The Stampede

Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Danielle Carmen Brad Eastridge

It seems that people have always hated Hillary Clinton, something which mystified me for years. I had always stood up for Hillary, because it seemed she had never done anything to deserve such malicious treatment. Well, now she has.

A year ago, Charles Manson could have been elected president if he had run against the Republican Party.

George Bush's approval rating had dipped to an all-time low, republicans were losing support from the "moral majority," and the party's motley crew of presidential candidates was emerging with a less-than-enthusiastic response.

Well, here we are six months before election day with a polarized Democratic Party, while John McCain crusades around the country racking up solid votes.

I wish I had buried my head in the sand.

If I had, I would not have believed what has transpired over the course of this campaign. Clinton, the woman I had so long defended, and her husband, whom I had so long admired, were leading the crème de la crème of smear campaigns against the most promising political figure the Democratic Party has had in the last 40 years.

It seems like yesterday that pundits were abuzz over this charismatic senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, already speculating his potential value as a presidential candidate. I became encouraged and started following this man's career.

What I saw was incredible: a poor biracial kid from Hawaii who had gotten out of poverty only to devote his professional life to inner-city law and ministry. Social programs in Chicago, economic proposals to end poverty, all from one of the most mesmerizing public speakers I had ever heard.

This was the American dream: a black senator, who gives back to his community and vocalizes the need for drastic public reforms, now running for president. I never thought it could be done and I signed onto his campaign at once.

Never would I have imagined the campaign to follow.

It was not so much a three-ring circus as a giant taffy pull. Everyone wanted a piece of the candy, a moment in the spotlight.

But eventually they got it out of their system and conceded to the people's will.

As the crowded race narrowed to two contenders, most runners pulled out quietly to endorse one candidate or the other, hoping to target their constituencies toward a single nominee.

Continued...

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