This was exactly the right speech, pitch perfect. It comfortably exceeded my expectations.

It spoke appropriately to the long struggle for equality of women and African-Americans. It spoke appropriately to the disappointment of her supporters. It spoke appropriately to the need to unite behind the campaign of Barack Obama based on the long list of shared goals between her campaign and his.

Perfect.

According to CNN

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/07/obama-camp-reacts-to-clinton-speech/

Obama watched the speech and issued a statement just over an hour after its delivery.

The fact that Obama chose to play golf on the day doesn't mean he didn't watch the speech. The speech lasted 20 odd minutes. It doesn't have to dictate a whole day's activities.

I can't be bothered arguing this at length, since people are obviously deeply invested in their preferred narratives. But for those who are convinced that it was all sexism, I would remind them that John Edwards, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson and Christopher Dodd are all male and all well-qualified. Hillary outlasted all four in the race. Had Obama not been in the field, I expect she would have won. Even with Obama in the field, I expect she would still have won if she (and Bill) had run a better campaign.

You - and others like you - who continue to insist that WE are saying Hillary Clinton lost her race *only* because of sexism just don't get it.

Of course, you're male; you have issues with Hillary Clinton; you apparently misread/don't understand feminism and/or sexism; and you don't care to educate/inform yourself on any of these issues.

PLEASE stop acting like we're saying Clinton lost *only* because of sexism!

How ironic that you should advise me to treat "you" with accuracy, when you are quite happy to attribute all sorts of things to me for which you could not possibly have evidence.

Clinton supporters are not monolithic. Your reference to "WE" is therefore presumptuous. Some Clinton supporters have attributed her loss to sexism. Some others have said it was an important factor, but not the only one. Others have said that there was significant sexism in the campaign but that it is not why she lost.

I explicitly addressed my remarks to the first group, while providing the second with something to ponder. When advising others to be accurate, you might take care to show the same quality yourself.

Well, your post didn't imply that you thought sexism played a role. It read as if WE are saying that sexism was the ONLY reason she lost, which is not true.

That is apparently how you interpreted it, but that is not what I wrote.

Sexism undoubtedly played a role. I remember early in the campaign seeing Chris Matthews say that the only reason Hillary Clinton won her Senate seat was because her husband cheated on her. I thought this was incredibly offensive. It was obviously false and the fact that Matthews was apparently so blind to Clinton's abilities as to believe such a thing made it clear to me that he had really serious problems with women.

There were many other instances of blatant sexism throughout the campaign.

That said, I am not a Clinton fan. She has enormous abilities but, like her husband, serious flaws. I think those flaws were more damaging to her than sexism was.

I really enjoyed the honesty of this piece --- and its mischievous tone.

I think you have missed a rather more serious insult: the suggestion that the Obamas engaged in a "terrorist fist jab". Even for Fox News, I thought this was incredible. It just shows the mentality of these people. To actually imply the Democratic presidential nominee and his wife are terrorists. Incredible.

An interesting piece as usual. A couple of points.

First, women who are upset at being dismissed as old, white etc. aren't helping themselves by talking about voting for McCain. It is hard to feel positive toward people who claim they will act against their interests out of spite, hurt or whatever.

Second, I don't think it is realistic to expect Obama to act any more kindly toward Clinton than he has. She was his opponent, after all, and she was none too kind to him. He repeatedly defended her right to stay in the contest and has offered her many compliments. Privately, I'm sure he detests her because of the campaign she ran, but publicly he showed all the goodwill that could reasonably be expected.