Hillary Clinton loses, Women lose right to vote.

Seriously though, I’ve been watching and reading the feedback from Clinton supporters since she lost the nomination to Barack Obama and I’m confounded. First, other than her team, the only Clinton supporters that seem to be stepping forward are women - which is fine - but I bring this up to say that my observations are potentially skewed by their single gender. What I am referring to is how Clinton supporters are behaving as though the nomination was stolen from her because she is a woman.

A little history. I openly spoke of my confidence and excitement about Hillary’s eventual nomination after Kerry’s loss to Bush. I knew it was a matter of time, and I thought it would be exciting. She’s a passionate, driven, strong woman and there is no reason to think she wouldn’t be a good first woman President. Having Bill available would be interesting, because it brings some good and bad experience to her potential presidency. I was enthralled, and confident we would see her nomination and eventual win. I believe I even bet a friend she would win.

So now, with the amazing Obama machine having defeated her and DNC in full swing - Clinton is having her last moment in the Presidential race and her supporters won’t let go. To them, this doesn’t seem to be about moving away from a terrible George Bush presidency and a never ending war on “terror,” it’s about gender, the very thing she was trying to prove could be overcome.

Let’s play this out using a different example. Barack Obama is black, and you can’t avoid noticing the tremendous message about race in his winning the nomination. The news media are quick to trot out Jesse Jackson as the black spokesperson to talk about it, but what I don’t hear people on the street talking about is his “blackness.” In fact, the only people that seem to talk about it are Jesse Jackson and television pundits. So if he loses in November, I will hear people talk about failures in the campaign to better silence the Clintons, attack McCain on possible military scenarios that AREN’T Iraq, and his inability to reach the working class. What I don’t expect to hear is a big hubub about race, because thus far - he hasn’t made much of an issue out of it. A fact I admire. He hasn’t avoided the topic, but he also hasn’t beat the drum either.

Which brings me to Hillary, whose campaign seemed to find ways to make gender an issue. So why would anyone who has an opportunity to prove that race, or gender, are no longer a concern for the highest ranking position in our nation - allow that to be the issue people get stuck talking about. Doesn’t that kind of argument tear down Hillary’s point that a woman was ready to be President of the United States? Her supporters are missing the point. No one said to Hillary, it’s time to step down - we’re not ready for a woman. The voters said, sorry Mrs. Clinton - we’re not ready for you. Senator Clinton and Senator Obama were fighting for the same things during the campaign. So why would her supporters feel that the best way to honor her is NOT to vote for the candidate who seems to have the same desires for the country?

I hope Clinton works hard to help her supporters see that women didn’t lose anything, that Democrats haven’t lost anything (yet,) and that what she desires most is for our country to succeed. And to tell women to stop crying about how this was a setback for women, but realize that the fact that she was the inevitable next President 3 years ago proves that gender wasn’t the issue. Females - You aren’t losing the right to vote, you aren’t being demoted at work because Hillary lost, and this doesn’t indicate some grand conspiracy to “keep you down.”

To be clear, I still like Hillary and would have happily voted for her over McCain.