While others focus on John Edwards and/or John McCain’s stories of infidelity and condemn them, or those who condemn either one of them for having a factor in their political profession, my thoughts focus on Elizabeth Edwards.

And Carol Shepp.

And any other wife cheated on by her political husband. And any husband who has been cheated on by his political wife (because there is some female out there doing it, so don’t be naïve).

My thoughts proceed to any marriage that has any moment of cheating in it.

Social Justice. Some of us were introduced to the idea in church, appropriately because Jesus preached social justice. Altho social justice is an important theme in all major religions, some churches like the Catholic Church have offices of Social Justice. In deed the term was coined by a Jesuit priest in the mid 1800's, based on the teachings of Thomas Aquinas.  

It got a lot of press both good and bad in the 60's when Jesuit priests preached social justice and organized the impoverished of South America. Social Justice is the heart of Liberation Theology and Black Liberation Theology.  Follow me below the fold for a little background on social justice, why shooting the messenger is counter productive and oh yes, the grand experiment of YES WE CAN.

It's been a tough campaign. I've been upset and angry with how Clinton and her supporters have handled things quite a few times.

But, we won. Obama is a gracious man. Many of his supporters are gracious too. But, many are not. It's understandable. But, it is not right.

Joan Walsh was on Hardball Wednesday. She had not quite distilled her thoughts. But, today in a Salon article she laid out a well-thought-out case for what Obama and his supporters need to do.
(http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/06/05/obama/)

Obama is already taking care of business. His speech did a fine job giving respect to Hillary. The meeting in Minnesota after the speech he had with Clinton supporters is another excellent example of Obama showing the way.

Too many of his supporters are still in fight mode vs. Hillary.  That's wrong.

This diary takes that position that we Obama supporters should talk to Hillary supporters. I don't now how to do that effectively when speaking to the hard-core Hillary-ites. So, that's why I listened to Joan.  She would know. How good is the advice she has given? Is she asking too much of Obama supporters and not enough of Clinton supporters?

Apologies if this was diaried earlier today. I just saw this and want to share it with other late nighters.

This morning, the Minnesota Post published a story titled "Clinton supporters wowed with warm reception at Obama rally." It describes a scene that exemplifies the hope for the future that Barack Obama inspires in me.

Update: Apologies for the choppiness of the quotes but I've had to excise quite a bit because of copyright infringement laws.

Some of the people mentioned in the article were Buck Humphrey, a former head of Hillary Clinton's Minnesota campaign; Jackie Stevenson, a feminist Clinton superdelegate; Chris Coleman, mayor of St. Paul; Rick Stafford, another Clinton superdelegate; Joan Growe, former Secretary of State; Barbara Johnson, Minneapolis City Council President; and a couple of dozen other people who were active in Clinton's Minnesota campaign. You can read the full article using the link above.

Now that the primary season is over, let’s join forces to win the election this fall. We’ve all been terrified griping concerned about the tenor of the contest, the occasional callowness of the media, the seeming triviality of the debate questions, among other things. It’s ironic that, then, that the best, most uplifting and honorable phase is now over; we’re about to see politics at its worst. This primary has been heated and protracted, sure, but it has invigorated the electorate and stimulated widespread debate. As Pete Seeger once said, "it’s the differences of opinion that make horse races."  

But now the general election begins.  The tough fight is upon us. Given how high the stakes are, it will likely get very ugly indeed. So, here are four suggestions for ways to reconnect now that may help pull us all back together for victory in the fall.

Victory strategies below the fold:

I appeal to all fellow Obama supporters to act as Senator Obama has done, and as he would wish us to do. Let us have no hostile speech against Senator  Clinton. let us have no mocking debates about how she is not fit to be the vice-president, or to represent New York. Instead, let us respect our fellow Americans who disagreed with our choice, and show them that we, and our candidate are not their enemies, but rather friends who have had a disagreement in the short-term, but who value their courage and tenacity as we turn towards the real fight.

This brief diary is inspired by this diary, and by one of my favorite movies, The Hunt for Red October.

I know many of you Clinton supporters have been employing a standard of electability that transposes performance problems with certain constituents with general election problems.  But I think it is fair to counter that with a perspective on Obama's support, and what it means for his candidacy.

To put it plainly, the point of the primary's and caucuses is to measure support among those who might vote Democratic in the fall.  It is a measurement of the strength of the base of supporters.  All things being equal, what you want is the candidate supported most broadly in your party, before you concern yourself with the candidate most favored by the country as a whole.

If you, as is proper, take the caucus and all the states into your count, Obama will win on that count.  He also has the most pledged and superdelegates.  As one person said, he won both the outside and inside game.  He is the strongest candidate.  I don't say this to gloat, but to state a fact.  This is how we managed these differences: may the best candidate win.  Now some have tried to encourage a sense of resentment, a sense that this was stolen from Hillary.  Nobody wins that argument, though, especially not the ones making it.

Dearest Hillarions swarming to the site and demanding royal treatment while your candidate's attack dogs are still chomping: get over yourselves. Obama did not "steal" anything from you. Hillary lost in a contest whose rules were the same ones by which Bill Clinton won.

If you supported Hillary, presumably you did so because of her positions and policies. If you supported her for any other reason, you are idiots, and belong naturally to the McCain brigade of coat hangers and Constitutional toilet paper.

If you supported Hillary's policies, you support Obama's policies well before you support McCain's. It's not about us. It's not about how some anonymous bloggers out there properly kiss your ass or not (and if it is, how sad for you).

The Obama/Clinton adventure has threatened to divide a very progressive Democratic family. The decision by the rules committee may have finally brought peace. My story:

See, there is a certain brand of Hillary supporter- in particular older women who are going to be very, very upset when Hillary bows out.  Some people will be legitimately emotionally distraught.  More than young voters could possibly understand.  To some seniors, Hillary’s loss is a sign that their will never be a woman president in their lifetime.  They are afraid they will die before they see it.  That is a painful thought and we should be sensitive to it. They are going to hyper-touchy and will be looking for any excuse to accuse the Obama camp of sexism.  Do not give them that excuse.  Be nice.

Browsing the 'net over the course of this election season, it doesn't take long to witness the same widening gap between Obama and Clinton supporters that happened here taking place in the comment sections of major newspapers, on internet forums and YouTube, even between close family members. On Friday the hostility found its way into the presence of the former President. I've been reading the front page of DailyKos for a while, but only recently began sifting through the discussions, and I have to admit to being dismayed. I'm a loyal progressive, and was out in the ice canvassing for Senator Obama here in Maryland, but I cannot condone any more flame-fanning by my fellow Obama supporters.

Senator Obama has this nomination locked up. Clinton supporters are understandably upset, dismayed, disheartened, and bitter. In my mind, being a compassionate human being means having the capacity to put yourself in other people's shoes, and in the blogospere there has been far too little energy expended on bridging the demographic divides that have remained remarkably resilient throughout this campaign for the nomination.

Is there a silver lining in this gray cloud that seems to have settled over the Democratic Primary? Is there some way to make Lemonade? What is the best way to view the Clinton candidacy for this fall's general election? I have some notions for you to consider...

Hi all,

I posted this piece over at HuffPo today and I'm already getting a reaction from Obama supporters that I expected, but was hoping to avoid.

The point of the article is this:  We did it.  We won.  And damn does that feel good.  But at this point, it's time to be conciliatory.  It's time to celebrate Hillary Clinton for the sake of appeasing her supporters.  It's time to celebrate our party for the sake of winning in November.

For those of you who read what I write, you know that Hillary has taken a consistent beating from me in nearly every post I write.  I can't stand the way she campaigned, among many other things about her.  But it's time for Obama supporters to stand up and be, well, Obama-esque.

The time for vitriol against our own is over.  For the sake of our party, and our party's new leader.  We can't rely on Obama to be the only one to extend his hand and reconcile.  Reconciliation must come from the bottom up.  Follow me to the jump to see the article:

This will be a relatively short diary, attempting to expand on a comment I made in dawnt's excellent diary.

There are calls for unity from Obama supporters and Clinton supporters alike.  As an Obama supporter I have a swirl of emotions about the tone and tactics of the recent campaign.  I fully get the practical need to come together.  

I also understand the resistance fellow Obama supporters feel toward immediately displacing honestly come-by antipathy about Clinton campaign tactics.  I am sure I'm not alone in feeling that many things crossed non-negotiable moral lines that mark out why we joined the Democratic Party in the first place.  Living out our best selves by embracing the better angels of our nature is easier said than done.

Cross-posted at MyDD.

Now that the pundits have called the nomination for Obama and some Clinton supporters are calling for Hillary to withdraw, unity diaries are popping up like crazy paired with response diaries asking us not to capitulate.

Clinton supporters are demanding that Obama supporters apologize. Obama supporters are demanding Clinton supporters concede. Supporters on both sides are asking for unity and reconciliation. Almost everyone is blaming the other side for the divisions.

Democrats, listen up. Our tent is not as big as we pretend it is. We live in pockets and bubbles, and we are just as intolerant as our opponents. We are the proverbial frog in the well. If we want real healing and not just a band aid, then we need to take a long hard look at ourselves.

She's $11.4 million in debt. She can't win, even if Florida and Michigan are seated. Hillary is irrelevant.

The email sent to super-delegates by the Obama campaign this morning made clear that they are not ready to kiss and make up. They want to win on their own terms. Reconciliation will not come until Obama has the delegates needed to win.

Not kissing Hillary's butt is fine, but disaffected voters are a serious issue. The older women who swear they will vote for McCain instead of Obama, as well as the voters of Michigan and Florida who were disenfranchised by the stupidity of their states (although the Republicans who run Florida feel pretty good about how this is working out) need to be brought into the fold.

I offer the following as a starting point for discussing reconciliation.

... on MyDD. Class.