cg political correspondent blog

Well, it’s official: we finally, finally, have a Democratic nominee for the presidency. As I watched Senator Hillary Clinton’s concession speech on Saturday, I was hit with a wave of mixed emotions—and most of those emotions had nothing to do with politics.

Whether you’re a Hillary girl, love Republican presumptive nominee John McCain, or have always rooted for the new Democratic presumptive nominee, Barack Obama, we can all agree on one thing: this has been an historic election. When some of our parents (and certainly our grandparents) were growing up, racism was not only accepted by many people, it was also actually a part of our legal system. Now, an African American has a good shot at becoming the next President of the United States. There’s still more work to do, but our country has come a long way in battling racial hatred. I think that’s awesome.

Senator Clinton’s speech also reminded me of how far women have come—and how much further we have to go. She has come closer than any other woman to becoming president—so from a purely emotional, totally non-political point of view, I was bummed to see her drop out.

Let’s put our own political views—whatever they may be—aside for a second, so we can recognize the extraordinary role Senator Clinton has played in shaping our futures. After her candidacy, she said, “it will be unremarkable to think that a woman can be President of the United States, and that is truly remarkable.” I was really struck by that statement because it is so true. Her successes throughout the campaign have shown this country that a woman is capable of leading, and that we can and should be taken seriously. I hope that her candidacy inspires more young women across the political spectrum to run for office.

But in the meantime, we’ve got a very exciting general election ahead of us! Senators McCain and Obama have drastically different policies on just about everything, so we’re going to have two clear choices come November. The race between them is already heating up, so stay tuned for all kinds of debates and discussions. Also, everyone’s speculating on running mates—will Senator Obama ask Senator Clinton to run with him? Will Senator McCain bring Governors Huckabee or Romney back into the game? The only thing we can be sure of is that this election isn’t going to be boring.

So tell me, how did you feel when Senator Clinton conceded? Was it about time, or are you sorry to see her go? And do you have any thoughts on running mates? Let me know!

Xoxo,
Katie
katieg@cosmogirl.com

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