvass for a cause or a person--what I believe in my heart of hearts is that I want to and need to believe that we, as a nation, are ready to move ahead in terms of racial politics. That we want to learn from the past and we want to learn from each other. And while I know that racism will not be erased so easily by a few ethnic studies classes or multicultural fairs, I also know that I am supporting Obama because I have to have faith. I have to believe and to envision the country I want rather than the country I suspect I have. I have to actually practice what I preach rather than bemoaning the state of race and politics that we currently live in.

All I have to say now, a year later, is YES WE CAN!

Yes We Can!

The voters of North Carolina and Indiana have spoken (because a 2% margin of victory for Clinton in Indiana is not much of a victory and a 14% margin in North Carolina is definitely decisive). Barack Obama is on the way to Denver, and short of a debacle happening (which could still happen--this is the Democratic party and this is the U.S., where we've allowed atrocities to happen in our electoral process before) we will see Senator Obama as the Democratic nominee for the Presidential race of 2008.

I am a HUGE Obama supporter--so for readers who are not, please bear with me. What follows is adulation on my part and also a clarification for why I decided, very early, to support Barack Obama in his march towards the White House.

I am supporting Barack Obama because:

*Like most of the nation who saw him deliver his very famous speech at the 2004 Democratic National convention, I was HUGELY impressed with his oratorical skills and the level of passion with which he conveyed his beliefs of America.

*I read Dreams from My Father and was impressed with the story of his life--with the dedication that he has to public service and the honest reflections he has about himself, his family, and his place in the world. I was particularly impressed with the candor of some of his observations--revealing things about himself that clearly weren't designed to "get voters" and certainly did not have a national presidential campaign in mind.

*In reading through his policy statements, I believe that of the democratic candidates who were (and I guess still are) in contention, his were the policies that I believed were most thoughtful and forward thinking in trying to make real change happen in America.

*I like his positive message--I like the optimism of his campaign--I like the message of hope and change--I believe they aren't just buzzwords but words for us to believe in because we want to HOPE that we can CHANGE the direction the nation is headed.

*After his speech on race in Philadelphia I believed, even more strongly, that Obama is the most intelligent and thoughtful and insightful politician to talk about issues of race in our nation--and we NEED intelligent, thoughtful, insightful, and candid conversations about race in this country--and Obama's own background as "mixed-race"--and where he grew up and where he has lived--all contribute to his being able to articulate a message about race in America--about a mixed-race America that I truly believe in.

*Younger voters, people who have never volunteered for a campaign before, who have never donated money to a campaign before, people who have never bothered to register to vote before, are getting behind Obama, behind this campaign. People feel a sense of optimism and activism from him--they want to make a difference in the world, and I know I want to make a difference in the world too.

*This speech (YouTube clip below) in North Carolina is inspiring--because Barack Obama reminds us that WE have a choice, that this campaign isn't about the candidates, it's about US and what WE can do to create a groundswell from the bottom up.



YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!

Denver, here we come!