1) This was signed.
WHEREAS, Over a year ago, the Democratic National Committee established a 2008 nominating calendar;
WHEREAS, this calendar honors the racial, ethnic, economic and geographic diversity of our party and our country;
WHEREAS, the DNC also honored the traditional role of retail politics early in the nominating process, to insure that money alone will not determine our presidential nominee;
WHEREAS, it is the desire of Presidential campaigns, the DNC, the states and the American people to bring finality, predictability and common sense to the nominating calendar.
THEREFORE, I Hillary Clinton, Democratic Candidate for President, pledge I shall not campaign or participate in any state which schedules a presidential election primary or caucus before Feb. 5, 2008, except for the states of Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina, as "campaigning" is defined by rules and regulations of the DNC.
Then this turn of events took place just prior to the Florida primary.
2. Camp Hillary: Floridians Will Be Heard!
3. Hillary Supporter Makes Florida Robocalls in Support of Hillary
4. Hillary Ally Drops Mailer In Florida -- Despite Candidates' Pledge Against Campaigning
And now tonight:
5. Hillary Clinton trumpets win in Florida despite lack of delegates
It is clear to me now that the Clintons have no desire to maintain their commitment to the Democratic party beyond what it will get them in power and position.
They threw the gays under the bus after we helped them get elected in '92 ("Don't Ask, Don't Tell about DOMA" has apparently been the slogan around the Hilary-supporting Human Rights Coalition lately. They must have designed a really cool "HRC loves HRC" logo to go around the yellow equal-sign/blue blackground stickers that I can't escape from.)
They've been throwing African-Americans under the bus with their cheap shots at Obama's background and dismissal of those who've come before him who now dare side with him.
And now they're ready to throw the entire DNC under the bus -- ignoring the party rules THAT HILLARY SIGNED in order to score easy media points and try to make inter-party squabbles about rules (that were decided months ago) the focus of the story and win the fight at all costs... even if that includes a in-fighting-filled, ugly, brokered convention that will do nothing but tear apart the Democratic party at the time when we need to be the most united.
Simon Rosenberg - a veteran of the Clinton War Room - says it much better than I could:
In the very first meeting of the famous War Room James Carville warned us "that if you don't like to eat sh-- everyday you shouldn't be in politics." So I understand as well as anyone that this is a tough game, not for the faint of heart.
But there is a line in politics where tough and determined becomes craven and narcissistic, where advocacy becomes spin, and where integrity and principle is lost. I am concerned that this Florida gambit by the Clinton campaign is once again putting two of my political heroes too close - or perhaps over - that line. So that even if they win this incredible battle with Barack Obama they will end up doing so in a way that will make it hard for them to bring the Party back together, and to lead the nation to a new and better day.
If Hillary is the nominee, I like to think that I will vote for her come November. But I would really like to vote for a nominee that I was proud to support, and I would like to have a president for which I didn't have to feel like I was always apologizing.
I was a month shy off my 18th birthday during the 1992 general election that Bill Clinton won, so I didn't vote for him. But I supported him. In fact, in my Speech/Communications class -- the senior year I spent in exile back at my former high school -- I was assigned to write a speech supporting him in front of my more conservative classmates who didn't like me very much for many reasons, but most of all because I was the guy who had gone to a better school, been kicked out of it, and scared shitless, still acted like I was better than everyone else. I managed to make them vote for Clinton too. I believed.
And then... I didn't. I wanted to, but I saw what was happening, and I was angry. I was angry that Hillary -- such a strong woman, the type of woman I'd want my little sister to grow up to be -- was trashing the names of the women Bill had allegedly slept with in order to muddle the waters. I watched compromises be made that weren't what I wanted to see. I was fed shit on a spoon and told it was chocolate pudding.
And you know what? Sometimes I swallowed that pudding. Because the other choices were so much worse. The Republican party and conservative media were so intent on destroying them through dirty tricks and trumped up charges that I looked past my disdain -- I held my nose and swallowed that shit. And I defended them. Through all their faults, I did my best to support those who I thought would harm us least.
A lot has happened between now and then.
I got even more political when the Clintons weren't around. And I've said it before and will say it again -- it broke my fucking heart. Nearly killed me. I wish I wasn't such a drama queen, but it's true. When THE WORLD CHANGED after September 11, I started to care again, and when the world rejected the candidate I had put everything into in 2004, I stopped. Just stopped. Not just politics but from the whole world. Sure, unsubscribing from blogs is a big deal. But so is dropping out of life. And that's what happened. The 2004 election is far from the only thing that caused it, but it was a big part because it was the last thing I was holding out hope for. And when that crashed, I just couldn't care anymore. When the choice became Kerry versus Bush, I knew how it would end. And I just had to pull that particular political string from my heart because it tugging too hard and I could no longer wake up breathing.
But up until recently, the Democratic field had left me with so much hope that I couldn't help but start paying attention again. Edwards is great. Obama is greater. And Hillary...I had liked her once, hadn't I?
But as I've started paying attention again, I've realized that I'd forgotten too much. I've forgotten those shit popsicles that started with me having to make excuses for why closeted servicemen have to lie about who they are, continued with me wandering if I was a better feminist than Gloria Steinham, and ended with those unseemingly Mark Rich pardons. This is how it will always be with a Clinton in office. You won't starve, but you'll be eating shit on a stick.
That's not good enough for me anymore.
Please remember -- yes, Hillary has the Clinton experience. And a lot of it wasn't good. And a lot of it was dodging shit.
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