Healing Hillary

Yes! She did it again. Hillary Clinton, disappointed as she must have been at her failed presidential campaign despite 18 million votes, came through as a "healer" of a divided Democratic Party.

On the second night of the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado, she pulled no punches as she spoke favourably of her opponent Barack Obama as the man "who must be our president" even as she pummelled the Bush administration for its failings and "more war" if John McCain, the Republican nominee, became president.

Time will tell if she really did heal the rift between her supporters and that of Barack Obama. However, she does deserve full credit for declaring it was time "to unite as a single party with a single purpose" in the quest for "no way, no how, no McCain".

Her detractors have questioned her sincerity and will continue to do so because of the statements made by her when Obama was a bitter rival for the Democratic nomination.

Moving on

But it must be said that the lady has graciously moved on and nothing expressed it better than when she very passionately said, "Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose."

I have never been shy of declaring myself a Hillary Clinton fan and on Wednesday morning at 5am Dubai time I too wept unashamedly along with her audience when she asked, "Were you in this campaign just for me?"

Well, if truth be told, the answer would be a resounding yes!

Hillary spoke from the heart to many of her die-hard female supporters on the 88th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States and paid tribute to her mother, her daughter and especially to her voters who created "18 million cracks in the glass ceiling".

Despite her loss, I believe Hillary is going to be a force in American politics for some time to come.

My late wise grandmother always said: "If you don’t get what you were desperately hoping for, remember it’s because bigger, brighter things are waiting for you."

Hillary has started on her path to healing and all she needs to do right now is to look to the future.