appalling! What was most disturbing, however, was that while it was happening, many progressives seemed to be in a state of denial about it. In hindsight, I don't know if supporters of other candidates brushed off the sexism in order to to support their own candidate, or if they actually didn't see it happening. You are right. We have a long way to go. I think this election, however, was positive for women's equality. We now can see exactly where we are and what attitides still need to be changed.

worthless, but I do know that during the general election, Hillary Clinton was Obama's most effective surrogate. Hillary did 75 campaign stops for Obama. It was Hillary who Obama asked to help him win the voters in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, not Kerry. And for what its worth (probably not much) an AOL poll (AOL is conservative remember-and its membership actually favored McCain to win the Presidency over Obama), 59 percent of respondents said that Hillary would do an "excellent" job of Secretary of State. Thats not a bad place to start from.

here you wrote a nice substantive diary on why Hillary Clinton would make a good Secretary of State and the "Clinton haters" and Freepers had to come over and spam it. I realize that was not the intent of your diary. And I am glad that YOU, unlike some, have gotten over your anger towards Hillary in the primaries. We are one united party, both Hillary and Obama are on the SAME side. Get it Hillary-haters? Hillary supporters and Obama primary supporters got together and won the general election. There is no point in bringing up the primary issues all over again. That ended in June. Move on!

Hillary understands the partisan nature of many trumped up "investigations" and I believe that Hillary would protect Obama from all the bs that the right wing is going to inevitably try to do. She, like no other, understands the importance of a loyal (yet fair) attorney general and would do an excellent job. Heck, I'm glad she's being considered for something. It would make me and her supporters very happy.

1. It will heal any leftover or lingering rift between the Clinton wing and the Obama wing of the Democratic Party (I realize that we are mostly a united party now- but this would remove the last shred of animosity between the two camps. 2. Hillary has proven that she is a loyal and effective surrogate (campaigning for Obama in over 75 stops) showing nothing but support. She may have had drama in her own campaign, but as a surrogate for Obama, there has been no drama. 3. Appointing Hillary, as you said, is a nod to women. I actually think its a much more powerful nod than just "any woman" because remember, many feminists DEEPLY wanted Hillary to be President. 95 percent of us then backed Obama in the general election. 4. Hillaryis44.com may finally shut down. lol 5. Obama wants to improve our standing in the world. Hillary Clinton is committed to doing the same. I pray that Obama picks her. I realize that "its not a done deal" and he may have other reasons for not picking her (such as needing a strong Senator in NY). But lets keep our fingers crossed. This would be a dream come true. Rec'd

Its all been said before......blacks vs gays....yada yada yada. The conservatives want to divide us and build a wedge between the two communities.

Amazing diary. I think that most important variable that determine's one's view of gays, is whether or not they have a friend or family member who is gay. And unfortunately, because of the "church culture" in the AA community, many AA's do not feel comfortable coming out of the closet. If they do come out, they often just sever ties to the black community. Thus, more people in the AA community probably dont believe they have ever met a gay person, so they have never challenged the attitudes that their church feeds them.

It should be re-named "Concern Trolls for McCain" though. hehe

but he redeemed himself with this one.

Poor Selma Hyak!

but the wording of the ballot measure was confusing, and for someone for whom this issue wasn't really that important, it would have been very easy to think a YES vote meant YES TO GAY MARRIAGE when in reality, a YES vote meant NO TO GAY MARRIAGE. Its just like Ellen Degeneres said of the wording "Do you NOT want dessert?" the person answers "YES I want dessert." I believe the wording accounted for more votes than people realize. As for "reaching out to James Dobson"--- well thats not going to happen. I am talking about reaching out to sympathetic African American Church's, such as Trinity Church (made famous by Rev Wright) which has always taken a pro-gay rights stance. I am also talking about reaching out to community organizers, who are also sympthatic to this cause. There are a host of things that we LGBTs could have done better. And also, as I pointed out in my post, a lot of this has to do with age. The younger voters supported gay marraige more than their older counterparts. Time is on our side, and support for gay rights goes up every year.