I spent the day at the Democratic State Convention here in Vermont. I, myself was not a delegate, but I came with my friend, who was a state delegate. Senator Patrick Leahy was there, as was Congressman Peter Welch. The entire thing was an interesting and exciting experience for me, as it was the first state convention I've ever been to. But something really caught my attention at the end, when the two speakers for Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton took to the stage.

First, in support of Hillary Clinton, former VT Governor Madeleine Kunin. I have a lot of respect for her, and it was exciting to hear her speak, even if she was speaking in support of Clinton. But I was very put-off by much of her justification for why she supports Hillary. I found that a lot of her justification was that "it would be beautiful to see a woman place her hand on the bible instead of holding it for her husband." Not a direct quote, I'm going on memory here. Why was I put-off? Because, Hillary's candidacy was brought down to no more than her sex. Yes, Kunin mentioned how intelligent she is, and how hard-working she is. But her main point was that Hillary is a woman. She then, at the very end, repeated words that Hillary had spoke saying something along the lines of, "No matter who's the nominee, Hillary will do everything she can to see that a Democratic is in the White House." Not to mention her own calls and pleas to see MI and FL seated.

The entire speech sounded like a desperate plea to voters. I understand why she makes the arguments she does, why she used the talking points she did, but honestly, it made me a little sad. Sad for Hillary Clinton, that things had been reduced to what they are.

Then, the speaker for Obama took the stage: Former Chairman to the DNC Joe Andrew took to the stage. The entire speech was entirely different. Rather than a plea of support for his candidate, he spent his time talking about unity, and unifying the party. He talked about, no matter who you support, coming together in November to beat John McCain. It was energized, enthusiastic, and certainly optimistic. It was interrupted briefly when Mr. Andrew made a remark about (if I remember correctly) how a candidate needs to be able to inspire people, and a Hillary supporter called out "HILLARY!" I'm all for supporting one's candidate, but honestly, during Governor Kunin's speech, no one rudely interrupted in such a way. What made it even worse was the fact that Mr. Andrew was making the point to be fair, even giving Hillary praise, barely ever specifying a candidate by name, but rather, focusing on the need for a Democrat (generally) in the White House and a Democratic majority in Congress.

I realized from this that Hillary really is done, and it was obvious in the somber, unenthusiastic and desperate tone of Governor Kunin's speech. I honestly think it was the first time I actually felt even slightly bad for Hillary. The feeling didn't last thanks to the gracious Hillary supporter.