How can sane people really vote for a person

[NanceGreggs]

165. Nothing weird about it.

Discussion sites tend to attract the like-minded while repelling those of differing opinions.

DU's traffic started declining back in '08, when Obama-bashing and Dem-bashing were permitted by changes to the TOS. Over time, many Obama supporters left and more and more Obama bashers registered.

That trend became even more pronounced with the move to a jury system, whereby jurors are "not expected to enforce the TOS" (as per Skinner). By then, lines were clearly drawn between Obama/Dem supporters and those who did nothing but rail against both. Not held to any rules or guidelines, jurors were free to vote for a "hide" or a "leave" based on who the alerted-on was and which "side" they were on.

Not surprisingly, many of the Obama/Dem bashers quickly morphed into HRC/Dem bashers. And again, HRC supporters started to leave, while BS-supporting newbies signed up.

Imagine you've just discovered DU for the first time, and you see post after post about the Evil Hillary. If you're an HRC supporter, you're very unlikely to sign-up. And nowadays, if you're a staunch Democrat, when you see people like John Lewis being thrown under the bus, you're probably not going to stick around either.

The other side of that coin is that if you're a BS supporter (or someone posing as one in order to join-in the HRC/Dem bashing), you're very likely going to sign up and stay.

I post on two pro-HRC sites that are full of Hillary supporters who have left DU - some permanently, some temporarily in hopes that the "no bashing the nominee" rule kicks-in when Hillary is declared.

DU hasn't been a "really liberal website" for years, and it is certainly not a "Democratic-supporting site" anymore. It's just another political message board, where anyone can post whatever they like. The rules that once kept RWers and poseurs from posting here are no longer applied.

It's just simple logic, Logical. If you're an HRC supporter and you keep getting "hides" and "timeouts", while you see some of the vilest crap about Hillary, about the Party, and personal attacks being left to stand, eventually you just leave. And that's what many, many Hill supporters have done, just as many, many Obama supporters did years ago.

Believing that DU is representative of liberals/progressives - or even representative of Democrats of any stripe - is sheer folly. DU's traffic has been in a steady decline for years, a decline that continues unabated. That decline started with the exodus of Obama supporters, and continues with the exodus of Hillary supporters.

Right now, many members don't want their posting privileges curtailed or suspended at the whim of BSers, so they're leaving for sites where they can express their thoughts without that threat hanging over their heads. In addition, many Democrats have left - regardless of which candidate they support - because of the nasty posts that are left standing by juries, and the general anti-Democratic Party atmosphere that has been allowed to flourish.

Every DU post that denigrates long-respected Dems, every post that regurgitates RW talking points, every post that links to RW authors, journalists, bloggers and/or pundits is that last straw for someone who reads it and says enough is enough, and signs-off for good.

DU has become BU - BernieUnderground. Those who aren't Bernie fans either leave in frustration, or get driven off by being stalked, harassed, and attacked. So saying that DU is a "liberal website" is ludicrous, when the vast majority of posters here aren't even "liberal" enough to allow differing opinions to be expressed.