Saturday, June 07, 2008

"Yes, We Can"

Hillary Clinton was truly remarkable today, making the most difficult speech of her life and finding her voice as a national leader over and above that of a politician seeking office.

Coupling pride in her own achievement on behalf of all women, she rallied them to the imminent cause of backing Barack Obama in restoring their country to its best self--to "take our energy, our passion and our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama...I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me."

She encouraged party unity, acknowledging the hard fight and the disappointment of her supporters, while reminding them that "the Democratic Party is a family, and now it's time to restore the ties that bind us together."

Clinton's full-throated endorsement had a heartfelt quality that should quiet critics who see her as cold and manipulative, culminating in her raising the Obama banner of "Yes, We Can."

For those of my generation, she brought to mind an old song popularized by Bing Crosby in the 1930s:

Three little words, oh what I'd give for that wonderful phrase,/To hear those three little words, that's all I'd live for the rest of my days./And what I feel in my heart, they tell sincerely./No other words can tell it half so clearly./Three little words, eight little letters which simply mean I love you.

Today Hillary Clinton got the words and the music just right.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Coupling pride in her own achievement ,on behalf of all women" Ahd this is why she lost. She ran as a feminist and a woman. Though she never said so, she conveyed it with a wink and nod. Most Americans, even those on the left, cannot abide political feminism, just as we cannot abide racial identity politics.

Obama did not run as a black an for black people, as so many failed black politicians have in the past, but as a visionary seeking change for all people, without regard to sex, race, religion or sexual preference.

Hillary Clinton continued to show her true colors today. Her speech was unnecessary; she'd already told us all this before. She allowed her fanacical supporters to boo and give her endorsement of Obama the thumbs-down. She should have called them down on that immediately. After her speech, when Obama - with whom she met to discuss party unity onle two days ago - called to congratulate her on her speech, an aide told him she was meeting with supporters and couldn't talk. Once does not blow off the leader of ones party and the probable next president of the U.S. It was just another display of her arrogance and a deliberate public snub to Obama. Guess she doesn't really want that VP slot so badly after all. Or was she told to forget it, in that secret meeting?

Clinton was, is, and always will be a cold, calculating polititcian, who cares only about herself. Don't expect her to do much to help Obama unify the party. In fact, we can probobably expect for her to drive drive the gender-based wedge she created even deeper.

5:32 PM
Anonymous said...

Duke Ellington And His Orchestra Three Little Words (1930) vocal by the Rhythm Boys (Bing Crosby, Harry Barris, Al Rinker)

You can hear it on

http://www.jazz-on-line.com/pageinterrogation.php

Type in Three Little Words...

9:51 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)