An Appeal for Unity

I wanted to post a brief message this evening, now that the Democratic Primary season has come to a close. All of us can take great pride in the fact that our Party, once again, has made history by breaking a barrier that has, for too long, stood in this nation. Although the nomination will not be official until our Party meets in Denver this August, we have selected the first African-American to be the nominee to be President of the United States.

It is not our first historic nomination. We are the Party who first nominated a Roman Catholic to be our Party’s Nominee (Alfred E. Smith in 1928). Of course, we as a nation more fully committed to the promise of religious tolerance when we elected the first Roman Catholic President, John F. Kennedy, in 1960. We were the first major Party to nominate a woman to be Vice President (Geraldine Ferraro in 1984).

Senator Clinton, although she did not win our Party’s nomination, also has a claim to history. She is not the first woman to have run to become a major party’s nominee. She is, however, the first one to have almost become that nominee. While the results, statewide and nationwide, may not be what she and her supporters worked towards and worked for, everyone who has looked at the actual numbers -- especially here in Union County -- agrees that there is much she and they can be proud of.

When we voted in the North Carolina primary and met in convention in May, we were choosing which way North Carolina would vote in Denver this summer. Our focus on the decision to be made in Denver, however, should not blind us to the fact that Denver is not the end of our race. It is the beginning.

While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama may have some differences, when compared with the Bush-McCain led vision of the Republican Party, their overarching vision is the same. In order for us to insure this vision, we need all Democrats to come together and work for our party’s success in November. I hope you will remain committed -- no matter whether your personal preference for who will be our standard bearer has been chosen or not.