Many are calling this a landslide. I disagree. This election was a very close contest, fought right down to the last minute until all 50 states had voted and until every vote had been counted.
We should all join in and congratulate the second place finisher in the 2008 Presidential Election, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
After all, after yesterday, there can be no doubt that had she been our nominee, she would have handily beaten John McCain yesterday. Perhaps the margin would have been a bit closer (and perhaps not), but there can be no doubt that Hillary would have won.
There can be no doubt that had our country, and our Party, not shattered one glass ceiling yesterday, then we certainly would have shattered another.
Thank you, Hillary Clinton.
I supported Barack Obama in the primary election, but believed that Hillary was an outstanding candidate and would have been very proud to have worked for her this fall.
I understand today, more than ever, why she fought until the last vote was counted in our primary. She knew perfectly well that the Democratic nominee would be an overwhelming favorite to win in November, and she understood that the real race for President this year was the primary in June.
In the process, and though many of us disputed her intentions and actions at the time, she made Barack Obama a better general election candidate. Of this, there can be little dispute.
And in the months after the primary, Hillary did everything that we might have hoped. She was classy, gracious, and offered nothing other than full-throated support of Candidate Obama whenever she was asked to do so. Many of us wondered how she might behave coming out of the primary, and I believe that most would agree that she did everything that we might have hoped and more. In so doing, she won at least one convert, and I will be supporting her throughout the remainder of her career - wherever that might lead.
I believe that in 2016, we will shatter the gender glass ceiling. The Democratic Party has multiple female stars and rising stars, and I believe that we will have multiple female candidates during our next primary in eight years.
Perhaps Hillary will be one of them. Even if she is not, this community and this Party owes her an immense debt of gratitude - for the cracks in the glass ceiling so placed, and for her efforts in helping to deliver President-elect Obama yesterday.