I will first address my letter to Senator Hillary Clinton. Hillary, I am a 53 year-old female who is a life-long democrat. My grandfather was a political leader in New Mexico, who worked on FDR’s campaigns. You remember FDR don’t you Hillary? He gave a speech seventy-five years ago in which he told us,” Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror.” Oh I forgot, you’re not into speeches are you? “Enough of the soaring speeches!” Hillary you forgot something in your mocking of inspirational speeches, they have the power to mobilize the nation, like FDR was able to do. Words, lest you forget, have meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. FDR gave hope to the hopeless; he made the country believe in herself again. You Hillary are not into such foolishness as hope either are you? You prefer fear to hope. Fear and all it inspires, the worst side of human nature.
Do you remember Eleanor Roosevelt? Yes I know that you admire her. She was a beloved and respected first lady, at home and around the world. Indeed, she would of made a wonderful president in her own right. She represents what I admire in a woman, but more so, she represents what I admire in all people, regardless of gender. She had character. She had the respect of a nation, not because she demanded it or bullied those she disagreed with, but because she earned it. It was her true character that always shown through. You Hillary Clinton have none of that character. We have all seen what you will do and say in desperate times. Your actions, and yes your words, speak volumes of who you are. Simply put, Hillary you are no Eleanor.
Next item---Stop with the “Dream Ticket” spin! It smacks of disingenuous political balloons, set out to calm the fears of democrats. “Look, if you vote for me (Hillary), I will put Senator Obama on the ticket and we will all be one happy family again.” Do you think we are idiots and cannot see through all this spin? Remember the demographics of the core Obama supporters, we are educated. I find it astonishing (or should I say I find it reprehensible) that you and your campaign have done so much to tear our beloved party in two. Was it not you that said both you and McCain have passed some imaginary threshold in your mind and are the only two candidates left in the run for the white house that are qualified for the job of the presidency? Maybe your dream ticket should be you and McCain. Oh, but you are a democrat…as far as I know. So if I got this right you and your posse want you on the top of the ticket with a man you labeled “Ken Starr” as your running mate? You don’t get it do you. You can’t attempt to tear down a fellow democrat that has challenged you on the road to your perceived entitlement for the nomination, and then just tell us it was all done in what you call “fun.” Like some other strong women said before me, there are millions of us who “are not ready to make nice.”
Senator Obama, please “pop” this trial balloon now before it takes hold. Make it clear to all that this joint ticket will not work. I can already see party leaders urging you to go along with this sham of a ticket. “Senator Obama, do this for the party, we need party unity if we are to take back the white house. If you agree to this we (the party machine) will support you for the nomination in another eight years. Think of the party, think of the country!” I can see and hear those machines at work spinning their toxic “solution”. This party was torn in two by Hillary, not by you. She represents everything wrong with politics as usual. Millions of us believe in your words and your vision for this country. It should be clear, that your answer to this supposed dream ticket is a loud and resounding “NO”! I thought Hillary didn’t believe in dreams either. Never sell your character, your being, to political leaders that may push for this “solution”. You are a leader for a new generation, a new time. Reject political power promises that smack the very ideals you stand for. The course of the country cannot be changed if we hold onto the old ways. It takes courage to change and it takes courage to hope. You told us it wouldn’t be easy...it’s not. Today there is a new consciousness awakening in this country, we are crying out for a true leader. We need a leader that can inspire us once again, and to see our better selves, where we choose what is right over what may not always be politically correct. We need a leader that can heal us at home and abroad. This change we so desperately seek cannot come from one individual, but it will come with you as our leader and the millions of us that will answer your call, for this is our country,
To paraphrase you Senator Obama, “Hillary and Bill Clinton, you do not own the Democratic Party, we do, and we are here to take it back! In this moment, in this time, we are ready to believe again!”
“Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he or she sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. Few are willing to embrace the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.” [Robert F. Kennedy]
