2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: The Bernie Sanders smear campaign has begun [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Sorry if that happened. It should not have. Bernie would not like it any more than I do.
This is, in my opinion, not about the candidates' supporters here on DU, but about the issues. One of the issues is the acceptance of corporate money and the money of very wealthy people with an agenda other than that of Americans, but I don't think that issue involves any of the DU posters.
So, these personal jabs on DU should not be taking place. Sorry if they are. And I hope I can speak for supporters of all candidates when I say, "Enough is enough" of personal insults. It's just not about squabbles between DUers. It's about what is best for America. It's about building community.
That is also why I hope very much that we will not see negative campaigning. Claire McCaskill is in her rights when she expresses an opinion, but the "opinion" that another candidate is "extreme" when the other candidate is actually getting pretty high poll numbers in states in which he has campaigned and is speaking to issues in ways that many Americans respond to favorably is just way off the mark. Extreme ideas are ideas that get very little support from the American people.
In 1951, the idea that two men or two women could be married was considered extreme. Today it's the law. When we attack ideas for being "extreme," we forget that at one time the Divine Right of Kings determined who governed. The idea of a democracy was considered "extreme." So, Claire McCaskill needs to think before she speaks about what words she is using and what she is really saying. Because she is embarrassing herself.
However, on DU, our conversations should be about the ideas and characters of the candidates and not about the faults of other DUers.