First, let's backtrack.
Here's Hillary's speech from yesterday - in full. It gets better each time I watch it. It doesn't make the pain any less, but it makes me feel proud, knowing that I support(ed) this dynamite woman. I think she has herself a movement...whether she wants one or not! She's heads and shoulders above those who vilified and demonized her without mercy. And each of us who support her can and should stand tall and stand WITH her now. Any chance we have for progress will be lost if John McCain is elected as POTUS. No matter how you feel right now (and believe me, I'm smarting at the moment, too), those of us who believe in what Hillary Clinton stands for do not honor her or these ideals by voting for John McCain.
Here are excerpts from the speech. And here is her speech in its entirety:
[SNIP]
To the young people ... like 13-year-old Anne Riddell from Mayfield, Ohio, who had been saving for two years to go to Disney World and decided to use her savings instead to travel to Pennsylvania with her mom and volunteer there, as well.
To the veterans, to the childhood friends, to New Yorkers and Arkansans ... who traveled across the country, telling anyone who would listen why you supported me. And to all of those women in their 80s and their 90s ... born before women could vote, who cast their votes for our campaign. I've told you before about Florence Steen of South Dakota who was 88 years old and insisted that her daughter bring an absentee ballot to her hospice bedside. Her daughter and a friend put an American flag behind her bed and helped her fill out the ballot.
[SNIP]
Eighteen million of you, from all walks of life ... women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African-American and Caucasian ... rich, poor, and middle-class, gay and straight, you have stood with me.
And I will continue to stand strong with you every time, every place, in every way that I can. The dreams we share are worth fighting for.
[SNIP]
Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him.
And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.
[SNIP]
We all want a health care system that is universal, high-quality and affordable ... so that parents don't have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead-end jobs simply to keep their insurance.
This isn't just an issue for me. It is a passion and a cause, and it is a fight I will continue until every single American is insured, no exceptions and no excuses.
[SNIP]
Now, on a personal note, when I was asked what it means to be a woman running for president, I always gave the same answer, that I was proud to be running as a woman, but I was running because I thought I'd be the best president. But...
But I am a woman and, like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.
[SNIP]
To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and their mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect.
Let us ... Let us resolve and work toward achieving very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits, and there are no acceptable prejudices in the 21st century in our country.
You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories ... unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the United States. And that is truly remarkable, my friends.
[SNIP]
Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it ... and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time.
That has always been the history of progress in America. ...
[SNIP]
And so ... when that day arrives, and a woman takes the oath of office as our president, we will all stand taller, proud of the values of our nation, proud that every little girl can dream big and that her dreams can come true in America.
And all of you will know that, because of your passion and hard work, you helped pave the way for that day.
[SNIP]
So today I'm going to count my blessings and keep on going. I'm going to keep doing what I was doing long before the cameras ever showed up and what I'll be doing long after they're gone: working to give every American the same opportunities I had and working to ensure that every child has the chance to grow up and achieve his or her God- given potential.
I will do it with a heart filled with gratitude, with a deep and dividing love for our country, and with nothing but optimism and confidence for the days ahead.
[SNIP]
Comments