Give Clinton her due

There will be plenty of time for the haters, the critics, the detractors and the garden-variety male chauvinists to spew their venom about Hillary Clinton. But for now, all Americans should set aside their biases and give Clinton the credit she deserves for making political history.

On Tuesday, the former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady became the first woman to win the presidential nomination of a major political party.

It’s no small feat – and it brings to mind another historic moment in the annals of American politics.

In 2008, Barack Obama became the first African-American to win his party’s nomination and ultimately the presidency. Obama is completing his second four-year term.

At the heart of this transformation of presidential politics is the Democratic Party, which has shown a willingness to tear down barriers that have long worked to the advantage of white male candidates.

During her victory speech Tuesday night in Brooklyn after she had secured the 2,383 delegates needed for nomination, Clinton hit just the right notes as she reflected on the outcome of the primary.

“I’m going to take a moment later tonight and the days ahead to fully absorb the history we’ve made here. But what I care about most is the history our country has yet to write. Our children and grandchildren will look back at this time, at the choices we are about to make, goals we will strive for, principles we will live by. And we need to make sure that they can be proud of us.”

Political activism

Clinton also paid homage to this nation’s tradition of political activism.

“Tonight’s victory is not about one person. It belongs to generations of women and men who struggled and sacrificed and made this moment possible. In our country, it started right here in New York, a place called Seneca Falls, in 1848, when a small but determined group of women, and men, came together with the idea that women deserved equal rights, and they set it forth in something called the Declaration of Sentiments, and it was the first time in human history that that kind of declaration occurred.

“So we all owe so much to those who came before, and tonight belongs to all of you.”

But while the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was eager to share credit for her success, the fact remains that her determination, toughness and, yes, political experience worked to her advantage.

The primary contest was no cakewalk. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, surprised the experts with his ability to attract millions of Democratic voters, many of them first-timers. The self-described Democratic socialist struck a responsive chord with young people, especially college-goers, and the working poor.

Clinton and party leaders are well aware that Sanders’ supporters will have to be appeased and courted or else they could sit out the general election.

If they do, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, will be a step closer to the finish line. A year ago when he announced his candidacy, the billionaire businessman from New York City was given no chance of winning the nomination. He had never run for public office, and ideologically had little in common with the traditional Republican Party.

Much to the displeasure of the GOP establishment, Trump is the last man standing from the field of 17 candidates – many of them party stalwarts. Trump’s take-no-prisoners style of politics has created deep divisions within the party, but it has also drawn more then 10 million voters to his cause.

Indeed, Trump has been blasting away at Clinton for months, referring to her as “Crooked Hillary.” He has accused her of lying about her use of private e-mail servers while she was secretary of state.

Trump has said he will give a major speech this week detailing how the Democratic presidential candidate and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have enriched themselves through the Clinton Foundation.

For her part, Hillary Clinton has been pounding away at Trump’s inexperience in government, especially with regard to foreign policy, his racist remarks about Muslims and illegal immigrants and his denigration of women and the physically handicapped. She has also taken up the cause of former students of Trump University who claim they were scammed.

The general election promises to be a no-holds-barred affair with Trump launching personal attacks on Clinton, the way he did during the primary season.

The differences between the two presumptive nominees are stark, but whether voters will have a chance to judge them on the issues remains to be seen.

Clinton has been preparing for this moment for years and her loss to Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary made her more determined than ever to succeed.

Here’s what the president had to say about his former secretary of state:

“She’s got the courage, the compassion, and the heart to get the job done. And I can say that as somebody who had to debate her more than 20 times. Even after our own hard-fought campaign, in a testament to her character, she agreed to serve our country as secretary of state. And from the decision we made in the Situation Room to get Bin Laden to our pursuit of diplomacy in capitals around the world, I have seen her judgment, I’ve seen her toughness, I’ve seen her commitment to our values up close.”

The president added that he was “fired up” by Clinton’s nomination and “I cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary.”

Trump was successful in the primary because he intimidated the other candidates with his relentless bullying tactics.

He can be expected to use the same tactics with Clinton, but he will find that she’s battle-hardened and won’t be cowered into submission.