To those who feel it is up to Hillary to heal and bring the party together..

[jasmine621]

While I am sure she will do this, it is really up to Obama, the winner, to begin to do this. She has continued to campaign and suffered through the slings and arrows that have been thrown her way a lot more by the media, the party leaders, and Obama supporters. And most of the scorn has been undeserving. Misquoted, mischaracterized, lied about, and demonized, Hillary has stood tall and will bow out gracefully just as she and Bill did after his TWO TERMS in office. Need I remind you that upon leaving office Bill Clinton was the MOST respected former President world-wide and his legacy surely does not wholly depend on how American feel about him. We will never enjoy an era like that under his Presidency again. Things were not perfect, but they sure were a hell of a lot better than they are now or will be again. People felt good about themselves and each other. Even through the Timothy McVeigh ordeal, Clinton was a healing, comforting, voice. None of us is perfect and the sorrid affair with Monica, not unlike that which many of us face in our own lives, was more grist for a few powerful men and women to use against the Clintons. Some of the most god-awful names were they called on public airways and in private. The whispering campaign against them followed them all the way through both terms and exists today. Still, they left office without the bitterness and rancor so many of their detractors felt and displayed. They will be the same way after this is over. Thus, the healing must begin with those who chose to open old wounds, accuse falsely, betray willfully, and besmirch gleefully.

[jakem]

1. all I ask is that she stop HURTING the party...

[bowens43]

2. Hillary EARNED the animosity.

Hillary needs to work to redeem herself and in the process work on repairing the rift that she has created.

[yourguide]

4. Indeed.

[Maribelle]

18. No one - - repeat - -NO ONE 'earns' abuse.

Especially the abuse that too many Obama supporters on this board have regurgitated over and over again.

[leftofcool]

23. As well as at KOS, Ariana's World, and other fourms and blogs

[yourguide]

27. She hasnt earned any "abuse"

she has definitely earned the ill will against her.

sorry, she played dirty. she is responsible for her actions and it's no wonder even fellow dems dislike her.

[Maribelle]

34. Your post 'indeed' agreed with the fact she earned the abuse.

Perhaps you are having trouble following the thread.

[TBF]

28. Hillary is a public figure and she chose to run for election. She has no problem throwing her

democratic colleagues under the bus, yet you make excuses for behavior and label her the victim? That is just disgusting.

[Maribelle]

17. Earned it? You just cling to that thought.

Its a parallel thought process that abusive husbands use over and over again.


Those wives that they've brutally verbally assaulted earned it.

[yourguide]

29. You are confusing abuse with animosity

get a dictionary.

[Maribelle]

35. Animosity might be the subject-abuse is the descriptor. Most abusive husbands chant 'they earned it'

'Abuse' is used to categorize 'the something earned' most abusive husbands chant trying to excuse away their animosity,
hostility, hatred, loathing, enmity, bitterness, acrimony, rancor. And it goes downhill from there.

[ShortnFiery]

3. No, HRC needs to "heel" so that our beloved Democratic Party can begin to "heal." eom

[dkf]

5. You know who convinced me to vote for John Kerry?

It was Howard Dean who I campaigned for and supported with a whole lot of cash and time.

He reminded me what it meant to be a loyal Democrat and to be true to my values. That is what a true leader does.

[chascarrillo]

6. It's up to the person picking at the scab to stop and let it heal.

[vi5]

7. Why do some people refuse to understand...

It's not that she's continuing to campaign. She has every right to do that, and Obama himself has even said this time and time again. It's the way she continues to campaign that is hurting the party, hurting herself, and hurting our chances in November. I mean I can even look past some of the things she said when this was still a horse race and she had a chance. That's politics and if that's how she wants to win and it works, I won't like it but I wouldn't be able to argue that it worked or not because the proof would be in the results. But the way she steps up the destructive rhetoric and continues to insult Obama and his supporters even MORE as her chances become more diminished is what is bothering people and why she has completely burned a lot of bridges.

[jasmine621]

13. No, the proof will not be in the results. You just want Hillary to be the scapegoat

for Obama losing in November. Remember all the excitement around Al Gore and we lost. Remember all the excitement around John Kerry and we lost. In both cases Bill and Hillary were blamed by other Dems for those losses...no matter that they campaigned their hearts out (once from Clinton's sick bed after by-pass surgery), raised money, promoted the Dem agenda. It will be no different now. They will be blamed again. The 50-state strategy has only worked for Dem primaries...not the GE. There should and needs to be a crucial 9-state strategy but folks will fear being labeled racists if they recognize this. We seem to forget that roughly a little less than 50% of ALL registered voters even vote in primaries. And that goes for both parties. But during the GE, they will be out in droves. The primary voters will have peaked during the primaries but it's those other folks who will really elect the President.

[vi5]

16. Not what I was saying at all.

"The proof is in the results" comment I made was in reference to the fact that when Hillary still had a chance and she played hardball and used the kitchen sink approach, I didn't like it. But if she won against Obama using those tactics then as pissed as I'd be, "the proof would be in the results" that voters cared about that stuff and fell for those tactics. ANd likely they would fall for them in November against McCain so she would have proven her point. She tried that approach when she still had a chance, it didn't work. So she was wrong. So just stop doing it. If she tried and it worked then she was right about what voters would be swayed by and I would be wrong. But she has no chance now. So to continue this level of approach is what is bothering a lot of people. If she wants to still campaign, please do so. Just stop doing it this way.

And for the record I never once even thought to blame Bill or Hillary for Gore or Kerry losing. In fact I've made MANY posts where I stated explicitly that I thought Gore's biggest problem was distancing himself too much from Bill when it was clear that Bill was more than willing to campaign for and fight hard for Gore.

And also for the record up until South Carolina I was leaning heavily towards Hillary over Obama.

Of course you probably won't believe any of this, so I'm not sure why I bothered typing it other than to just vent.

Have a nice day, and I hope we can all come together at some point.

[davidpdx]

25. The big state strategy is bunk

Yes, there's no doubt in my mind that we need to work hard to win in some states, but the continued dismissal of anything BUT big states is plain nuts. There are plenty of states that can be turned blue this time around including Iowa, Colorado, Virginia, Nevada and New Hampshire. We need to be competitive in as many states as possible. If need be sometime down the road, then we can scale back efforts in some states. With as many volunteers as Obama has brought in with his campaign, you better believe some of those red states won't be so red in November.

[TBF]

30. No, we just want her to go away. Not go away mad, just go away.

It is over. We all voted and she lost. It's time to move on.

[mohc]

8. It is up to both of them

Who goes "first" depends on your perspective. While it is certainly the victor that must offer a hand of reconciliation, they will only do so once they know it will be accepted. Clinton is still fighting, for Obama to ask her to join him now would be condescending. When she has accepted defeat, then the healing can begin.

The healing process begins with Clinton's endorsement of Obama. It will be the biggest political speech of her career (to this point) and in large determine how this race plays out. Then it is in Obama's court.

[Warren Stupidity]

9. Obama keeps trying but his efforts are futile until she stands down.

He has been reaching out since that first debate where it was just the two of them. He reached out again by publicly stating that he would consider her for the VP slot. He is trying. She has to figure out how to end her campaign.

[Cosmocat]

19. Absolutely, and if you noted in the OP ...

in desperately reaching everywhere possible to find people who have been/are being mean to Hillary, BO was not included ...

He has consistently taken the higher road, and even called Indiana on Tuesday for Hillary when everyone else had not called it yet ...

As other noted, she can do what she wants, but it would be nice if she ceased with all the nonsense that tears him down, like this the white working class won't vote for him crape ...

[lisa58]

10. They both have to....

...the winner needs to be humble and the loser needs to be gracious. They need to let everyone know that it's not about them personally, it's about the country they want to serve.

[leftofcool]

11. As far as I am concerned, too late

[RichGirl]

14. Too late?

You must think too much damage has been done. You have to know that the general election will be a lot uglier, nastier and downright cutthroat. It will make this endless primary look like a tea party. How is Obama going to unite us ALL after the general, if he can't unite democrats after the primary????

[leftofcool]

21. I don't think he can which is why I said too late

I took a great deal of offense to some of his sexist and condescending comments towards Hillary, his race baiting and then blaming the Clintons for it, his arrogant attitude, his alliance with the likes of Al Sharpton who has threatened riots at the convention, and a few other things including that I think he is a divider and not a uniter.

[RichGirl]

32. Yes...exactly!

I'm FOR Clinton, not AGAINST Obama. I think he's great, just not ready to be president. But, Jesus Christ, his supporters have him up so high on a pedestal that they can't even see him anymore! Since there isn't anything concrete, any real experience or accomplishment to justify this worship, they have to demonize Clinton, in order to create the contrast. On experience and accomplishments Clinton would be the logical choice. But, without logic they have to give Obama super human powers. This is what has created this huge divide in democratic party.

[RichGirl]

12. Obama is running his entire campaign on....

his ability to inspire and unite people. He claims that it's in his DNA. So if Obama supporters are so worried about Hillary dividing the party, they must not have any confidence in Obama's ability to bring it together. Maybe they need to rethink their position. If Obama can't unite the democratic party, how the hell is he going to unite the whole country republicans and democrats???

If he is the great uniter, right down to his DNA, he should be able to unite the party regardless of who wins the nom. If he has super human ability to inspire people, I'm sure he can inspire his supporters to support Hillary. If he doesn't CHOOSE to do that, then he's just another ambitious politician out for himself.

[Orangepeel]

15. And, he's doing it.

There is another thread floating around about how complementary he was about her on CNN.

[RichGirl]

20. How can that be???

Doesn't every Obama supporter believe that he hates her, thinks she's a racist monster, can't stand to be in the same room with her.

Personally, I think he was being honest and sincere when he complimented her. I believe that he truly likes and respects her. The picture of the horrible Hillary was sold to us by the media and too many people bought into it.

[leftofcool]

22. Which he allowed to happen as well as allowing his

supporters to denigrate, and outright lie about the Clintons.

[RichGirl]

31. I give him a pass...

for the same reason I give her a pass: That's what campaigning is!!! Some people seem to forget or not know that. If you are competing with someone for the same spot, you aren't going to go around pointing out their good qualities. You are going to point out any and all weaknesses.

I do agree with you. The Obama people have most definitely lied whenever they implied or outright said that the Clintons were racist. You would have to be really delusional or star struck to buy into that.

The problem with Obama is that he claims to be above it all when he is actually campaigning just like every other politician. Hillary is much more honest in that respect.

[Raineyb]

37. Nobody lied about the Clintons

The fact that you refuse to see race baiting when it's right in front of you does not mean it didn't happen.

And I didn't hear Obama denigrate Clinton supporters the way the Clintons dismissed, belittled, and demeaned Obama supporters.

So as far as the ugliness of this primary season the person to whom the blame should go is Clinton.

People are so vehemently disgusted at this point especially when it comes to race baiting because we expect better from Democrats. I expect Republicans to use coded racial terms to appeal to racist voters. That's why I'd never vote for them; they're disgusting. But for a Democrat to pull that?

Most racists are ignorant, maybe they'll eventually see that their whiteness is not their most precious commodity. But when someone knows better and does it anyway it's even worse. That's why there's so much animosity toward the Clintons and every bit of it has been earned.

Senator Clinton is no victim and to portray her as one just shows the weakness of the pro-Clinton argument.

Regards

[Orangepeel]

24. about as many Obama supporters believe that

as Clinton supporters believe that Obama is a phony, unpatriotic cult leader.

They are both politicians who know how the game is played.

[leftofcool]

26. I don't think any Hillary supporters think Obama is

unpatriotic at all.........phony yes, but not unpatriotic

[RichGirl]

33. Right!

As you said: "They are both politicians who know how the game is played."

The difference is that Hillary wouldn't deny it. She knows how to campaign and is very good at it. Obama, on the other hand, claims to be above it all. You can't represent CHANGE and be the same as everyone else. So, yes, he is a phony and misrepresenting himself. But, I don't think too many intelligent Clinton supporters believe he is unpatriotic or a cult leader. None that I know, and I know a lot of them.

Obama is a great guy. But I don't think his supporters are looking at the actual man. They are seeing a super hero they have created in their collective heads.

Obviously, Obama and Bush are polar opposites. But their supporters are very similiar. I remember Bush supporters. They weren't looking at the real man, the one with a "C" average, little experience, etc. They were looking at the man they wanted him to be.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

36. Is Hillary her own woman or not?

Why do some of her supporters constantly bring up Bill's time in office?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

38. Don't confuse DU with the real world....

A lot of the animosity in this campaign has been online flame wars that have gone unnoticed by normal people. Did Hillary and Barak exchange some body blows? Sure did. But it's nothing compared to the rancor here at DU and elsewhere, and I personally don't think either candidate is responsible for that. Supporters on both sides need to grow the hell up. We have work to do.