The bulk of my post disappeared into the ether. Here is the whole thing:

I am writing this post as a woman who was not decided at the beginning of this primary race. As a struggling single mother of both a bi-racial son and a white daughter. I am writing this post as a “hard-working American,” with generations of military service in my family, and as a person who spent most of my adult life without health insurance and no money in the bank. As a person who worked hard to finish college later in life, and as a present student attaining a graduate degree in social work so that I can help others who are struggling.

I am writing this post as a Democrat and as an idealist, as someone who cares deeply about what is happening in this country and in this world. As someone who has considered, very carefully, the issues at hand, and who has come to the unshakable conclusion that Barack Obama is the best candidate to lead the Democratic party. And, perhaps most importantly right now, I am writing this post as a friend to many who continue to support Hillary Clinton in her race to the candidacy.

It was not the election that kept me awake last night. It was not concern about popular votes or pledged delegates that disrupted my sleep. It was Hillary Supporters Count Too. It was the post on CNN declaring “The best candidate in 2008: Hillary or McCain!” It was the 20-30—or is it 40?—percent of Hillary supporters who say they will not support Obama should he become the nominee, and now pledge to campaign against him. Please. Do not be snarky. Do not tell me not to worry, they don’t matter. They do matter. They matter to me.

It makes me feel heartsick, honestly, to think that any person who claims to be a Democrat—and especially a feminist—would even consider voting for John McCain. Some people say these are idle threats. Other people say this is evidence of how closely aligned with the GOP Hillary has become. But I don’t believe either of these things. I believe this represents a genuine misunderstanding. There is some vital point here which is simply not getting across, or a mistaken perception that has been taken disastrously to heart.

Yes, I know. People on one side will say this has been intentional, a wedge that Hillary has thrust through the heart of the party for her own gains. People on the other side will tell me it is Obama’s (fill in the blank: elitism/inexperience/minister/race/gender). But both of the candidates and the DNC have asked us to play nicely. They have espoused the urgent need for party unity. Hillary herself has said it is critical for her supporters to get behind the eventual nominee—even if that’s not her. And Obama continues to support her right to stay in the race. So, why?

The world envisioned by John McCain terrifies me. And the idea that my fellow Democrats—that my fellow feminists—would advocate for him is equally terrifying. I wonder if understanding why others support Obama would be helpful. Without making a comparison, without attacking Hillary or her supporters, without focusing yet again on our differences, can we articulate what it is that matters to us in this race, so that perhaps we can begin to see what it is that we have in common, to remember what it is that makes us Democrats in the first place?

Thank you, Liora. To help Clinton supporters see the common ground you are talking about, maybe someone who is accomplished in computer graphics could build a line item table that compares the views of Obama, Clinton and McCain on all the major issues?

Think On These Things
Random Thoughts on the 2008 Presidential Election with a Pro-Obama SlantHome About Candidate Comparisons Obama 101 Obama en Español Why Obama, Not Clinton? Video: Why Isn’t John McCain Supporting Webb’s GI Bill?
May 21, 2008

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Video: Barack Obama Wins Majority of Pledged Delegates
May 20, 2008
Huge congratulations to Barack Obama! This is such a magnificent feat!

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How Hillary Is Not Promoting Inclusive Feminism
May 20, 2008
This is one of the best analyses I have read of this entire campaign. It hits the nail on the head with regard to the intersections of race and gender in this campaign. I tried to make this point back in January and February, but Eisenstein’s piece is just plain better.

It’s also why it’s sad that Emily’s List, Gloria Steinem, Robin Morgan, and others can’t jump out and support Michelle Obama against the attacks on her AND why they can’t see the intersections of race and gender in attacks on Obama as “a kid” or a black man “doing something in the neighborhood.”

The bright side though is that there seems to be a great generational difference and the younger generation is much better attuned to these dynamics.

Zillah Eisenstein writes:

Hillary’s preoccupation with white voters is a dead give-a-way of how she thinks about gender, and being a woman. Gender is white to her, like race is black. Bill and Hillary Clinton have thrown African-Americans to the wind because they thought they could play the gender card with its history of whiteness and win.

And here lies the rub. Hillary Clinton presents herself to the electorate as a woman. She argues that she wants to break the glass ceiling of/for gender. But the truth is that she is not simply a woman but both a woman and also white. The very fact that she ignores her own race, in a way that Obama cannot, is proof of the normalized privileging of whiteness. In this instance white is not a color, but the color, the standard, by which others are judged. So she silently, inadvertently but knowingly, uses her color to write her meanings of gender and mobilize older white women and angry white men by doing so. She presents herself as a woman but her real power here is as white. Misogyny — the fear, hatred, punishment, and discrimination towards women — ensures that Hillary’s privilege is her whiteness.

…

Hillary Clinton should never be demeaned for being a woman. But being a woman comes in all colors and classes. Hillary has done the unforgivable. She has used race — the whiteness card — on behalf of gender. We, the big “we” — the huge diversely defined feminisms in this country and across the globe — are better than this. Black feminists in this country, during the 1970’s and 80’s women’s movement made sure to break open the race/gender divide and clarify that gender is always racialized and race is always gendered. No person ever experiences one with out the other. Only when whiteness parades as an invisible standard can you think that gender and race can be separate. As such Hillary is white and a female and Barack is black and male. They are each both. Everyone is.

Hillary’s manipulation and misrepresentation of her gender reveals her sexual decoy status. Being female is not enough to allow one to claim their gender as a political tactic. Such claims must be rooted in a commitment to end gender discrimination and their racial and class formulations; not pit races and classes against each other in the hopes of being the first woman president. Clinton does not share a political identity with women of all classes and colors and nations simply because she has a female body. She first needs to claim that body and demand rights for it — reproductive, day care, health, education, etc. She has no multi-racial woman’s agenda because she has no anti-racist agenda. Meanwhile she is thrilled that she won big in West Virginia. West Virginia is “almost heaven” to Hillary. She says it shows the country that she can win the “hardworking white Americans” in November. But West Virginia is not heaven, nor is it like much of the rest of the country. It may look like what the U.S. used to be, but that is exactly the point. It does not have the diversity of color, age, culture that defines the U.S. today. Neither does Hillary’s vision.

I found it interesting what happened when naral national endorsed obama. I think that their is a major generational split combined with the fighting mentality of older feminist (no judgement on that ). the outrage expressed was along the lines of lack of loyalty, supporting a man, and not enough collective consultation. the supporters of the decision were women whom belive that men can actively fight for womens rights and the younger women are not in fighting mode. The younger generation tends to internalize the beliefs and values the older generation theorizes. I think unity will happen amoung feminist when there is an understanding that the torch will not be ripped from your hands and given to the next generation. That power and ideas can be shared.