The dream is dead. Long live the dream!

[bain_sidhe]

I paraphrase the traditional cry at the death of a king because I am both mourning and celebrating today. I thought perhaps now would be the time to share.

I am so fearful for my country in this election. If we give the pubs another four years, they may be able to complete the destruction of everything that America means to me. That's why, from the very start of this primary election, I did not let my heart and passions get involved. I tried to remain clear-eyed and clear-headed, watching to see which of our many fine candidates I thought would have the best chance of winning the general election, not the primary.

Very late in the game (just before Pennsylvania), I finally decided that Obama was that candidate. That was a decision of the head. If I'd let my heart decide, I would have been a Hillary supporter.

I'm a 52 year-old white woman. I have dreamed of seeing a woman president for nearly my whole adult life. This dream does not in any way take away from my celebratation that our country is one giant step closer to realizing Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream. Like Michelle Obama, I am PROUD of my country for taking that step.

It's just that that dream didn't have the personal resonance for me that the dream of a woman president did. But that lack of personal resonance does not in ANY WAY diminish my support and reverence for another, equally powerful, equally valid, equally AWESOME dream that is now within reach.

In some ways, it is unfortunate that these two dreams were in competition in this primary. I wouldn't have liked to see either one die. But one did, at least for now, and while my heart still hurts a little, I call out to my fellow "sisters" who dreamed of a woman president.

We'll be back.

But, for now, we should, we MUST work for a different dream. A dream of a nation where all are judged by the content of their character. That's a worthy dream for ANYONE to work for. Black, white, male, female, gay, straight, and any other "grouping" that has been used to pit those of us who believe in equality against each other. instead of against those who don't.

Sisters and brothers of all heritages and persuasions, join together and join THIS dream...

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

LONG LIVE THE DREAM!

(Oh, poo. edited for typo and the phrase I left out...)

[mikehiggins]

1. Both dreams are still alive and imho if HRC had done what

McLame did, and dumped her failing staff, we might be talking about the first woman candidate for presidency. THings are what they are, however, and her team got beat by O's team, fair and square (at least as far as modern politics defines "fair and square"). 2012 might be a different story, or 2016 if O beats the odds and becomes another two term Democratic president.

Regardless, we WILL have a woman as President. It has now become inevitable and I hope HRC is still in the running when the next window stands ajar.

[bain_sidhe]

2. Not looking back

As Hillary said (paraphrasing) every moment spent looking back is a moment not spent moving ahead.

In THIS moment, it doesn't matter whether we'll have a woman president "soon," "eventually" or never. In THIS moment, it matters that we work for the opportunity in front of us RIGHT NOW.

[bain_sidhe]

3. I wasn't going to bump this

I figured if people didn't want to respond, that's fine, I just wanted to share my feelings. But I just read a post that kinda ticked me off... out of deference to DU rules, I won't say where or who posted it. But I'd just like to say to everyone:

It is not necessary to disparage women's hopes, dreams and struggles in order to celebrate Barack Obama's victory. The fact that one dream is on the verge of realization IN NO WAY changes the fact that another fell short, and it's loss is painful to those who had it. And that pain IN NO WAY diminishes the joy we should ALL feel for the success of the dream that IS being realized. They're separate dreams, equally legitimate, equally deeply felt, and equally worthy of support. One does not dimish the other.

[Toucano]

4. Condelezza Rice would be the perfect candidate

A gay African American woman! Oh wait! There's all that lying and right-wing insanity. Nevermind.

Seriously though, I think you've expressed your feelings very well and thank you for sharing them. I also think it is a bit unfortunate that two dreams had to compete, but I am heartened to see anyone's dream come true.

Except. John. McCain's.

:loveya:

[bain_sidhe]

6. Except for the fact that

I have *standards* :P

And it's not like I'm not thrilled to see Obama make it through what used to be called "the color barrier" - I AM! Like Michelle said, I'm proud of my country (well, at this point, my party, but I'm optimistic that I'll be proud of my country come November. I just thought that it needed to be pointed out that celebrating one dream doesn't require disparaging another dream, because some folks seem to be doing that. And supporting one dream doesn't mean not supporting another, either.

[Toucano]

8. Absolutely true.

We're celebrating two milestones in many ways.

[Flabbergasted]

5. Kick Rec

[bain_sidhe]

7. God, I love that pic

cracks me up every time I see it.

[IsItJustMe]

9. I, like you, also have that dream. God bless.

[janet118]

10. Hillary will go down in history

She has pioneered another milestone in women's rights. She will most likely go on to write more history. But, already, she has shown that a woman can be tough enough to compete "toe to toe" with a man for the presidency. I voted for Obama in my primary because, with the exception of his healthcare plan, I preferred his stands on the issues important to me. But Hillary has shown herself a force to be reckoned with and she has paved the way for other women to run for the highest office in the country without the baggage of breaking out of the box. Like she said in her beautiful endorsement speech, "There are 18,000,000 cracks in the glass ceiling."

[NotThisTime]

11. As a woman who voted for Obama, I agree with your premise... Hurting women, we WILL some day have a

woman president, it will happen, and we've seen that it CAN happen.... don't be disheartened for too long, just start looking to the future

[bain_sidhe]

12. I probably shouldn't bump this

but I was away from home yesterday and didn't get online at all...

I agree with your assertion that we will someday have a woman president. I'm not sure that I'll live to see it though... The press has a history of marginalizing female candidates, and IMHO, Hillary got as far as she did because her national presence was too large to marginalize. I don't think there's any woman *currently* in the ranks of "possible female candidates" that has that kind of stature. We'll have to work very hard to stop the press from reverting to form the next time a woman runs. It won't be easy given the "headlock" (in many senses of the word) the MSM has on our country's national "dialogue."

I also agree that we must set aside out disappointment and get busy making sure Obama wins the general. There's a lot of work to do!