Hillary's Speech

Thank you so much. Thank you all.

Well, this isn’t exactly the party I’d planned, but I sure like the company.

I want to start today by saying how grateful I am to all of you – to everyone who poured your hearts and your hopes into this campaign, who drove for miles and lined the streets waving homemade signs, who scrimped and saved to raise money, who knocked on doors and made calls, who talked and sometimes argued with your friends and neighbors, who emailed and contributed online, who invested so much in our common enterprise, to the moms and dads who came to our events, who lifted their little girls and little boys on their shoulders and whispered in their ears, “See, you can be anything you want to be.”

To the young people like 13 year-old Ann Riddle from Mayfield, Ohio who had been saving for two years to go to Disney World, and decided to use her savings instead to travel to Pennsylvania with her Mom and volunteer there as well. To the veterans and the childhood friends, to New Yorkers and Arkansans who traveled across the country and telling anyone who would listen why you supported me.



To all those women in their 80s and their 90s born before women could vote who cast their votes for our campaign. I’ve told you before about Florence Steen of South Dakota, who was 88 years old, and insisted that her daughter bring an absentee ballot to her hospice bedside. Her daughter and a friend put an American flag behind her bed and helped her fill out the ballot. She passed away soon after, and under state law, her ballot didn’t count. But her daughter later told a reporter, “My dad’s an ornery old cowboy, and he didn’t like it when he heard mom’s vote wouldn’t be counted. I don’t think he had voted in 20 years. But he voted in place of my mom.”



To all those who voted for me, and to whom I pledged my utmost, my commitment to you and to the progress we seek is unyielding. You have inspired and touched me with the stories of the joys and sorrows that make up the fabric of our lives and you have humbled me with your commitment to our country.

18 million of you from all walks of life – women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African-American and Caucasian, rich, poor and middle class, gay and straight – you have stood strong with me. And I will continue to stand strong with you, every time, every place, and every way that I can. The dreams we share are worth fighting for.

Remember - we fought for the single mom with a young daughter, juggling work and school, who told me, “I’m doing it all to better myself for her.” We fought for the woman who grabbed my hand, and asked me, “What are you going to do to make sure I have health care?” and began to cry because even though she works three jobs, she can’t afford insurance. We fought for the young man in the Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said, “Take care of my buddies over there and then, will you please help take care of me?” We fought for all those who’ve lost jobs and health care, who can’t afford gas or groceries or college, who have felt invisible to their president these last seven years.

I entered this race because I have an old-fashioned conviction: that public service is about helping people solve their problems and live their dreams. I’ve had every opportunity and blessing in my own life – and I want the same for all Americans. Until that day comes, you will always find me on the front lines of democracy – fighting for the future.



The way to continue our fight now – to accomplish the goals for which we stand – is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him, and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.

I have served in the Senate with him for four years. I have been in this campaign with him for 16 months. I have stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. I have had a front row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit.

In his own life, Barack Obama has lived the American Dream. As a community organizer, in the state senate, as a United States Senator - he has dedicated himself to ensuring the dream is realized. And in this campaign, he has inspired so many to become involved in the democratic process and invested in our common future.

Now when I started this race, I intended to win back the White House, and make sure we have a president who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity, and progress. And that's exactly what we're going to do by ensuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009.

I understand that we all know this has been a tough fight. The Democratic Party is a family, and it’s now time to restore the ties that bind us together and to come together around the ideals we share, the values we cherish, and the country we love.



We may have started on separate journeys – but today, our paths have merged. And we are all heading toward the same destination, united and more ready than ever to win in November and to turn our country around because so much is at stake.

We all want an economy that sustains the American Dream, the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford that gas and those groceries and still have a little left over at the end of the month. An economy that lifts all of our people and ensures that our prosperity is broadly distributed and shared.

We all want a health care system that is universal, high quality, and affordable so that parents no longer have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead end jobs simply to keep their insurance. This isn’t just an issue for me – it is a passion and a cause – and it is a fight I will continue until every single American is insured – no exceptions, no excuses.

We all want an America defined by deep and meaningful equality – from civil rights to labor rights, from women’s rights to gay rights, from ending discrimination to promoting unionization to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families.

We all want to restore America’s standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq and once again lead by the power of our values, and to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

You know, I’ve been involved in politics and public life in one way or another for four decades. During those forty years, our country has voted ten times for President. Democrats won only three of those times. And the man who won two of those elections is with us today.

We made tremendous progress during the 90s under a Democratic President, with a flourishing economy, and our leadership for peace and security respected around the world. Just think how much more progress we could have made over the past 40 years if we had a Democratic president. Think about the lost opportunities of these past seven years – on the environment and the economy, on health care and civil rights, on education, foreign policy and the Supreme Court. Imagine how far we could’ve come, how much we could’ve achieved if we had just had a Democrat in the White House.

We cannot let this moment slip away. We have come too far and accomplished too much.



Now the journey ahead will not be easy. Some will say we can’t do it. That it’s too hard. That we’re just not up to the task. But for as long as America has existed, it has been the American way to reject “can’t do” claims, and to choose instead to stretch the boundaries of the possible through hard work, determination, and a pioneering spirit.

It is this belief, this optimism, that Senator Obama and I share, and that has inspired so many millions of our supporters to make their voices heard.

So today, I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes we can.

Together we will work. We’ll have to work hard to get universal health care. But on the day we live in an America where no child, no man, and no woman is without health insurance, we will live in a stronger America. That’s why we need to help elect Barack Obama our President.

We’ll have to work hard to get back to fiscal responsibility and a strong middle class. But on the day we live in an America whose middle class is thriving and growing again, where all Americans, no matter where they live or where their ancestors came from, can earn a decent living, we will live in a stronger America and that is why we must elect Barack Obama our President.



We’ll have to work hard to foster the innovation that makes us energy independent and lift the threat of global warming from our children’s future. But on the day we live in an America fueled by renewable energy, we will live in a stronger America. That’s why we have to help elect Barack Obama our President.

We’ll have to work hard to bring our troops home from Iraq, and get them the support they’ve earned by their service. But on the day we live in an America that’s as loyal to our troops as they have been to us, we will live in a stronger America and that is why we must help elect Barack Obama our President.

This election is a turning point election and it is critical that we all understand what our choice really is. Will we go forward together or will we stall and slip backwards. Think how much progress we have already made. When we first started, people everywhere asked the same questions:



Could a woman really serve as Commander-in-Chief? Well, I think we answered that one.

And could an African American really be our President? Senator Obama has answered that one.

Together Senator Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union.

Now, on a personal note – when I was asked what it means to be a woman running for President, I always gave the same answer: that I was proud to be running as a woman but I was running because I thought I’d be the best President. But I am a woman, and like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious.

I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.

I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter’s future and a mother who wants to lead all children to brighter tomorrows. To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect. Let us resolve and work toward achieving some very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits and there are no acceptable prejudices in the twenty-first century.

You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the President of the United States. And that is truly remarkable.

To those who are disappointed that we couldn’t go all the way – especially the young people who put so much into this campaign – it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you’re knocked down, get right back up. And never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.

As we gather here today in this historic magnificent building, the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House.



Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. That has always been the history of progress in America.

Think of the suffragists who gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes. Think of the abolitionists who struggled and died to see the end of slavery. Think of the civil rights heroes and foot-soldiers who marched, protested and risked their lives to bring about the end to segregation and Jim Crow.

Because of them, I grew up taking for granted that women could vote. Because of them, my daughter grew up taking for granted that children of all colors could go to school together. Because of them, Barack Obama and I could wage a hard fought campaign for the Democratic nomination. Because of them, and because of you, children today will grow up taking for granted that an African American or a woman can yes, become President of the United States.

When that day arrives and a woman takes the oath of office as our President, we will all stand taller, proud of the values of our nation, proud that every little girl can dream and that her dreams can come true in America. And all of you will know that because of your passion and hard work you helped pave the way for that day.

So I want to say to my supporters, when you hear people saying – or think to yourself – “if only” or “what if,” I say, “please don’t go there.” Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.


Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. We have to work together for what still can be. And that is why I will work my heart out to make sure that Senator Obama is our next President and I hope and pray that all of you will join me in that effort.

To my supporters and colleagues in Congress, to the governors and mayors, elected officials who stood with me, in good times and in bad, thank you for your strength and leadership. To my friends in our labor unions who stood strong every step of the way – I thank you and pledge my support to you. To my friends, from every stage of my life – your love and ongoing commitments sustain me every single day. To my family – especially Bill and Chelsea and my mother, you mean the world to me and I thank you for all you have done. And to my extraordinary staff, volunteers and supporters, thank you for working those long, hard hours. Thank you for dropping everything – leaving work or school – traveling to places you’d never been, sometimes for months on end. And thanks to your families as well because your sacrifice was theirs too.

All of you were there for me every step of the way. Being human, we are imperfect. That’s why we need each other. To catch each other when we falter. To encourage each other when we lose heart. Some may lead; others may follow; but none of us can go it alone. The changes we’re working for are changes that we can only accomplish together. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are rights that belong to each of us as individuals. But our lives, our freedom, our happiness, are best enjoyed, best protected, and best advanced when we do work together.

That is what we will do now as we join forces with Senator Obama and his campaign. We will make history together as we write the next chapter in America’s story. We will stand united for the values we hold dear, for the vision of progress we share, and for the country we love. There is nothing more American than that.

And looking out at you today, I have never felt so blessed. The challenges that I have faced in this campaign are nothing compared to those that millions of Americans face every day in their own lives. So today, I’m going to count my blessings and keep on going. I’m going to keep doing what I was doing long before the cameras ever showed up and what I’ll be doing long after they’re gone: Working to give every American the same opportunities I had, and working to ensure that every child has the chance to grow up and achieve his or her God-given potential.

I will do it with a heart filled with gratitude, with a deep and abiding love for our country– and with nothing but optimism and confidence for the days ahead. This is now our time to do all that we can to make sure that in this election we add another Democratic president to that very small list of the last 40 years and that we take back our country and once again move with progress and commitment to the future.



Thank you all and God bless you and God bless America.

Young, Energetic, Inspiring Campaign Staffers!

I am so proud of everyone of you! All the young people who campaigned on behalf of Hillary, to all I met, spoke to and volunteered with during this campaign, this is for all of you! Ye-e-a-a-h-h-o-o!

"Sixteen Months Ago"- THE June 3rd Speech

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

To Promote Progressive Thinking- 1st in This Brave Nation Docudharma Series

"Just take what you love doing, and do it with enough other people to make it the future. Where people lead, the leaders will follow."

Those are the inspired words of the Sierra Club's Executive Director Carl Pope. And it's just a snippet of his fascinating conversation with Van Jones of The Ella Baker Center and Green for All, in tonight's thrilling premiere of This Brave Nation!



Watch the full first episode DO watch and listen to it_ it is a really cool program!!

This Brave Nation reflects months of collaborating with our partners at The Nation to bring you a 6-part dynamic dialogue among progressive activists. Each Sunday for the next five weeks, you'll see Carl Pope and Van Jones, Bonnie Raitt and Dolores Huerta, Pete Seeger and Majora Carter, Anthony Romero and Ava Lowery, and Tom Hayden and Naomi Klein. These are some of the most celebrated progressive minds in our country today, and now we want to know who your local activists are.

Nominate your local unsung hero for our This Brave Nation Award. We will fly the winning activist out to Los Angeles to be part of our series finale, which will air LIVE on July 13th featuring special guests.


Brave New Foundation

Our hope is that This Brave Nation will raise the discourse about progressive issues in our country. And you can help by donating $15, for which you'll receive 2 DVDs with all 5 episodes that you can pass along to your family, friends, local schools, and libraries.

Then send this e-mail to everyone you know. The best way for us to encourage the next generation of progressive activists is by promoting awareness about our current icons. Be sure not to miss a single episode of This Brave Nation by getting them all on DVD. Think what a great gift that could make to aspiring activist leaders!

Sincerely,

Robert Greenwald, Katrina vanden Heuvel
the Brave New Team and The Nation

Contribute To Hillary's Campaign in two new ways

From Norma Fisher Flores:

As many of you know Amy Dugan has far greater credentials as a grassroots activist than many of us. She asked me to broadcast this to all our contacts.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dugan, Amy
Date: Sun, Jun 1, 2008 at 9:30 AM

Well the FL and MI vote decision has been made. While I agree with the FL decision because Hillary's % increased while Obama's percentage is maintained, as an American and a member of what I thought was the party of the people, I am OUTRAGED at the DNC decision to count all uncommitted votes as being for Obama. I know too many who voted uncommitted who wanted Edwards or Richardson, NOT Obama, even though they endorsed Obama. The most unfair outcome was the DNC stole 4 delegates from Hillary.

Therefore, I am starting the Hillary All The Way Movement

The first thing this movement will do is show in large numbers the amount of people who disdain this ruling along with the continued favored treatment towards Obama.

I am urging everybody to write a $4 check to the DNC and include a letter as to why you are unhappy with them. The $4 is a symbol of the 4 stolen delegates in MI. The catch is you will NOT sign the checks. The DNC will have to return all unsigned checks to the senders. This will be time-consuming, costly, and a down right pain in the rear situation for the DNC. Mail your checks to

Democratic National Committee
Membership Division
430 S Capitol St SE
Washington, DC 20003

The second goal of this movement is to show Senator Clinton we are still for her ALL THE WAY. The campaign keeps track of donations by the numbers and the dollar amounts. I ask that each person donate $4 to the campaign using the link below ASAP. I am informing the campaign of this movement.

***Please note, the link on the Hillary Clinton website can only accept no lower than $5.00, so contribute that!

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/contribute/JMA4


PLEASE forward to all you know.
Thanks
Amy Dugan

Hillary Wins Puer-r-r-to R-r-r-ico Pr-r-r-imary!!!

Here is how the text message read when the results were in:

Another BIG win! Today in Puerto Rico, we won and the voters spoke with a powerful voice.

Keep the momentum going at www.hillaryclinton.com

Thank-you_

Hillary

DNC Decision- response from the HillaryClinton.com website

DNC Overrules Michigan Election, Treats Florida Badly

"The following can also be found (in still longer version, if you can believe) on my blog, www.independentcaucus.com:

Yes, my guess is that the Michigan ruling won't stand. Hillary will likely still not get the nomination, but that ruling can't possibly hold up before the Credentials Committee at the convention in Denver if Hillary decides to challenge it.

There's simply nothing in the DNC charter - and with incredibly good reason - that allows for a committee, in this case, the Rules and Bylaws Committee (quite ironically, given its name) to transfer, purely on the basis of its own discretionary judgment, delegates from one candidate to another; that is, to allocate delegates in a manner different from the election outcome, especially when they acknowledge that there were no voting irregularities that made the election "flawed", and therefore requiring such discretionary adjustment, but most flawed was Obama's name not appearing on the ballot, something which was a discretionary decision by the Obama campaign, and nothing he was asked or told to do by the DNC. They are basically taking from Hillary and awarding to Obama based on a bad discretionary decision of the Obama campaign.

To me, it was also a bad ruling in the case of Florida to cut its delegates in half. This is a penalty which, under the rules, applies when states violate the DNC primary calendar. But that act is and was an act of the Florida state legislature, not the local Florida Democratic Party, and Republicans control that legislature by a huge margin, over 2 to 1, with a Republican governor. So the legislature passed the law moving up the date and the governor signed it. The law included a requirement that ballot machines provide a paper trail, which is a top DNC legislative priority, and for that reason, and because their constituents very much want this, nearly all Florida legislators voted for it, including the Democrats. Had Democrats voted against it, simply to avoid a possible delegate sanction for having jumped the DNC primary calendar, the price would have been their seats in the next election, and their proportion, already disproportionately small, in the Florida legislature, and with that, a diminution of Democratic power in that very key state.

Michigan has its reasons, too, of course, why they should be awarded 100% of their delegates, but it was a weaker case. Michigan state government is not controlled by Republicans. They basically felt cheated, because after years of trying to get the DNC to shake up the calendar so that Iowa and New Hampshire were not always one-two, the DNC finally passed a rule allowing for two caucus states to hold their elections in between Iowa and New Hampshire. New Hampshire didn't like this, of course, and their legislature voted to move up their date so that there wasn't room or time for two caucus elections in between Iowa and New Hampshire. They, too, would have, under the rules, lost one half of their delegates for this, but they applied to the Rules and Bylaws Committee for a waiver of the applicable rule. And the Rules and Bylaws Committee....granted it.

So they broke this long-standing promise, rule and years-long effort by the state of Michigan to insert a more diverse mix of states into the calendar in between Iowa and New Hampshire. It was for this reason, out of anger, and because no other avenues were available to them to continue their effort and their protest, that the state legislature voted to move up Michigan's primary date. They fully expected that if the Rules Committee could grant New Hampshire a waiver, they could grant Michigan one, too. But they were going to take their chances either way. But disregarding the election results and moving delegates from Hillary to Uncommitted is without any standing.

Florida and Michigan aren't just any two states. They are and have been for several presidential elections key swing states, which can and have before been the difference in the election. It is interesting, that the Democratic nominee's greatest liability to winning in November may not be any particular issue - Iraq, health care, the economy - but rather its own national committee."

by intilij at 6/1/2008 1:01:49 PM


Then, I also include this slightly paraphrased, nonetheless passionate sentiment:

We will NEVER SURRENDER!

'It's time for a Clinton VS Obama VS McCain General Election Ticket because We won't elect a thief of votes, nor anyone who violates voters rights!
The Uncommitted votes of 5 candidates does not equal Barack Obama gets them all! And no-one on any fancy committee, no pundits, or the media can spin this to make it "sound" right! The voters must be heard and given the right to vote 100% for who they want as their general election candidate for president of our DEMOCRACY! The blatant rearranging power-in-favor-of-elitism in front of everyone will not be allowed to continue to happen in America!'

by jcjcd at 6/1/2008 12:14:42 PM