For loyal supporters, Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech on Saturday was a sad ending to a long and trying campaign. Rivalry between followers of two very strong candidates led to intense animosity between hard-core Clintonista's and the legions of Obamabots, as evidenced by bitter arguments on DKos and elsewhere. Clinton's speech went a long way toward healing the rift for Sen. Obama's supporters. Now, we move on to the main event, the Fall campaign for POTUS; and, a critical issue is how many of Hillary's supporters will support and vote for their former mortal enemy, Barack Obama. While Clinton supporters are being welcomed onto DKos with graciousness and open arms, their support for Obama remains to be seen. This poll examines the initial effect of her strong endorsement of Obama in the speech. Disclaimer: This poll is unscientific and has no general validity. Also, as the poll isn't for Obama supporters, I am using the first comment to offer Obamabots a response option. But first, a salute to Hillary Clinton.
Senator Clinton- you were the clear front-runner, the odds on favorite. Victory seemed inevitable and you said you would have it wrapped up after Super Tuesday. You were wrong. You listened to the advice of Mark Penn and you kept listening to him far too long. You gave Bill too long a leash and he said stupid and hurtful things. You lost 11 in a row and got far behind on fund raising. Most would have given up after all of that. But you wouldn't quit. You fired one of your closest friends as campaign manager and brought in another one who was a stronger manager. You complained about sexism and the cushy treatment Barack was getting from the media. You went on SNL and made us all laugh. You had to loan your own campaign millions of dollars. You put out that 3AM commercial and made us laugh some more (but for a different reason). We wanted to write you off but you and your army of loyal friend wouldn't go away. You kept changing messages until you found one that worked. You came back in Texas and Ohio. And Pennsylvania. You challenged Barack to an April Fools bowl-off for all the marbles and we LOL. You made us angry saying you would have switched churches. You began to scare some of us (not me- I knew you were too far behind to catch up). You made us angry saying John McCain was qualified and Barack Obama wasn't. You had an attack of false memory syndrome and talked about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia. We laughed again. You fell short in North Carolina and barely won Indiana. Russert told Olbermann it was over and we thought we had you. Then you won West Virginia. And Kentucky. And Puerto Rico. You caught up in popular votes. But it was too late. You couldn't persuade the superdelegates to go your way when they saw the future of the party was the netroots movement of audacious hope. You tried to persuade the Rules and Bylaws Committee but the votes weren't there. Then, you won South Dakota but went down in Montana as Obama secured the delegates he needed. Still, you refused to concede and that made us angry one last time. But quitting was something, as a warrior, you didn't know about. Your friends had to talk to you and tell you it was OK to stop fighting. You arranged a secret meeting with Barack. And then you came out on Saturday and; surrounded by friends and family, you stepped up to the plate. And, unlike Mighty Casey, you didn't strike out. You hit a towering homer and all of Mudville stood up and cheered! And you made us see why so many people, almost 18 million, voted for you and why so many were loyal to the end. You showed amazing strength, resilience and determination. You reminded me of Janis Joplin singing, "I'm gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough." So, today we salute you and welcome you to the team. We're glad you're finally on our side.