Appearing before 6,000 of her supporters today, Hillary Clinton officially suspended her campaign and threw her support to Barack Obama. She said, "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."
She retold some of the stories she has been telling on the campaign trail to illuminate how many of her supporters sacrificed for her campaign and its goals. Then she spent a few minutes thanking her supporters and making sure they knew how much she appreciates them.
Then she turned back to the matter at hand. She spoke to her supporters, and told them, "The way, the way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passions, our strengths and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States."
She went on to say the Democratic Party is a family, and that its now time to restore the bonds that tie us together. She said that every minute wasted looking back, keeps us from moving forward to a Democratic victory. She told the crowd that life is too short and the stakes are too high, and "I will work my heart out" to see that Obama is elected in November.
This is the speech that Clinton needed to give. She said everything she needed to say, and the Obama campaign should be satisfied with her effort today to unify the party.
There were some boos in the crowd when Obama was mentioned, and while that was disappointing, I guess it is understandable. It has been a long and hard-fought campaign and many of Clinton's supporters are heartbroken. However, I do feel that most of them will show themselves to be good Democrats and unify behind the ticket, especially since Clinton has now asked them to do so.
It will still be a long campaign and I expect the Republicans to continue their tradition of dirty politics. But with Obama's hard campaigning and Clinton's valuable help, the country can be saved from having to endure another four years of failed Republican policies.
I'm grateful that she did give a graceful exit, after her speech on Tuesday I wasn't sure if she would go until August, which would have been big nightmare, the difference that I see it that the Demarcates seem to fall in love and the Republicans seem to fall in line, either way. I don't think American gas prices can stand another Repub in the white house.
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