Obama “Won.” So, Now What?

Summer is a tedious time for me; I find myself either preposterously busy or swamped in boredom. When I was suffering from acute boredom Tuesday night (after reading almost every political update on the New York Times Web site), I decided to mosey on down to Hillary Clinton’s Web site and see what was there. For those of you who don’t know, Hillary basically lost the Democratic bid Tuesday, and I wanted to know what her supporters had to say about it. Lud! How I rue my decision now.

What I saw was depressing. I saw so many people who were planning not to vote, or worse, to vote for McCain. I can’t understand this at all. Did Democrats know that having two incredibly strong candidates would rip the party apart?

The reason why women are so angry is because they projected themselves onto Hillary Clinton; I can understand that. We’ve never had a candidate who wore a pantsuit before, let alone a bra. But we have to remember something: anger and hatred can only get us so far. If all the Hillary supporters vote for McCain, Obama will lose, and Hillary will lose favor with the DNC. By doing this, they are dooming their favored candidate down the line.

So, say McCain wins. In four years, where will we be? (Other than Iraq, that is. Perhaps Iran.) Hillary is still young. In four years, she can run again, but we have to remember that we are a party, and that unity is key. Hillary supporters swallow your pride and wait your turn. The party needs your votes to win.

This is a year when people want something new. We want a change, even if we don’t know where it will take us. We know where we’ll be headed with McCain and Hillary, but Obama, untested and without baggage, is new. We can’t see the future until we’ve been there. In November, I want to go there, and I’ll be pissed as hell if the Lady in the Pantsuit holds me back.

- Willamae Boling | VOX Staff