Thank You, Hillary... And Hello, Barack!

(Cross-posted at MyDD)

I never thought I’d say this, but Hillary Clinton has become one of my personal heroes. Despite being counted out so many times, she came roaring back strong. Despite being trashed and thrashed herself, she’s proven her ability to brush it off to continue fighting for us working people. Despite my early doubts, I came to love and respect this amazing woman.

But now, I know her historic journey to become our next President has reached an end. Yet even now, she still amazes me with her class and her dignity. All my doubts about Hillary’s commitment to the values we hold dear as Democrats had long passed, but I think now she’s proving to us all what she will do to ensure we have a Democratic President in Barack Obama who will start undoing the damage of the Bush-Cheney era.

So first off, I’d like to officially congratulate the Obama campaign and Obama supporters here for their win. Good job, and hopefully we’ll see a Democratic President on office in 2009 who will start healing the wounds of the last eight years. As I’ve said here before, I will support the Democratic ticket this fall. Now, it’s time for me to live up to that pledge.

But before I stop obsessing over Presidential primary stuff completely, I just need to thank Hillary and her campaign for the wonderful experience I’ve been a part of. The memories made will forever be cherished in my heart. There’s no doubt in me about that. And hopefully, this won’t be the last I see of them. Hopefully, I’ll see my fellow Hillary Clinton Democrats work with all of us to ensure we have a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress.

And hopefully, many of you Obama supporters will see that we’re not the caricatures the media elite tried to make of us. When we come around, please embrace us as Democrats who want what’s best for this nation. And please, don’t say this is just your party or my party or the Obama party or the Clinton party. This party belongs to all of us, and we all need to start working together now if we want to see progress in the future.

Now that the primary’s finally over, I'm ready to move on and start working hard for Barack Obama, our Democratic nominee. Now that doesn't mean I stopped loving Hillary... She's still my hero. In fact, one reason I'm supporting Obama so strongly now is because I intend to keep the promise I made to Hillary last Saturday.

So now, I've taken the next step to ensure we have a Democratic President in 2009 who will fix what Bush-Cheney has broken. Will you? Do you care about solving the climate crisis? Ending the Iraq Occupation? Making universal health care a reality? Protecting reproductive rights? Advancing equal rights for all people, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, and/or disability? Defending the Constitution? Great, then let's all follow Hillary's lead and join Barack's movement for real change!