From Hillary to Barack
Anticipation gave way to raw emotion when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton gave her speech before the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night. Tears streamed down the faces of a number of delegates as they heard Senator Clinton concede the nomination to Barack Obama and urge her supporters to transfer their energy, dedication, and hard work toward electing him president.
I asked three New Mexico delegates pledged to Clinton, all women, to describe – in one word – how they felt at the end of Clinton’s speech. At-large delegate “Kooch” Jacobus said “strength.” She pointed to how Clinton’s candidacy has opened the path for the further ascension of women in American politics. She said of women, “we’re strong and we count.” As she drew power from Clinton’s speech that night, Jacobus also sat and cried through part of it, thinking of what might have been. Would she now shift her support to an Obama candidacy? She gave a definite “yes.”
Priscilla Chavez from Doña Ana County underscored her feelings with the single word, “emotional.” She shed tears during Hillary Clinton’s speech because she was so moved. Disappointment with the end of Clinton’s campaign ran deep, as she wiped tears away even as we spoke the morning after. Though challenges remain ahead in getting voters on board for Obama in southern New Mexico, Chavez is ready to work toward that end. She sees young voters easier to mobilize than older ones. But she maintains that older voters will show up to vote for Obama “because so much is at stake.”
A committed Clinton supporter, state senator Mary Jane Garcia of Las Cruces had rather harsh words to say about Obama’s candidacy during the heat of the presidential primary. Her avid support for Hillary Clinton stretched back to 1992, when the Clintons were in Las Cruces. She connected with them many times thereafter.
Garcia also cried during Clinton’s speech. She marveled at how her candidate was both “gracious” and “strong” after a bruising primary. Garcia contended that after all the Republican attacks, media criticism, and tension with the Obama campaign, “to say what she said, and the way she said it” was impressive. But she chose the word “closure” to describe her personal feelings at the end of the day. She found closure in Clinton’s endorsement of Obama and is now prepared, as she put it, “to move on” and work for the Democratic presidential ticket.
During last night’s roll-call vote of the states, the New Mexico delegation cast a unanimous vote for Barack Obama. Earlier that day, in a paper ballot among New Mexico’s 38 delegates, 3 votes were marked for Hillary Rodham Clinton. But even those Clinton holdouts succumbed to the excitement and bandwagon effect that took over the convention. When Senator Clinton herself, speaking for the New York delegation, moved that the convention nominate Barack Obama for president by acclamation, all of those New Mexico delegates cheered wildly and, this time, shed tears of joy as they made history.
I asked three New Mexico delegates pledged to Clinton, all women, to describe – in one word – how they felt at the end of Clinton’s speech. At-large delegate “Kooch” Jacobus said “strength.” She pointed to how Clinton’s candidacy has opened the path for the further ascension of women in American politics. She said of women, “we’re strong and we count.” As she drew power from Clinton’s speech that night, Jacobus also sat and cried through part of it, thinking of what might have been. Would she now shift her support to an Obama candidacy? She gave a definite “yes.”
Priscilla Chavez from Doña Ana County underscored her feelings with the single word, “emotional.” She shed tears during Hillary Clinton’s speech because she was so moved. Disappointment with the end of Clinton’s campaign ran deep, as she wiped tears away even as we spoke the morning after. Though challenges remain ahead in getting voters on board for Obama in southern New Mexico, Chavez is ready to work toward that end. She sees young voters easier to mobilize than older ones. But she maintains that older voters will show up to vote for Obama “because so much is at stake.”
A committed Clinton supporter, state senator Mary Jane Garcia of Las Cruces had rather harsh words to say about Obama’s candidacy during the heat of the presidential primary. Her avid support for Hillary Clinton stretched back to 1992, when the Clintons were in Las Cruces. She connected with them many times thereafter.
Garcia also cried during Clinton’s speech. She marveled at how her candidate was both “gracious” and “strong” after a bruising primary. Garcia contended that after all the Republican attacks, media criticism, and tension with the Obama campaign, “to say what she said, and the way she said it” was impressive. But she chose the word “closure” to describe her personal feelings at the end of the day. She found closure in Clinton’s endorsement of Obama and is now prepared, as she put it, “to move on” and work for the Democratic presidential ticket.
During last night’s roll-call vote of the states, the New Mexico delegation cast a unanimous vote for Barack Obama. Earlier that day, in a paper ballot among New Mexico’s 38 delegates, 3 votes were marked for Hillary Rodham Clinton. But even those Clinton holdouts succumbed to the excitement and bandwagon effect that took over the convention. When Senator Clinton herself, speaking for the New York delegation, moved that the convention nominate Barack Obama for president by acclamation, all of those New Mexico delegates cheered wildly and, this time, shed tears of joy as they made history.
posted by Christine Sierra at
1:08 PM
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