The day’s finally come. Hillary’s out. Obama’s in. And he’s made Black History before Hillary could make Feminine History (actually Hillary’s made plenty of Feminine History with her campaign – but, truth be told, both have also made straight-up general history). The Democrats are officially unified, even if I’m reading New York Times stories that say some former Clinton supporters are now donating money to the McCain campaign. While pundits may argue that the Obama vs. Hillary fiasco officially came to a close Tuesday when the Illinois Senator finally got the magic number of delegate votes – 2,118 – to secure the Democratic nomination for President, the (for now) happy Democratic ending really came when Obama and Hillary privately met – alone – in California Senator Dianne Fienstein’s house Thursday. What went on during that meeting can only be speculated about, but thankfully CNN was covering the event as it was happening – only their cameras were outside and pointed at the house’s front door, as the bottom headline read: “Clinton, Obama to meet in private.” And it stayed that way for minutes as the pundits continuously analyzed the situation, doing their best to state the obvious (“What the Democrats need is unity”) and thankfully secure their reputation as “the Best Political Team on Television.”

Obama in St. Paul

It certainly was refreshing to see the never-ending Democratic Presidential candidate contest come to an end, but the most refreshing part of Obama’s Tuesday victory speech was seeing him declare it in such a localized fashion at the Xcel Energy Center. Best of all, he didn’t slip in referring to St. Paul as Minneapolis in the same way that so many Republicans are bound to this Fall.

Obama’s St. Paul Speech

Because he was acting on one of his greatest strengths, Obama’s victory speech was characteristic of the candidate at his best – echoing a stalwart voice that immediately went from praising Hillary (for doing “what no woman has done before”) to focusing on the positives of this long, dirty race for the Presidency (“Because of this primary, there are millions of Americans who have cast their ballot for the very first time”).

I couldn’t help but notice his careful mannerisms to reassure the audience that he knew who he was talking to and where he was talking at, from “That’s the change we need, Minnesota!” to “Maybe if John McCain spent some time in the schools of South Carolina, or St. Paul, Minnesota,” [crowd applause] “he’d understand that we can’t afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind”. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t appreciate this name representation of my hometown.

Hillary Steps Down

Although everyone’s been waiting beyond patience for Hillary to drop out of the race, I must say that after almost a year and a half, it’s sad see a woman go. Now the dream of seeing feminism come to its political conclusion in the U.S. capitalist system in 2008 won’t be realized. And we’ll no longer hear bites of a Hillary supporter like Jack Nicholson say, “There is nothing on this Earth sexier than a woman you have to salute in the morning.”

Hillary’s Concession Speech

But as sad as it is to see Hillary go, it’s sadder to see Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer drop out of the race for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota. Today, in spite of previous tax confusions and a reputation for a big mouth, Al Franken won the DFL endorsement as candidate for U.S. Senate. I only hope to see Jack continue to run for public office in the future.

Tags: Barack Obama, Democratic Nomination, Hillary Clinton, St. Paul