...to quote Kendrick Lamar. Here's why.
During the 2008 campaign...
...P.U.M.A. was so much of a thing that people thought that it would split the Democratic Party...
...then-Senator Clinton invoked Rev. Jeremiah Wright, stating that he would not be HER pastor (side note: People who never listened to the sermon don't know that during that "infamous" sermon, the oh-so-terrible Rev. Dr. Wright praised President Clinton as "an intelligent friend in the White House", as opposed to the "dumb Dixiecrat" that succeeded him).
...then-Senator Clinton stated that she wished the primaries were run like the Republican primaries...
...Bill Clinton showed his behind in dismissing then-Senator Obama's South Carolina victory...
...I was so concerned about then-Senator Clinton's upcoming speech, thinking that she was going to send the Democratic Party into chaos and give in to P.U.M.A. acolytes...
...then-Senator Clinton used the assassination of Robert Kennedy, and hinted that an assassination is still plausible (much to everyone's horror) as a reason to stay in the race and not concede...
...then-Senator Clinton was caught lying about being under sniper fire, to the point that comedian Sinbad fact-checked her...
...her campaign was run by Mark Penn, who proved to be completely outclassed by the Obama campaign in every area...
...then-Senator Clinton went to a Black church, talking about "I don't feel no ways tah'r'd..."
...lastly, Clinton gave, at that time, the most dynamic speech of her campaign, her concession speech which included a full-throated, unequivocal endorsement of then-Senator Obama. And gave an equally dynamic speech at the DNC Convention.
At times, the 2008 campaign was very nasty. It was a clash of sexism vs. racism. Then-Senator Clinton campaigned as if the Presidency was a foregone conclusion, and that campaigning was a mere formality. She took the Black vote for granted, and she paid dearly for it. She campaigned as if the "goodwill" generated by Bill Clinton's presidency would automatically be conferred upon her.
Then-Senator Clinton erased a lot of rancor and built bridges with her speeches congratulating and endorsing then-Senator Obama.
Now, the roles are switched, with Secretary Hillary Clinton as the presumptive nominee and Senator Bernie Sanders as the underdog candidate. This race has had its moments, with the rise of "Bernie Bros" playing the role that P.U.M.A. played last time around. And, the Democratic National Committee has a patently awful chairman in the person of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who makes RNC chief and useless tub of goo Reince Priebus look competent by comparison. Her obvious bias towards Sec. Clinton was the LEAST of Wasserman-Schultz's sins, as she oversaw tremendous congressional and gubernatorial losses for the Democrats in previous years.
But despite Wasserman-Schultz, and despite allegations of a "rigged" contest, we now have Madame Secretary Hillary R. Clinton as the presumptive nominee for the Presidency of the United States. And, love it or hate it, we gon' be alright.
Why?
Because after all of the venom and bile of the 2008 campaign, both sides came together, only leaving outliers to kvetch and moan about the results.
We gon' be alright because the Republicans have put up, without hyperbole, the WORST candidate in their party's history. This candidate is so bad that two living Presidents in HIS party won't endorse him, and Republican politicians are trying to jump ship to disconnect themselves from their party's standard-bearer. But it won't work. I'm looking at YOU, Senator Mark Kirk.
We gon' be alright because we were alright in 2008, when the candidate that didn't win lent her full support to the winner.
We gon' be alright if Bernie Sanders makes an equally dynamic speech, offering a full-throated endorsement of Secretary Clinton while still being a (better) advocate for progressive issues. I'm optimistic that despite it all, Sanders will "do the job" (to use a pro-wrestling fan term) and endorse the party's nominee unequivocally. The onus is now on him to help bridge the gap between his supporters and hers. If Sanders is the man of character that I believe him to be, then his concession speech will be graceful, eloquent, and positive.
Lastly, we gon' be alright because President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and others will all be unleashed (Sen. Warren has already been giving Trump the "Samsonite Luggage Test" treatment). Robert Reich said it best when he endorsed Senator Sanders: Secretary Clinton is the best candidate for the system we have now. And like it or not, we're here now. We gon' be alright if we coalesce behind Secretary Clinton while the GOP dumpster fire rages out of control.
We can do this. We can vote down-ballot, to get rid of the Tea Potty once and for all, relegating them to the dustbin of history.
WE GON' BE ALRIGHT.
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