Once the dust settles... [View all]

[Docreed2003]

Last edited Mon Dec 28, 2015, 09:36 AM - Edit history (1)

I fully admit that I bounce between sites like DU, where I lurked for years, and other left leaning message boards and news. I lived through the '08 primary season, with all of its outrage and glory online. This year is so very different. This year we have three strong candidates, and the supporters of two of the three seem to be content to throw poop bombs and innuendo against the other camp because they feel like they are rooting for "their team". Now, I've left the MOM supporters out of this intentionally because I have yet to see them spew the kind of bile and vitriol that Clinton and Sanders supporters have thrown on the interwebs, neither here or on other sites or social media. This election will have consequences, the balance of the Supreme Court and the age of several justices being only a small but significant part of that equation. At this moment, the country faces the absolute worst of the Tea Party movement and all of its associated stances. As Democrats, we must stand against the rise of bigotry, misogyny, and overt racism from the right. No matter who ends up being the Democratic nominee, we must fight against the rising tide of the right.

So, my question to all of you is this. After the dust settles, how will we all come together to fight the right? I realize that DU is a limited worldview, but there have been so many vile and atrocious posts from all sides, how do we as a community survive past the primary season?

I fully support policy debates and wonky discussions of particular stances, but things have become so personal for many here that I fear that a huge portion of the electorate will be so angry and disinterested in the general that whomever the GOP nominee is, they sail to the White House.

So, I say all that to say this: left, center, center right, DLC, green, Socialist Democrat or other...we must be able to find common ground with those on our side, even if we disagree, in order to continue the fight against the far right.

Please, before you post an attack on a candidate or a poster, think about your words. Will your post be so divisive that it turns someone away from the Democratic Party? We are currently cannibalizing ourselves. I am a leftist to my core and always will be, but I have enough sense to know that some will disagree and I can find common ground with others. The right, as disfunctional as they are, could very well take this next presidential election.

So, I implore all of us, please...focus on policy and not personal attacks. The future of this country is to important to cede ground to those on the far right.