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Yes, I’m Now Working Hard for Barack Obama
July 30, 2008

Over a very long 18 months, I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with an extraordinary person, Hillary Clinton. She would have made an outstanding President, maybe one of the greats, but unfortunately, that is not to be.

Like many of you, I ended the campaign bitter and angry by how Hillary was treated by the media, DNC Chair Howard Dean, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party establishment. It will take a long time for me to get over their bias, backroom dealings and ego driven decision making process. But, now many weeks have passed and those of us who supported Hillary have a decision to make…will we follow Hillary Clinton and give our enthusiastic support to Senator Obama, cast our vote for John McCain or just sit this one out. For each of us this is a deeply personal and difficult decision. It is not easy to transfer deep and passionate support for one candidate to another. Some of my friends have chosen to take a stand to drive desperately needed reform in the Democratic Party and the nomination process and others continue to struggle with their decision. While I fully support and respect their opinions, after closely watching Senator Obama and Senator McCain, the choice quickly became clear to me.

As a result, I have decided to fully and actively support Barack Obama for President. As a result of my decision, I have also joined Barak Obama’s National Finance Committee and have committed to playing a significant fundraising role for his campaign both here in New Jersey and across the country.

After meeting on several occasions with Hillary and Senator Obama over the past several weeks, I have come to the conclusion that we must elect Senator Obama as our next President. Even though I remain somewhat concerned about Senator Obama’s lack of experience, he is a true leader and is our best hope to restore America’s prestige around the world and address our problems at home. The task is huge, potentially bigger than any one person. But, as Senator Obama continues to inspire me, Senator McCain comes across as angry and frankly, incoherent. In Barack Obama I have found a person who is extraordinarily comfortable with who he is, someone genuinely warm and welcoming and most importantly, someone with an impressive inner strength. While I may not agree with him (or Hillary Clinton) on every issue, he has the intelligence and conviction to work for positive change…and has the potential to be a transformative figure in American politics. And recently, with the addition of many Clinton advisers onto his staff and inner circle, I have seen a softening of rhetoric and the adoption of policies that are more in line with my views and that of many of my friends. Additionally, I have known many of the senior Obama staff people for many years, they are a terrific and motivated group and I look forward to working with them.

While my support for Senator Obama is strong and enthusiastic, I would be remiss and dishonest if I didn’t also state some of my thoughts concerning the critical need to respect and energize the Hillary Clinton base. Senator Clinton won more votes than anyone in history of the nominating process. She is a great leader and has been extraordinarily gracious in defeat. Now, it is up to the Obama campaign to be as gracious in victory. In order to energize the Clinton base, Senator Obama and his supporters must double up on their effort to help Hillary pay off her debt. Their effort so far has been feeble. And, Hillary Clinton must be allowed to place her name in nomination at the Convention in Denver. It would be unprecedented for this not to happen and would energize Hillary and her supporters more than any other action the Obama campaign can put forward. She has earned it, deserves it and I feel strongly it is in the best interest of the Democratic Party and Senator Obama’s election.

Working with Hillary Clinton over the last 18 months has been one of highlights of my life. I have deep and personal affection for her. It has been an incredible experience. But now it’s time to turn our attention to making sure that we elect a Democrat as President in 2008. The choice between John McCain and Barak Obama is clear. I’m on the Obama team and I hope you will join me.

Posted by Michael Kempner at July 30, 2008 01:03 PM