I've always has such admiration for Hillary Rosen, it's only risen exponentially with this HuffPo piece:
So, I am also so very disappointed at how she has handled this last week. I know she is exhausted and she had pledged to finish the primaries and let every state vote before any final action. But by the time she got on that podium last night, she knew it was over and that she had lost. I am sure I was not alone in privately urging the campaign over the last two weeks to use the moment to take her due, pass the torch and cement her grace. She had an opportunity to soar and unite. She had a chance to surprise her party and the nation after the day-long denials about expecting any concession and send Obama off on the campaign trail of the general election with the best possible platform. I wrote before how she had a chance for her "Al Gore moment." And if she had done so, the whole country ALL would be talking today about how great she is and give her her due.
She goes on to add:
Instead she left her supporters empty, Obama's angry, and party leaders trashing her. She said she was stepping back to think about her options. She is waiting to figure out how she would "use" her 18 million voters.
But not my vote. I will enthusiastically support Barack Obama's campaign. Because I am not a bargaining chip. I am a Democrat.
I've been trying to honor my word and not allow my feelings for the Clinton campaign affect my enthusiasm for this election, but there are times when that's been difficult. I've slipped, and Sen. Clinton's behavior over the last several days has made it difficult. ALL candidates grieve the loss of an election, most don't take the nation, and their party along for the ride.
While I understand that Clinton supporters need time to grieve, and I respect that, I would like you to think about what is it about Sen. Obama that makes him a viable candidate worthy of the support of all Dems. Sen Obama believes that this is about US, all of us, not that we are his to do with as he pleases. He believes in the power of the American voter, each of us.
This party will be united by what is the best in all of us, not by what is politically expedient and who 'holds', in his or her hands, the keys to the White House... the VOTERS hold the keys, not the politicians. It's Sen. Obama's history as a community organizer that helps him undersand this. It's his sensitivity and compassion that make it clear that leadership isn't about power, for him, it's about doing what's in the best interest of the people you serve.