Monday, November 9, 2009

Opinion

Morgan E. Felchner

Hillary Clinton Supporters: Are You Happy Now?

August 15, 2008 05:45 PM ET | Morgan E. Felchner | Permanent Link | Print

So she's in. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama announced that Clinton's name will indeed be on the nomination ballot at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Obama supports this for the sake of unity, saying he hopes it will help bring the party together. This is historic, but will it do anything to satisfy Clinton's supporters?

Clinton joins Margaret Chase Smith, whose name was considered for the Republican nomination in 1964, and Shirley Chisholm, who won 151.5 votes at the Democratic convention in 1972. The National Organization for Women and other groups across the country are touting her accomplishment. "Hillary Clinton's campaign made history this year, with 18 million women and men across the country voting for her in the primaries," NOW President Kim Gandy said in a statement. "And she will make history yet again when delegates from nearly every state in the nation will be able to take the floor and proudly say Clinton's name in the roll call vote."

These groups are right: Clinton is making history. But she is still supporting Obama. Her latest statements show no indication that she expects to win the nomination or join the fight against the "flawed" primary process that groups like PUMA (Party Unity My A—) and The Denver Group are making noise about. When delegates take to the floor and get to vote for Clinton, the woman who got closer to winning the presidency than any woman in history, it will be historic. But for advocates of women in politics, like me, the true example of success is when delegates can vote for a woman who has a chance of winning the nomination. That will be the point in history when we can truly say we've come far enough. Right now, there is still a lot of work to do for women in politics. Allowing delegates to vote for Clinton at the convention isn't the end of the fight for women or, likely, for PUMA supporters.

So my question to all of you Hillraisers is: Are you happy now?

Tags: presidential election 2008 | Hillary Clinton | Democratic National Convention

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Morgan E. Felchner is a managing editor at U.S. News & World Report. She is the editor of Voting in America.

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