Reply #25: Gracious. [View All]

It would be a short-cut to logical thinking to assume that one person's dislike of Senator Clinton defines all Obama supporters' reasons for supporting him. Such an error in thinking is easily refuted. On DU alone, we see a wide range of reasons that people support the Obama campaign.

For an easy example that illustrates differences in views, I will use a phone conversation I had with a good friend earlier this week. A woman I have known for decades called, and one of the things she said was that she thinks Hillary Clinton's campaign shows that she is selfish, and that she only cares about herself. Now, I disagree. However, I would never "reject" my friend, a Native American we consider our local clan mother. Instead, I corrected her.

Senator Clinton is a good and powerful politician. Like all people -- including Obama, you, and I -- she has a good side and a bad side. But she is certainly does not only care about herself. One of her greatest strengths is that she really cares about people, as evidenced by her advocacy for health care. All democrats should respect that.

My dear friend agreed that I was correct. She recognized that she is simply tired of the primary contest, and was becoming prone to seeing things in simple terms. That, too, is an error in thinking.

I told her that I am convinced that losing this primary contest to Obama will actually result in Hillary Clinton becoming a stronger individual, and a greater leader. You and others may disagree with me, but I do not think that what I said is either transparent or histrionic.