The squabbling needs to stop!!!

[coloradodem2005]

At the beginning of the week, I felt a surge of optomism. O'Neill just outed * on Iraq. The job report reflected how bad things were for me and a lot of people. The truth on this comes out. People were pissed at * for the immigration policy and it seems like the tide is finally turning in our favor. We still have to deal with the Diebold problem however I have gained a level of optomism.


The Dem candidates have said and done things that have disappointed us at one point or another. Clark paid * compliments a couple of years ago. Gephardt, Kerry and Edwards voted for IWR. Even as a Dean supporter, what he said about Clark, I did find out of line. I also wish he phrased the Confederate Flag statement differently. In many ways while I have my preferences for Dean, I think that they are all heroes in their own right for deciding to take on the ultimate villan. Unfortunately this dirty campaigning has been par for the course. I hope that when the nominee has been decided, we shall get behind him. But the infighting here makes me feel like we have little chance in beating an incompetent incumbant. I would like to think that any of these candidates could beat Bush. When people say that Candidate X cannot beat Bush, it makes me a little less optimistic. We need to stand together as Liberals and Democrats, support our respective candidates and vote or caucus and let the chips fall where they may. But the divisiveness needs to stop.

[madrchsod]

1. you forgot clinton

when things are starting to settle down -throw in clinton,esp something he said months ago...

[meisje]

2. this is why in 15 years we will have a one party system

The dems are self destructing!!

[Blue_State_Elitist]

3. This is what Bush does to us.

Because Shrub is in office, some democrats proclaim that it is all over. This country suffered through eight years of Ray Guns and 4 years of Bush the elected, before the democrats brought in eight years of peace and prosperity. It'll get better, because it's only getting worse for Smirk.

[eileen from OH]

4. I know what you mean

but keep in mind that the people who hang out here on DU are immensely involved in politics and read/know every little snippet that hits the news anywhere. On the one hand, that's good because most of us know a helluva lot more than the talking heads on tv. Bad, because we see how they spin the lies and get immensely frustrated. Good, because we don't just listen sit on our butts, but go out and work and support a candidate. Bad because some take it waaaaay too personally and some are waaaay too invested in the success of their guy as somehow a reflection of our own wisdom/rightness/liberalness/honesty/whatever. It's human to do this, especially when you've given time and money and energy to back your candidate. It's also human to want to back a winner. (BTW, I include myself in all that.)

Thing is, and I like when someone occasionally reminds us of this - this is part and parcel of the Game of Politics. We see it from the outside and interpret events in the light of our personal preferences and prejudices. The trashing/defending, the micro-parsing, the misrepresentation of remarks and the endless corrections/arguments about misrepresentations come with the territory of any competition and this is the Mother Of All Competitions.

This too, shall pass, I predict. At least that's my take on it.

eileen from OH

[Woodstock]

5. I just hope they don't spend the next 6 months like this

Hopefully something will shake out of the primaries. I can't bear to see * sit back on his millions while the Dem candidates do all his dirty work for him.

[cryofan]

6. Sorry, but propagating candidate memes is NOT squabbling

It is a very important part of the campaign. It is a form of debate. It is about getting ideas about the candidate out into the public.

If I say that I think Candidate X is an alien from outer space, you will ignore me, right? That meme will go nowhere. No evidence. You couldn't care less if I claim your candidate is an alien.

But if I say that Dean is not a good Democrat because he said he would not feel pressured to further the Democratic agenda, then Dean supporters will be displeased. And if I say that Lieberman will get us into debt because he is obsessed with the future of Israel, then Lieberman supporters will be displeased.

But why would these supporters be displeased? Because those memes are plausible. Why? Because there is some evidence for them. So those memes can hurt the candidates. But someone has to win and someone has to lose. It is a tough, zero-sum game. It's not nice. But is a form of political debate.