When Hillary suggested that supporters needed a cathartic moment at the convention, my reaction was, "Ugh, just support Barack and stop dragging this on!" When my mother (a Hillary supporter) was explaining the logistics of how a roll call would work (including Hillary, followed by everyone getting behind Obama), again I felt, "This is going to be a complete mess."
Now after my third night of crying like a baby at this convention, I'm wondering what's going on. Watching New Mexico yield to Illinois, and Illinois yielding to New York, and then Hillary speaking and finally the group roar of, "AYE!" as Barack was finally and officially the nominee. I was crying. I saw grown men in the audience crying. What does this mean? Are the Republicans going to overpower us with their dry-eyed steely attacks? Are we weak?
Bill Clinton was known to shed a tear. Ronald Reagan also could be seen with some tears in his eyes. Both were well-liked by their parties and neither were considered weak. When Hillary scoffed at Barack's speeches saying something about the celestial angels coming down, I was pissed. Because, those were the speeches that made me cry. And in crying they made me care. And for a leader to make us care enough to motivate us, that is not something to be scoffing at, it is at the heart of what we need.
I am thinking towards this evening and I am pretty sure that some tears will be rolling. But I don't feel weak. I feel stronger, more focused, more determined and more hopeful. For as much as I enjoyed the attacks of many of the speakers this week and for as much as I feel a rage against these past years of Republican rule, I feel that wrapped around those feelings is a caring and a love for what is right and what is important. We have been ruled by a government whose only motivation for us has been by fear and hate. I don't want fear and hate to be what America is about anymore. So tonight, let the waterworks flow and then take the strength that they bring to us in a common love for this world and get FIRED UP!