Hillary (AP photo) wins again! This time in Nevada! But Obama gets one more delegate than Hillary. Whoever wins the nomination will be a great candidate, but I know where my heart lies. Read Maya Angelou’s poem on Hillary in the Observer:
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Maya Angelou has adapted her poem, Still I Rise, to praise Hillary. The poet can be seen reading the original poem on YouTube.
If Bill Clinton was the Comeback Kid, Hillary is his elegant phoenix. I admire Obama. He will be an even more historic candidate — and president if he wins the election. He has brought excitement to the race, trying to unite Americans and promising change. But I am an old Bill Clinton fan. So I could understand when Maya Angelou said:
“I made up my mind 15 years ago that if she ever ran for office I’d be on her wagon. My only difficulty with Senator Obama is that I believe in going out with who I went in with.”
She has a special association with the Clintons. As the Observer said:
The 79-year-old poet was the centrepiece of Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993 when she read her poem On the Pulse of Morning, playing on the idea of a new political dawn.
I wish the Democrats didn’t have to choose between Hillary and Obama. But it was inevitable. Hillary will be 61 this October. And Obama, who will be 47 in August — one year older than Bill Clinton and four years older than John Kennedy when they entered office — wants to run while he is fresh and not shopsoiled by too many years in the Senate. He knows his relative youth and freshness are part of his attraction.
The irony is that for all the talk about Hillary’s “well-oiled machine”, it is she who appeals more to women and lower-income workers — the core Democratic supporters.
The media, in love with Obama, says he appeals more to the young and the independents and it is the independent vote that will decide the election.
But what if the Republicans nominate Senator John McCain? He has just won in South Carolina and appeals to the independents too. It will be quite a matchup if he faces off against Obama: the old proven war hero against the untried, youthful charismatic leader calling for change and national reconciliation.
Related posts:
