Wow! Now tell me, was that exciting or what?
Now what?
Where do we go from here?
I have to admit that I am glad to see the Democratic Party's nomination process finally put behind us.
While I like the fact that all 50 states and our assorted territories had the chance to participate in a somewhat "meaningful" way this year, I found the process to be sloppy, disorganized and uselessly damaging.
What have we learned from this 16 month trek across the nation?
Quite a lot really.
First of all we learned that there are still many open rifts, sores and soft spots in our country on the subject of race, sex, socioeconomic status, religion and others.
We also learned that it is extremely difficult for us to have a realistic conversation about them because the bar has been set in a way that a small group of people seem to have controlled the discourse for so long that when minority groups or disadvantaged groups finally got the opportunity to speak, the felt that if their voices weren't heard now that they may never have the chance to vote or speak for someone they directly connected with again in their lifetime.
I can't say that I am 100% happy with Barack Obama as the nominee, much the same way that I would not have been 100% happy with Hillary Clinton. I was a John Edwards supporter, but that doesn't mean that I felt he was a perfect candidate either. What I felt was that he best represented my worldview, and largely that was because of the common histories that we shared.
Have I wrestled with the idea that John McCain might actually become President in November? Yes, actually.
I think that it is ridiculous to think that such a long process was divisive. And really the process was especially divisive because we had a woman running against a black man. Neither women nor black people have ever had a legitimate opportunity to win the White House. As I stated earlier, many people feel like they have fought their entire lives for this moment and that if they didn't win this one contest, they may never have the opportunity to get this close to electing a President that is so clearly attached to them in their lifetime.
How do we now cross that divide?
It will not be easy.
Those pundits that say that Democrats the world over will automatically unite behind the nominee of their party are obviously looking past the lessons of history and the funky nature of people to make up their own minds and come to decisions based on what they feel is in their best interest, even if it isn't.
The first thing that Democrats need is for Hillary to come out and swing for the fences in her praise of Obama.
That would do a lot to signal, at least, that it is okay to support your second or third choice and that you shouldn't go off the farm to McCain-ville, thinking that you are going to just be a pissed off hater because your candidate didn't win.
Next, the Obama handlers are really going to have to work with him to make sure that he begins more effectively communicating the specific objectives he wants to achieve if he is elected.
I know that every Obama supporter says "Go to the website, everything is there." But that isn't going to be enough in the fall. No. Not when you are going to have every Republican swinging at the soaring speeches and using that as a reason that Obama lacks meat on his bones.
While I know that I am technically savvy and that I don't mind going to a website to gain information. I know that there is an entire generation of older Americans that still go to the newspapers and cable news for information and you can't count on them to be fair in their assessment of your message or your candidacy.
I think this is vitally important in the South where there is absolutely no way you are going to win the Presidency without taking down one of the large Southern states like Florida, Georgia or Virginia.
Finally, Obama is obviously going to have to keep up his long struggle with getting out and meeting the people. That is the most important way that he is going to unite the people behind him.
It will sound trite to say, but it is important that he shakes as many hands and kisses as many people as he can. I think the American people are looking for someone they can connect with and the only way they have the opportunity to connect is by getting in front of them at every opportunity.
I think that will about sum it up. That and a lot of luck, good fortune and McCain blunders.
Wakeman, out!
Updated:
CNN's just released survey that says Democrats want Hillary Clinton as the VP doesn't mean much. I think a more meaningful idea of what realistically needs to be done needs to wait for a day or two.
Everyone needs to just step back, relax and allow Hillary to make her concession speech, endorse Obama and then decompress.
To sit an make accusations and assumptions about what Hillary Clinton might or might not do, is ridiculous. Anyone that thinks that she has made some rationale decision about her future probably hasn't made a decision any more important than what to eat for breakfast.
Hillary worked her ass off, lost and now is probably trying to figure out how to gracefully exit.
Then, I hope she takes a vacation, drinks a couple of glasses of wine and then starts to think about her future.
And for all the rest of us, we need to just chill-ax and think about what to do with our weekend.