I have spent a lot of time wondering how Hillary can heal the rift she helped create within the Democratic Party, and I daresay, to a larger extent, in all of our hearts who care about the power of words.
She has lost this race with Barack for so many reasons, and when she has had the time to think about it... after she heals a bit, she may realize that none of them have been unfair.
The better man won.
Anyone who has played athletics at a high level know that this mindset is the only one that truly helps the healing process.
Well, I'm not a political writer, but I did take time writing a speech I think she can give, and should give.
If the words aren't the same, the message certainly should be.
I want to begin by thanking with deep appreciation all of the people who have made my dream a realization. I first set out on this campaign and announced on my website, on January 20, 2007 that I was "in, and in to win." And today, on June 7, 2008 I can say with full enthusiasm and profound gratitude that I have indeed accomplished what I had set out to do, with you, in a dialogue we developed all along the way.
You told me that you wanted to first, and foremost, end the war in Iraq. I can today with full-throated enthusiasm proclaim that we have indeed elected a Democratic nominee who has been unwavering in his public and private opposition to this war which should have never been authorized, and should have never been fought. If there is anyone who has shown correct judgment and can speak with unrestrained authenticity about the handling of this war and the rightness of it’s quick resolution, and truly desires the protection of our sacred treasure... the lives of our young men and women... it is Barack Obama. Today we have won.
You told me that you were struggling to survive financially in this economy. You said that the cost of health care and basic medical services in this country had risen enough that if we didn’t change the system, then affordable health care soon would become the privilege of the few, instead of a right of the many. I am elated to be able to stand with Barack Obama, and join with him in this great battle for Universal Health Care that we are about to undertake. We’ve espoused different paths to the same end, and I am committed in helping him, and our party, to realize this simple, but profound vision for health care for ALL people... regardless of race, religion or financial portfolio.
You have been telling me on country streets and city corners, in restaurants and stores, under umbrellas and awnings, all across America, that you expect a better, healthier Mother Earth for our children and their children to come. We didn’t get in this tragic dilemma overnight, and we’re not going to solve it in one presidency. But I am so incredibly heartened by our choice for the Democratic Party because I know, with no uncertainty, that Barack Obama is not only committed to this cause, but he will not allow an American President to go even one day in office without addressing this issue. He will no longer continue allowing those who benefit from the pillaging of our great earth to speak into this critical issue. We are finished listening... and fudging...it’s time to do something.
And maybe equally important to all these issues, over the last 16 months I have traveled from the hills of New Hampshire to the hollows of West Virginia and Kentucky, from the fields of California to the factories of Ohio, from the Alleghenies to the Ozarks to the Everglades, to right here... finally, to our great nation’s capital. And I’ve listened to you tell me about the importance of not only what we are fighting about and for, but why this battle has meant so much to so many of you.
In the year 1920, women were finally allowed to vote. This race for me, and so many of my loyal supporters, has been so historic because now, a mere 88 years later, a woman was within grasp of the highest office, not only in this land, but in the world. That is a victory.
We may have lost this battle today, but I am certain we have won this war for the recognition of our place and contributions to this society, and to this world.
But you know, this battle, this war, has not been unique to women. Although this nation has been great and good to so many, there is a large segment of our population that can claim otherwise. As late as 1865 a person could own another person as a slave in this country. The last black born into slavery in the U.S.A., Eliza Moore, died on January 21, 1948, in Montgomery County, Alabama. That was just 60 years ago. 60 years ago a black person died who was once a slave.
And although the 15th amendment secured the voting rights for people of color in 1870, one could argue that those rights were not enforced in this country until 1963, and even today those rights are at risk of being suppressed in almost every election. Today there are only 14 women in the Senate, and I am proud to be one of them...but there is only one black person in the Senate...the honorable Barack Obama.
If there has been one thing that has become exceedingly clear to me over the last 16 months, and I hope to all of you as well...it is this... we are in this together.
Politics is a tough place to make a living. At times I think it was all too clear that I was not being respected as a serious political entity in this election. I believe my gender allowed others to attempt to minimize me to nothing more than a last name at best, a caricature at worst.
But I believe we have proved them all wrong.
But Barack has faced these obstacles as well. We have been in this together. Our struggles as a woman and a black person are, and will be inevitably linked. We cannot push one down while we raise the other up, because freedom is either for all or it is for no one at all. I have traveled the roads and I have flown the skies of this beautiful nation for 16 straight months, and Barack has shared more than just a stage, or a nomination struggle with me...he has shared my journey...and he has raised me up. There have been many who have not understood, or have not respected my value as a politician and leader...Barack has not been one of them.
And that is why it is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I not only endorse Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States, but I fully intend to work to my fullest, in any capacity that he deems best for me until he becomes our nation’s next great President.
And so when some have asked, "what does Hillary want?" I know that I can say with true conviction today, on this bright Saturday morning in June, that I lack nothing.
I have fought this good fight and I never gave up. And even today as I concede this great battle, I have realized the dreams that all of us have for ourselves and for those who come after...
that we shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of all people, by all people, for all people, shall not perish from the earth.
God Bless America