From the standpoint of one who voted for and endorsed Barack
Obama over Hillary Clinton, there seems to be a question hanging in the air.
How could someone who opposed the Clintonian dynasty support Hillary’s bid for
the Presidency? Isn’t it a bit hypocritical? Or at least inconsistent with the
view previously taken?
This is true for many supporters of Obama. Some on the left
cannot support her bid for President.They see many of her acknowledged flaws and conclude she
cannot be a viable option. My view comes from watching her over the course of
the past eight years, four as the Secretary of State within this
Administration.
And having watched the two debate in 2008- Obama vs. Hillary- there
can be little question that the divide that separates them on most issues is a
small one. Theirs is a centrist left view of the world. On Foreign Policy, I
daresay that Hillary would never have worked for Obama had she held wildly
opposing views from his own world view.
But the thing that clinches the deal for me is her actions
above the rhetoric. So many politicians may say something, but until they back
it up with actions, one can never be sure. In her case, she lost the nomination
narrowly. Then, with good humor and grace, she worked tirelessly to elect
Obama.
It takes guts for her, and for Howard Dean and John Kerry,
all losing nominees in the primaries and in the General Election, to concede
defeat and continue to work for the greater good of the Democratic cause. That
is the deal-clincher. Teddy Roosevelt, one of those leaders that can still
inspire devotion, said it best.
“It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of
deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is
actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who
strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is
no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the
deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the
great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in
the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at
least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who
neither know victory nor defeat.”
Hillary is the man in the arena. Love her or hate her, she
will never be among those timid souls who choose to give in to failure. She may
be marred by dust, but she will always dare to try. For that reason, she is my
choice.
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