Just give up. Avoid fighting for principle. Forget about taking a stand on the most serious issues in which you believe.
How does that lousy sentiment make you feel?
Most Americans do not like a quitter. Most Americans respect somebody who refuses to give up on matters that matter and will never say die. Most Americans, even if they give up easily, value somebody who doesn’t.
That’s why most Americans respect Hillary Clinton’s continuing campaign for the Democratic nomination to run for president. Even hardcore Republicans grudgingly respect her struggle to see through to the end what she started in the beginning.
That’s why some Democrats who support Hillary will never concede. And even if she does lose the nomination, she will have won something greater. Hillary will have shown the world that women can hold their own with men who want power all to themselves.
Men still rule this country. Good men, bad men, men all the same decide what happens to the sons and daughters of tomorrow. Hillary has worked all her life to bring balance to an unfair system.
Sometimes she succeeded and sometimes she failed. But she always willingly entered the fray and used her talent and intellect to face off against the gender imbalance that works diligently to keep women in their place.
Powerful men still try to dictate a woman’s place.
Hillary has shown during this race that she will not settle for less or take second when she knows she deserves first. Yet, too many Americans, including some women who really should know better, have suckered for the same old male line and have sided against her.
One reason I support Hillary is because I’m married to a strong woman who has helped me learn that feminism is not a four-letter word. She has helped me understand that women who lead do so because they’re willing to stand against the odds and take whatever is thrown at them.
Hillary has had it all thrown at her.
Yet she persists.
Elegant Barack Obama has not yet encountered the full-scale street assault that will come his way if he is chosen as the nominee to run against Republicans in November. When tossed a hard, yet fair, question while campaigning in Scranton at the Glider Diner, all he could say was “can’t I just eat my waffles?”
No, senator, you cannot just eat your waffles.
Like it or not, huge chunks of America still believe in a race to the finish. And they’d rather see a NASCAR or Indy driver crash head-on into a wall than give quarter to some upstart in a flashy new jumpsuit and a shiny stars and stripes helmet.
Barack is not Captain America.
But Hillary will not crash and burn.
She’s too smart for that. And she’s too courageous to hurt herself or risk hurting others as she negotiates the wildest turns of a tumultuous life. Win or lose, this woman is setting an example for a new generation of women who face glass ceilings, walls and floors and one day might again decide to try for the White House.
Hillary represents to all women a time that has come.
But too many women, particularly the young ones, thought their gender always had the rights they now enjoy or that men like Barack gave them the vote, legal, safe abortions and laws that stress equality. These women fail to understand that Hillary represents the constant need to guarantee those rights.
Thankfully, though, many women, particularly working-class women, now understand that they are not treated fairly. That awareness will always be a victory for women who found a champion for crucial and often ignored causes.
Hillary even won over countless men who saw her determination and energy. Showing them that she could and would go the distance, she won their trust and admiration.
Win or lose, Hillary wins. So do those of us who believe in her.
Even if Barack does win the nomination, he must understand that he didn’t beat Hillary.
Sue Henry
