Let's Follow Barack's Lead

We are at a point in this campaign season when we can all take a deep breath and be relatively comfortable that Barack has this nomination all but sewn up. But it’s not over yet, and instead of rubbing the Clintons’ face in it, let’s quietly sit back and let them fade into the sunset.

One thing that I have learned – and it’s taken some time for me – is that the Obama campaign knows what it’s doing. They seem to have an innate ability to look down the road and know what to do. I trust them and now feel comfortable with their decisions, and the reality is that they have been more right than wrong. As Barack always says, his bet has paid off.

As we go through the last few primaries, it is very important that we maintain our composure, display our maturity and most vital, show some humility as we attempt to heal some significant wounds that have developed over the past few months as this campaign’s opponent in conjunction with the media have been on the attack against Obama and have raised questions and caused a lot of confusion.

Although this has been a very difficult and tumultuous period in this primary season, it has actually served to strengthen Barack and allowed him to hone his skills, preparing him to face the tough challenges that lie ahead.

As we know and feel so strongly, this is our time in history. We have the candidate we have been waiting for, but we have to keep in mind that a significant number of Democrats have been spending an equal or even longer amount of time backing a different candidate, and we must respectfully give them time to reorient their focus, lick their wounds and discover in Barack what we have seen for a long time.

So we must not gloat, boast, belittle or even strut. Amongst ourselves, we can quietly celebrate, but we have a lot of reuniting to do, and as former Clinton supporters come our way, they will be assisted by all Obama supporters warmly welcoming them into the fold. We must be armed with as much information available for them as to why Barack deserves their support, and it must not at this point include any negative information on their former candidate of choice or her husband, Hillary or Bill Clinton.

If we hear that any Clinton supporter will now consider voting for McCain, please remind them that the next president will most likely nominate one if not two Supreme Court justices, not to mention that Barack will end this war and occupation of Iraq. There are obviously benefits too numerous to mention of a comparison between Obama and McCain, but if pressed, we must gently encourage former Clinton voters to acknowledge that McCain is essentially a third term for George W. Bush.

So let’s take the high road, follow the lead of Barack, who has shown such incredible intestinal fortitude and decorum, and provide a friendly harbor for former Clinton supporters to re-dock their ship in a welcoming, encouraging and understanding place where they will feel that their needs are met, their concerns are assuaged and their issues are addressed.

Once together and united, we will present an unbeatable, unstoppable and historic force against John McCain or whichever Republican candidate we ultimately face in the fall. Let’s sit tight and patiently allow former Clinton supporters to regroup and turn their attention and allegiance to the Democratic nominee, the next president of the United States, Barack Obama.