Today, on the eve of the Kentucky and Oregon primaries, it is increasingly clear that the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate will be Senator Barack Obama. By tomorrow evening, he will have a clear majority of pledged delegates. And soon he will have a majority of all delegates, elected and appointed.
But we as progressive people of faith and conviction are missing an opportunity whenever we tear down the Democratic candidate that we have not chosen to support. In my case, that's Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. I've admired her for years, and in fact, went to hear her speak in Washington County, New York when she was first running for Senator from New York State. And yet, sometimes, I find myself reading the pundits and bloggers who want to criticize Senator Clinton, or worse, hurl epithets at her.
She is a great woman of faith and conviction and has done a great deal in the past seventeen months to prove that a woman can run for the highest office in our nation and be taken seriously. She has earned the passionate support from people in every state and from every walk of life. She has campaigned with vigor and determination.
And yet she will probably not win the nomination. This is a time that calls for everyone, across the political spectrum, offering an olive branch of grace: appreciation for the sacrifice she has made and for the conversation she has started. Let us thank her for her contribution to the national dialogue and express our anticipation that she will be making significant contributions in the future, as a United States Senator, or in the Cabinet, or as a member of the Supreme Court.
And then let us come together as progressive people of faith and conviction who love our country and want to get back our moral standing in the world and return to an agenda of protecting the earth, the poor and the children.
Monday, May 19, 2008
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