Urban Thought Collective

So Hillary Clinton finally endorsed Barack Obama on Saturday as the Democratic presidential nominee, urging her supporters to put aside their disappointment over her defeat and get behind Obama in the general election campaign against Republican John McCain.

“The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand, is to take our energy, our passion, our strength, and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States,” Ms. Clinton told a crowd of 8,000 supporters during an emotion-filled rally at the National Building Museum in Washington.

“Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.”

Clinton’s surrender was long overdue. She had previously stated publicly that the race would be over on Feb 5th after Super Tuesday had concluded. She never had a clue just how prophetic her statement was. The race was over for her. Obama ended the night of Super Tuesday strong nationally by sweeping to victories in several states that Clinton had expected to win. Obama then moved on to 11 victories in a row throughout February, taking a lead in Democratic delegates that Clinton never recovered from.

Clinton and her supporters now seem poised to pressure Obama to select her as the Vice President. If I were Obama, I would say thank you, but hell no! Clinton and her camp threw everything including the kitchen sink at Obama during the campaign. So, although I understand the politics of Democratic Party unity, this ain’t the way.

The Clintons seem to have this sense of entitlement. Now that Obama is the nominee, its time for change. This is now the party of Obama and the thousands of Obamaniacs from all walks of life across the nation who were inspired to come out and take the nomination from Clinton with their vote for change. If Clinton is selected as the Vice President on the ticket, I believe it would be contrary to the change that Obama campaigned on and brings to the table.

The Clinton endorsement and those from her African-American superdelegate supporters such as California Congresswomen Maxine Waters, Diane Watson, and Laura Richardson are welcome ones. Yet, at this stage in the game who really cares about an endorsement from the losing team after the race is over? My hope is that the Clinton supporters will stop whining and show some maturity. They need to get behind Obama. He played by the rules and won fair and square. Obama doesn’t owe the Clintons anything and certainly not a spot on the ticket.

I wish Clinton well. She made a nice concession speech. Let’s hope that she can repair her tainted legacy by her actions in fully supporting Obama on the campaign trail this fall.

Najee Ali is Executive Director of Project Islamic H.O.P.E, a national civil rights organization that advocates for the human rights of oppressed people regardless of race, gender or religion. He was selected by Wave Newspapers and Our Weekly Newspaper as one of the 25 most influential black leaders in Los Angeles. More information is available at: www.islamichope.org.