Reader Posts
« previous | TPM CAFÉ READER POSTS HOME | next »
Drinking the Kool-aid, Haters, and Coming Together
For those of us liberal blog junkies, a trend has been emerging since John Edwards dropped out. Prior to Edwards leaving, the "we are with you John" and "the media is ignoring John" posts seemed to be the most frequent. People would politely promote Obama and Clinton, sometimes shots would be taken, but overall, things seemed pretty calm.
Then Edwards dropped out, Super Tuesday was a tie, Obama won 11 in a row, and we find ourselves in the middle of one of the biggest two-way heavyweight political battles in recent times. When it was Mitt and McCain in Florida, the Obama, Clinton, and Edwards supporters laughed together and talked about how any of our folks could beat both of them both. Now we are in their shoes.
Lets be honest, the stakes are extremely high and elections matter. They matter a lot. 2000 and 2004 are very fresh in our minds. For both candidates and all of us, the anything can happen feeling of the primary has disappeared. We have one candidate clearly up and one candidate clearly down. Due to the way delegates are assigned, the distance apart looks huge in delegate math (Obama friendly view), but tiny considering how many delegates have been assigned (Clinton friendly view).
I am not an old man, but I have seen enough elections to know that as big as this one is, the last two weeks were highly predictable. When it became a two person race, sides were chosen and the digging in begins. People tend to seek out candidate friendly news and polls, while being horrified by the other side. Near the end (Obama friendly description) or a critical turning point (Clinton friendly description), the campaigns scream loudest giving both sides increased energy.
As big as the stakes are and at this point in the campaign, it is easy for many on both sides to have tunnel vision and drink the kool-aid. I have seen a lot of thoughtful debate and disagreement on both sides (mandates vs universal care, experience vs change, etc), but I have also seen a lot of silly "Hillary is the devil" or "Obama is an empty suit." My other favorites are "I am leaving this blog because everyone hates Hillary" or "I will never vote for Hillary."
I think like Hillary and Obama, many of us share most of the same values, but have some honest and serious disagreement on who has the best ability to realize many of our shared goals. We can and should disagree and debate, but I think the grandstanding and tantrums are just as silly in liberal blog land as they are for both campaigns in the breathing world. While I understand and find it highly predictable that we have found ourselves here (remember McCain/Mitt), I want to encourage everyone to take a breath, continue to work hard for your candidate (in the campaigns and intellectually on the blogs), and know that eventually our greatest strength will be working together in November and beyond.
Okay, rip me to shreds...lol.
Comments (20)
Grant,
Thanks for this post. I appreciate the great job you did at putting the heat of our arguments in perspective and reminding us to keep larger goals in mind.
Do you mind if I tack on a few specific requests of TPM bloggers?
I'd like to encourage everyone to appeal to the best in each other.
It would be great to see more people use respect and empathy when expressing a difference of opinion. And if someone on a thread is obviously offensive ("Hillary's the devil," or "Obama's an empty suit"), consider just ignoring them. If you feel that someone is just being mean and TRYING to upset you, this can be a great strategy. It's probably not worth the energy it takes to get angry and engage. Besides, engaging only perpetuates or even escalates hostility.
Speaking of respect, consider that some people are offended by profanity when used to criticize a post or a comment. Occasionally using an expletive is effective, but a little goes a long way.
Avoid assuming that every person who supports one candidate or the other thinks and acts exactly alike. Not everyone is a "bot" who is automatically hostile to "bots" from the "enemy" camp!
Try to keep your sense of humor! Most of us here are left-leaning Democrat-friendly, and we shouldn't lose our ability to laugh at ourselves and this situation. It'll keep us sane and nimble!
February 25, 2008 8:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not referring to you, but I think one way of self-diagnosing whether you've "drunk kool-aid" is if you think a lot of people from the "other side" have "drunk the kool-aid". That, and possibly the excessive use of "scare quotes". :)
February 25, 2008 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmm... does the fact that I do NOT think alot of people from the "other side" have "drunk the kool-aid" mean I haven't drunk it?
Not from the way I get attacked for actually advocating a balanced and nuanced view of the candidates and comparisons of their records...
I suspect the reason this post has so few comments is that people really don't know how to respond when faced with something so absolutely reasonable.
February 25, 2008 8:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a good sign. Of course, there could be some false negatives. ;)
February 25, 2008 8:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
D'oh!
Hey, Ben. What are "scare quotes"? Is that what I've been doing a lot of?
Dang.
February 25, 2008 8:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Scare quotes are when you put quotes around something when you're not actually quoting someone. As always, Wikipedia goes a lot more in-depth.
February 25, 2008 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
What values are those, Grant?
Should we all wish to exclude those who aren't the minority that are middle class or should we be willing to include all Americans, even including non-citizens, in our concerns?
Is power all important or are goals important?
Do civil liberties and the Constitution matter or are they immaterial?
I never shared most of the values of Joe Lieberman and could have cared less whether other rightwingers calling themselves Democrats were elected.
The result of the big tent that says all Democrats are good and all others are bad is that the community shrinks and people that have nothing in common share the power and all that matters is the spoils.
The result is we see a Congress elected to end the occupation of Iraq that says we just can't do it and hands another blank check to George Bush. We see a Congress that just can't do a darn thing about the most egregious transgressions of law and says impeachment is off the table. Got to go along to get along. You see it's all about power and the hell with what is right and good.
Is that what you want, Grant? Are those the values you think we all share? Or were you thinking of something else?
It should be obvious to the dullest about now that the values Hillary and Obama prize are quite different.
Best, Terry
February 25, 2008 9:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would just like to say that I am a great admirer of Keith Olbermann. His Special Comments are extremely poingant and speaks to the outrage we feel against the current administration and the republican hypocracy as a whole.
That being said, we are extremely disgusted when one of our own party acts, walks, talks like a republican in tearing down their opponent.
The reason why we are all here is because we are passionate about our country. We want justice, rule of law and decency back. Those are not issues we can just put on the back burner, especially when one candidate has those qualities in abundance, while the other is seriously lacking. After 8 years of darkness, is it any wonder people are passionate for the former and greatly resist the latter?
The signs were early on, in NH Hillary did every republican operative proud. Keith Olbermann called her on it in a blistering display.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BB4Vvgn_4k
I dont know how any self respecting democrat can support this person. The calls to make nice when it is our country that is at stake and the direction of our world is on the brink.
Put our passions aside as if this is just some petty spat? I dont think so.
February 26, 2008 10:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
I just discover Keith Olbermann a couple of days ago (yeah yeah.. I don't watch the MSM very much).
The man is bloody awesome.
February 26, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
That would be, "discovered"
February 26, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great link. Hadn't seen that.
February 26, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Posts like this seem to suggest that Obama and Hillary are even in their chances to secure the nomination. They're not. If their places were switched, the MSM and Democrats at large would have made Obama quit right after Wisconsin.
I will accept these calls for everyone to just get along as soon as Hillary drops out of the race. Until then, you cannot have Hillary Clinton insulting Obama and Obama supporters daily and expect us to see this as anything other than a contest. A contest between two opponents.
There'll be plenty of time for unity once Hillary drops out. Until then, there's no coming together, and people need to stop calling for unity. Teams hug one another after the game. Not in the 4th quarter.
February 26, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
There'll be plenty of time for unity once Hillary drops out.
You wish. You guys have burned far too many bridges at this point.
February 26, 2008 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bridges to where?
February 26, 2008 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bridges to what should be a natural Obama constituency...ie Clinton supporters.
February 26, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
What are the consequences? Are you voting for McCain?
February 26, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
No...won't be voting McCain. My last republican vote was in 76.
Unsure at the moment as to what I'll eventually do. There's a good chance that, in the end, I'll give Obama a hold-my-nose vote purely on the court appointments - Supreme and lower both - issue. At the same time, I've encountered far too many of his supporters that leave me asking myself the question, "Why would I want to be associated with this crew?"
February 26, 2008 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
-- At the same time, I've encountered far too many of his supporters that leave me asking myself the question, "Why would I want to be associated with this crew?" --
I'm one of those horrible Barack Obama supporters, but you must realize how ridiculous that statement was. What can Obama do about terrible people like me? I'm sure he doesn't know I exist (though he does send out those nice emails thanking me for the support).
And if you pay any attention to posts here, you'll recognize that some of the Clinton supporters are even worse. Does that affect my opinion of Hillary Clinton? Of course not. It's her own actions - and those of her top advisers - that matter to me.
It's natural to be partisan. We all want our own candidate to win. But if we lose, should we just give up? Run home and burn the bridges behind us? Or accept that the majority just felt differently? I think you're wrong, but that doesn't make you evil. Let's all remember that.
February 26, 2008 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. They are giving Hillary so much slack by considering her really in contention at this point. She'd have to pull off a miracle to close this thing--even over the course of months.
February 26, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary is toast. She should drop out before she takes the whole party down with her.
February 26, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Post a Comment