Apparently, Barack Obama told Clinton supporters to "get over it." High time, I thought, but then I read what he actually said:
Obama then said, "However, I need to make a decision in the next few months as to how I manage that since I'm running against John McCain, which takes a lot of time. If women take a moment to realize that on every issue important to women, John McCain is not in their corner, that would help them get over it."
Even though that's a far cry from the terse "get over it" which really might stick in the craw, one woman who heard this was offended:
Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., a longtime Clinton supporter, did not like those last three words -- "Get over it." She found them dismissive, off-putting. "Don't use that terminology," Watson told Obama.
Frankly, I'm getting sick and tired of hearing about Clinton supporters' feelings. On Sunday Howard Dean spent more time talking about what a great campaign Clinton had run than he did about Obama—remember him? Our nominee? The one who has to beat John McCain if this country has any chance of regaining the respect we lost during the last eight years?
I know what it's like to lose—I was a Dean supporter in 04. I remember being told to "get over it", except without the "would help to" in front of it. I felt my candidate had gotten rotten media coverage—remember the Scream? Replayed 869 times in one week? Remember the ad his opponents ran, conflating him with Osama bin Laden? I got over it. I campaigned for the victor, and filled in the oval next to his name on my absentee ballot. I grieved when Kerry lost by so few votes, but I never assumed his loss might have anything to do with disgruntled Dean supporters—we all did indeed "get over it".
Clinton lost fair and square. She ran a lousy campaign, after hiring incompetent staff who went through record amounts of cash like they'd finally forgotten about tomorrow. And when she was hopelessly behind in delegates, she tried to de-legitimize Obama's win. Her supporters apparently believed the oft-repeated nonsense. So now they're not ready to play nice.
It's gotten so bad that apparently the sight of Obama buttons alone is enough to set them off. At a campaign event I attended, we were asked to remove our Obama buttons. When one prominent supporter brought two bags of buttons to pass out, they were seized and we were told to put them out of sight. (I placed them under the same table where my handbag was stolen from.)
Elections are tough business—for men as well as women. Women are fully capable of winning, and losing, but when one loses, can we please stop referring to their supporters as being "emotional" about the loss? Every loss brings with it emotions—I've seen grown men cry when their candidate lost—but when your candidate loses a primary election, you have a responsibility to examine the remaining choices, and find one you can live with.
If that choice isn't the candidate your favorite candidate lost to, then perhaps you should examine why you supported that candidate in the first place. If the answer has something to do with health care, day care, and ending the war, then you'll have to get over it. Because next time, I won't be taking off my Obama button to spare your feelings.
