About concern.

[DanTex]

Yeah, I'm concerned too. If Trump wins, it's a very bad time for this country.

And there's nothing wrong with pointing out that Hillary has dropped a bit in the polls the last couple weeks. I'm a total believer in reality, no rose-colored glasses. Whether it's climate projections, economic statistics or poll numbers, it's best to be aware of reality.

So, yeah, Hillary's dropped a bit. She's still ahead by a formidable margin, let's be clear. But still, nothing wrong with pointing out that she's not as far ahead as three weeks ago.

But here's the thing. For noobs especially, maybe you posted a poll, and got some pushback. There's history here. As there is in any community. Not long ago, there were a number of people on DU who effectively wanted Trump to become president, and expressed this desire by constantly attacking Hillary Clinton, cherry-picking polls and pseudo-polls (the Trump fans were especially keen on non-scientific online polls), and generally digging for any negative story on Hillary to gloat about.

The good news is, most of the Trump trolls are gone, now that the ToS have been updated. But history doesn't just disappear. So my advice is twofold:
1) If you post a poll showing Hillary's numbers a bit worse than they used to be and express genuine concern, and then you get some pushback, take it easy. Your post is fine, it's just that the pushback is a remnant of the time that DU was more troll-infested than it is now.
2) If someone posts a poll showing Hillary's numbers a bit worse than they used to be and this reminds you of Trump trolls from days past, take it easy. Your reaction is understandable, but at this point most Trump trolls are gone, and chances are the post is from someone genuinely on our side.

Reading DU these days, I feel a real sense that we're all in this together, trying to elect a great woman president and prevent the unthinkable. There are going to be ups and downs in the polls, and we can handle it.

[Kaleva]

1. Good post!

[sheshe2]

2. Well said.

[mcar]

3. K&R

[tom_kelly]

4. Thanks, Dan. Well put.

[lillypaddle]

5. K&R nt

[NewsCenter28]

6. Thanks for understanding me Dan! n/t!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Thanks for this post.

It's probably inevitable that the polls are going to change over the next two months, which each candidate going up and down at least a bit. Nothing to get freaked out about.

[Andy823]

8. Exactly.

Not to mention that some of those who post those "concern" threads were some who joined in the Hillary hate fest during the primaries. People remember their names and question the sincerity behind their " concern".

[Imperialism Inc.]

9. Ah that makes sense of things. I haven't been around DU much in a couple years and

didn't know the recent history either.

[LiberalLovinLug]

10. I agree about the polls but take strong issue with your interpretation of "Trump trolls"

As a Bernie supporter, and now, following his lead, backing Hillary 100%, I take great umbrage with your false history rewriting of DU.

I can never say there were not any paid or unpaid Trump supporters on here just to troll and cause a disturbance because I don't know, but I would say that NO ONE, give or take perhaps those tiny few that somehow slipped past the mods, were ever trolling for Trump to win. Many of us believed that Bernie's more progressive platform, and not being bound by corporate donors among other things, was the best path forward for America. In the heat of the primary, just because people like me had concerns about Hillary's past positions and her present ties and expressed them did not make us "Trump trolls".

I also don't think anyone, even at JPR, WANTS a Trump presidency. Their argument is that America is headed down the wrong path of a Corporatist state where civil liberties and consumer rights are discarded for the same old failed "trickle down theory" that they have been pushing for decades and contributing to the ongoing widening gap between the rich and the poor. And that they simply cannot in good conscience vote for more of the same. I can respect that.

But I will follow Bernie's example and, even though progress will be slow and plodding working from within, I believe it is much better than blowing up the country with a fascist baffoon at the helm for 4 or even 8 years. And voting for Hillary will help with that. Not only the damage that could be done to the international reputation, and the treasury, civil rights, SCOTUS, but also the bravado given to right wing extremists that will only be emboldened further, making it even more difficult to move the country back to even a moderate center after all the damage is done (like voting machines permanently corrupted, the new SCOTUS sealing in voter suppression laws and GOP gerryrigging, loss of the ACA, and thus setting back eventual single payer for years...etc).

[DanTex]

11. I wasn't talking about you or other Bernie supporters here.

The Trump trolls are gone now, they are at JPR or FR or some other place. JPR/HA Goodman/Sane Progressive/etc. are virtually unanimous in their belief that Trump is preferable to Clinton, so the term "Trump troll" is exactly correct.

I'm as frustrated as anyone else that the GOP has consistently blocked Obama from implementing the policies that Bernie and Hillary and Obama agree upon (which is basically everything). But I certainly don't respect anyone who takes out those frustrations by letting Trump win, because that's obviously not going to somehow magically make the GOP less obstructionist.