It bums me out that the majority of gay blogs I read have turned on Hillary Clinton in recent months. Polls that were done at the beginning of the year showed an overwhelming majority supported Hillary for President. I even conducted 2 polls of my own on this blog, one of them asking if people had to vote that day, who they would choose, and they chose Hillary.
I guess she lost people when she started being so fiercely competitive. I’ll admit, there was even a time when I was thinking about switching over to Barack myself.
But the thing that really bothers me is all the people who say she should give up. It feels completely unfair to say this because you’re basically saying people like me don’t count. We’re unimportant just because we support 2nd place.
I count too. The states Hillary has won count. She still wins, she still has supporters, so why quit now when she’s made it this far?
I just think it’s selfish, and it makes me angry. If Barack had 90% of the votes and Hillary had 10%, then yeah, it would probably be a good time to throw in the towel. But all in all, the race is still tight.
All the Hillary bashing only fuels my support for Hillary more. I think of all the times in my life people told me to give up:
- When I was 15, I started a website design business. People told me I was too young to be taken seriously and suggested I get a job at somewhere like McDonald’s like all the other kids my age. But I didn’t give up, and now I’ve been doing this for 11 years. Where would I be today if I listened to the people who said to quit?
- When I came out of the closet, people encouraged me to be discreet in order to lead a “normal” life. Even my own parents tried to convince me that the world would never support me. But I didn’t give up. I chose to live my life openly and honestly… and I truly feel that I do have a “normal” life.
When you want something with all your heart, you shouldn’t give up. Hillary has often said that she feels America is worth fighting for. And if she loves this country so much, why should she quit?
For all the Barack supporters out there, I applaud you. I am glad that you support a Democratic leader and I encourage you to continue supporting your candidate. But please think twice before you say Hillary should give up.
Saying this implies that she isn’t entitled to pursuing the American dream too. It implies that the underdog can never win. And we gay people certainly know what it feels like to be the underdog. But most of all, it implies my vote doesn’t matter and has no value.
I’ve supported Hillary since the beginning, but I guess I’m a bit on the fence now. Part of me wants her to continue campaigning until the last state votes and fight all the way to the convention floor (us gays love a scrappy woman!). The other part of me understands the math–she doesn’t have enough votes. To me, once the contests are over, whoever has the most votes (even if only by 1), he or she should win–and it doesn’t appear to be Hillary.
That said, I’m not removing my Hillary yard sign or bumper sticker until SHE says so.
Posted on Sun, May 11, 2008 @ 7:29 am
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