Despite how exciting this primary season has been, and regardless of which candidate any of us supports, it’s time to start looking at the bigger picture. The longer this showdown continues between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the more divided the Democratic Party becomes.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the Democratic Process. Let the candidates go on to compete in every state. Let those citizens and political junkies unfortunate enough to fall under the geography of a late primary finally have their day. Let that little state with twenty delegates speak as loudly as the one with four hundred.
I’m all for the political fever that seems to have spread to the most unlikely places. A toll-taker on the PA Turnpike asked me who I preferred, “Clinton or Obama?” Family members, usually outspoken opponents off all things political, have started e-mailing me New York Times articles. And in my three years with the College Dems, I’ve never seen more enthusiasm over our table at the mid-year Student Activities Night as I did two weeks ago.
So it’s tough for me to say that we need to start anticipating the end of all this commotion. I wish the scene at this University (once named the fourth most apathetic in the country) was always rich with interest and discussion and debates. However, the more energy we put into
We can enjoy the political fervor without turning against one another. We can disagree without ruling each other out. I was a Democrat long before I chose which candidate to support, and I’ll continue to be one after. As Democrats, it’s time to start pulling it together. We need to support one candidate in the general election, and both of our choices are strong. So stop the hate.
As for the College Democrats – I look forward to the general election, when we will sit together and watch a debate and again (hopefully) be unified.
2 comments:
Agreed 100%. I can't wait until the Democratic Party unites again so we can focus on winning back the White House. Primaries are almost always divisive, but it'll all blow over in just a few weeks when we have our candidate. Either of these Democratic candidates, regardless of who wins, is light-years better than McCain. Hopefully Democrats who are avid supporters of one candidate will realize this when they go to the polls in November.
The best thing to do is just to remind whoever it is you are talking to/debating with that both candidates are better than McCain. I've actually heard avid supporters of one candidate say that they will vote for McCain if their preferred Democrat doesn't win. That simply isn't logical. We need to be enthusiastic and proud that we have presented two such well qualified and unique candidtates. While the Republicans were arguing among old white men, we had a woman and an African-American - both the first - challenging eachother for the nomination of the party. Even when I was in my first government class in high school in 2000, we all pretty much agreed that either one would be an event we could only see much later in our lives, if at all. "Times, they are a-changin'." Makes me wish I was still up there to help you all "fight the good fight"! Keep up the great work!!
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