A proud day for America

By Weekly Archive On Jun 10, 2008

"Tonight,
we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of
another. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the
Democratic nominee for the president of the United States."

Listening
to Barack Obama say those words on the night of the last primary
contests, I’ve never been so proud to be a Democrat. And I’ve never
been so proud to be an American.

We
made history, friends: by nominating the first African-American to
carry a major party’s presidential banner, and by awarding a close
second place to the first serious female candidate for president. In
one exciting primary campaign, we shattered both the glass ceiling
and the "black ceiling."

What
a great tribute to this county. And what a great tribute to the
Democratic Party, which has proved itself — in deeds, not just in
words — the party of minority rights and women’s rights, and the
party of equal opportunity.

The
nomination of Barack Obama, especially, is an event that should make
every American — not just every Democrat, but every American —
proud. Consider: Just 150 years ago, Obama and his family would have
been in chains. Until 40 years ago, Obama would not have been able to
attend the same school, drink from the same water fountain, worship
in the same church, or shop in the same store as whites. Yet today
he’s the standard bearer of the Democratic Party and could very well
be the next president of the United States.

Obama’s
success, of course, is due primarily to his exceptional skills as a
candidate. He motivated millions of Americans who had given up on
politics and inspired millions of young people to discover politics.
He electrified an entire nation with his promise of change.

Yes,
there were charges of racism and sexism during the primary. And, to a
certain extent, they were well-founded. Sadly, some Democrats refused
to vote for Obama, simply because he’s black. And some Democrats, and
the media, ganged up on Hillary because she’s a woman. But that’s not
why he won or she lost. Obama won because he ran a much tighter
campaign.

Starting
from nowhere, the Obama team crafted a winning message, developed a
campaign strategy aimed at both large states and small, at both
caucuses and primaries. They also set new records for raising small,
repeat contributions over the Internet. The Clinton campaign, by
contrast, made one blunder after another.

For
starters, there was Hillary’s stubborn refusal to join John Edwards
in apologizing for voting to authorize the war in Iraq. She also got
off on the wrong foot by basing her campaign on "experience,"
thereby letting Obama identify himself as the candidate of "change."
And her campaign failed by making no plans to win important caucus
states or how to proceed if the primaries dragged on beyond Super
Tuesday. As a result, they allowed Obama to win 11 contests in a row.

In
the end, Clinton got stronger and Obama seemed to run out of gas. But
by that time, thanks to his superior campaign organization, Obama had
already built up the lead in delegates and the perception of
inevitability that Clinton could never overcome.

Even
though she did not prevail, Hillary Clinton proved to be one hell of
a fighter. And by refusing to quit when everybody told her to get out
of the race, she made Obama a stronger candidate.

But
Obama’s success is more than a story about who won the Democratic
primary and how. It also speaks volumes about how much progress we
have made in America. An African-American woman called my radio show
to talk about her 7-year old son, who stayed up late to watch Barack
Obama declare himself the Democratic nominee. And there are millions
more young Americans like her son, inspired to believe in America by
Barack Obama, the same way we were inspired by John F. Kennedy and
Bobby Kennedy.

By
choosing Barack Obama as the Democratic Party’s nominee, we have
demonstrated that we do, indeed, value the content of one’s character
over the color of one’s skin. We’ve shown the world that we are,
indeed, the land of unparalleled opportunity, where every little boy
or girl can grow up to be president — even, as he describes himself,
a skinny little black kid with a funny name. God bless America!

Bill
Press is host of a nationally syndicated radio show and author of a
new book, "Train
Wreck: The End of the Conservative Revolution (and Not a Moment Too
Soon)."
You can hear "The Bill Press Show" at his Web site:
billpressshow.com. His email address is: bill@billpress.com.