Hillary Concedes - Down Goes The Petition

Well Hillary finally faced the obvious and conceded the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama in a pretty nice speech from Washington. So the Hillary-Concede petition is finally coming down from our sidebar.

"The way to continue our fight now to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States," she said.

"Today as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him and I ask of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me,"

I think she touched on all of the points she needed to yesterday, with the notable exception of failing to address the racial chasm opened in the Democratic Party due to her campaign strategy. But oh well, she's out of the race at this time and that's what matters. We'll get together and sing Kumbaya later.

To Hillary and her supporters, nice job. You raised the bar for female candidates, just as Barack did for minorities. There will be a female president of this country some day soon. I hope when that happens, she won't have to run as "one of the boys" as Hillary pretty much had to do this year, but will instead bring femininity into the campaign and the position. Hillary acknowledged that point poignantly.

"When I was asked what it means to be a woman running for president, I always gave the same answer: that I was proud to be running as a woman, but I was running because I thought I'd be the best president," she said. "But I am a woman, and, like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us."

Indeed.

All thoughts now turn to who gets the VP nod. Hillary may add something to the ticket, and if Obama chooses her, I'll go with it, but personally, I don't think he should. I may change my mind after a month or so after all of the emotions of the primary have cooled down on all sides.

But right now, I don't see how he could possibly trust her (and Bill) to have his back after the ugliness of their "kitchen sink" campaign. There was a willingness on their part to rip the whole party apart in order to secure the nomination, and if someone wants something that bad, I wouldn't want to be a heartbeat away from them obtaining it. Especially if my heartbeat is the one in question.

So go through the process Barack, and see what candidates rise to the top, then pick the best one. If it's Hillary, so be it, but I'd advise you to do double safety checks on your aircraft before flying, let someone else start the car and have it run for a few minutes before you get in, hire a food taster, etc. In other words, watch your back.

For now though it's on to John McCain.