Living History

History was made last night, June 3, 2008 at around 9:00 P.M. I tear up when I write it, or even think about it. Barack Obama is the presumed Democratic candidate for President of the United States, they kept saying on the cable news shows, and I shouted and laughed and jumped around like an idiot, even though there was no one here to see me, but the cats. They've seen me act crazy so much in the last six months that they don't even get scared and run away anymore.

John McCain made a speech a little earlier. I tried to listen, but he was knocking Obama, and the rest of it was same old same old. Then they cut away to say Obama had enough delegates to be nominated, and that's when I did all the shouting, laughing and jumping. Then there was Hilary Clinton, being introduced by Terry McCullife as the next President from a place without TV, where Blackberries didn't work, and no one seemed to be aware of what had just happened, and I thought, "wow I wonder how many delegates there are in the state of denial." That seemed to be the state of Hilary's mind also, not to mention that of Bill and Chelsea. I was amazed. Hilary Clinton's speech was not a concession speech. It sounded as though she was still running, but for what? The Democratic candidate has been chosen.

The process may be flawed, but it was followed and it worked as it was supposed to work. You may say, "what about Michigan? Harold Ickes said that four delegates that should have belonged to Hilary Clinton went to Barack Obama. Would those four delegates have made a difference in which candidate won? If not, then let's move on. It's time for the party to come together, but the Hilary supporters have been left hanging by their candidate, who should have told them that very thing. One of them, Hilary Rosen, wrote a piece on the Huffington Post. It was titled "I Am Not a Bargaining Chip, I Am a Democrat." And if we want that big white house to have a Democrat as it's inhabitant next January, other Democrats need to take that same attitude.

I admit I do not love Hilary Clinton, but as a Democrat, as a woman who is pro-choice, as a believer that it is time to end an illegal war that is killing young people, I do not want John McCain in that big white house. If Hilary Clinton had gotten the nomination, I would have supported her and voted for her in November. Hilary supporters who are truly Democrats, who care about these same issues, need to rally behind the presumed candidate, Barack Obama.

Well, it took me a long time to get here, but finally, after the speeches by McCain and Clinton, came Barack Obama, speaking from the place in Minnesoda where the Republican convention will be held this summer. He was glowing, his smile as wide as I've ever seen it. His wife, Michelle Obama, wearing a beautiful purple dress, that showed off her figure and was becoming to her coloring, had a smile almost as wide as his. They embraced and then they kissed, and I melted all over again. His speech, in which he spoke graciously about Hilary Clinton and with respectful toughness about John McCain, was as usual, interesting and powerful. I'm never bored when listening or reading a speech by Obama. Every time I hear him speak, I realize what a class act this man is, brilliant, charismatic, mesmerizing. Last night, history was made as the Democratic party nominated the first African American as a candidate for President of the United States. It makes me so very proud of my party, and grateful to all of those who had made this happen.

The Democratic Convention will be held on the date of the Martin Luther King's speech in Washington D.C. I hope Reverend King is looking down, and thinking that in spite of the fact that all of his dreams for his country haven't come true, that this fantastic event that occurred last night, something he probably didn't even dare to dream about in 1963, made all the struggles and sacrifices of the civil rights movement meaningful and worthwhile.