At N.Y. Breakfast, 'Mixed Emotions'

by Russell Berman
Mon, 25 Aug 2008 at 3:21 PM

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As New York's 361-member convention delegation gathered to hear Senator Clinton address their breakfast meeting this morning, there was a palpable sense of what-might-have-been.

"Hillary for President" placards had been replaced by the more polite "Hillary Made History" signs, and the crowd needed a little warming up. A morning that would have served as the kick-off to a four-day victory party had instead taken on the feel of a past-tense tribute to New York's leading lady.

"Are you ready to elect a president?" the state party chairwoman, June O'Neill, asked. Hearing only scattered applause, she tried again. "C'mon, this is New York! Are you ready to elect a president?" The audience responded with louder cheers.

A few minutes later, Senator Schumer put a voice to the mood. "Despite all of us, or many of us, who worked so hard for Hillary, despite our feelings of, 'maybe it could have been,' we know we have a task ahead," he said.

"We all do have — most of us, almost all of us in this hall — mixed emotions," he added. "We know it and we know when you've worked and struggled so long and so hard to achieve a goal, the feelings every one of us and particularly Hillary has inside, about that wonderful struggle that broke so many glass ceilings, but didn't quite break them all."

Mr. Schumer testified to her support of Senator Obama while also paying tribute to Mrs. Clinton's now-famous tenacity.

"Despite the setbacks, and despite the barriers, and despite the sexism, and despite everything else, nothing stops her," he said to cheers.

As expected, the emotional climax of the event arrived when Mrs. Clinton was introduced. The applause was lengthy, loud, and rapturous, and the former first lady, after hugging Mr. Schumer, Governor Paterson, and the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, waited several moments before paying her extended own tribute to her home state supporters. "I can never ever thank you enough," she said, before launching into an enthusiastic endorsement of Mr. Obama.

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