Tulsi Gabbard attacks democrats for funding Trump Oppo Research

[emulatorloo]

240. Great analysis of DU differing reactions to 2000/2004 vs 2016

I feel like DU'ers are still very unified on policy and share the same goals. As usual we have disagreements on strategy to reach those goals. But before that has never been insurmountable.

I feel like right now we're fighting about personalities rather than policies.

My perception is that we actually began primary 2016 pretty unified. I always go with the primary candidate furtherest to the left, and then get fully behind the nominee. Seemed at first majority of DU'ers had a preference for either Bernie or HRC, but had positive feelings about both despite the preference.

Initial debates were mostly Bernie saying "I agree w Senator Clinton" and HRC saying "I agree with Senator Sanders". There were minor differences but that's about it. They were very collegial, I remember them smiling at each other in sort of an eye-rolling way when MM tried a lame attack on both.

Weaver fucked up and went negative, which from what I've read Bernie was against when Weaver and/or Devine were initially pushing it. Then I beleive some people acting in bad faith pushed division here. Egregious rightwing cartoons, praise for Fox News 'experts' like Joe DiGenova, Moonie Times articles, even Breitbart articles were posted here on DU. Anything that villianized HRC.

Then all sorts of CT got introduced into the discourse after the primaries (as we now know much orchestrated by Putin). Trump starts using CT loaded rhetoric to appeal to Sanders supporters. All of this designed to stir the pot and divide us.

People hardened their perceptions and all the sudden it became conventional wisdom that our two candidates were diametrically opposed even though they weren't. To me this false perception is the root of why we can't get over the primary.

"Just as the chaos of Trump is affecting the Republicans, it has kept us from moving on. However, when we do, a first step is to define what we see as things that must be done -- beyond the obvious of fixing things that Trump will have broken. I suspect that as we approach the end of 2018, we will gravitate to leaders who surface for 2020. One caveat - all possibilities will not compare in gravitas to past leaders .. at first."

Agree totally. I also believe real world Dems are not as divided as Republicans. So many solid efforts at resistance. DU is a bit of a bubble, we too will get unified as 2018 gets closer.