04/22/2008: "Hillary Wins in Penn!"
It is a good night for Hillary Clinton. I have just watched her victory speech and the exhilaration is contagious. This may be the boost she needs to finally gain the momentum required to win the nomination. She has overcome (and STILL must overcome) some pretty heavy odds to get where she wants to go, but if her enthusiasm tonight is any indicator, nothing will stop her.
Some pundit's comment tonight that white men are voting by a high percentage for Obama rather than vote for a woman got me to thinking about a once-famous murder case before my time and nearly everyone else's. In 1913 in Marietta, Georgia, a teenage girl named Mary Fagan was murdered in the pencil factory where she worked. The general manager of the factory, a Jew named Leo Frank, was accused and ultimately convicted of the crime. The odd twist in the case was that strong evidence indicated that the murder was actually committed by Jim Conley, the black janitor at the factory. However, even in the powerfully racist atmosphere of Georgia some 50-odd years after the Civil War, the community, the judges, and the newspapers ignored the evidence and convicted and ultimately lynched Frank. Even though Conley was black, Leo Frank was from New York and jewish--seen as an outsider and a carpetbagger. Conely, though black, was at least part of the community.
Something similar has occurred with Obama. Even in the still-racist America, Obama is seen by white men as at least a man and preferable to Hillary. But there's a risk that Obama can't beat McCain in November, because who knows how many white men will jump ship and vote for another white man when the time comes.
For my money it's time for a woman or a person of color to serve in the presidency. Even a glance at history tells you that the light skinned males have certainly made a mess of it.
Yes, Hillary has many mountains yet to climb. But she has the experience, brains, and sheer MOXIE to make a great president. Support her. Vote for her.