Bernie Sanders
Showing Original Post only (View all)Be careful when responding to Hillary supporters' posts. [View all]
Every once in a while, someone on DU loses his/her cool and either leaves after getting posts removed or is "evicted" from DU.
Be careful. We don't want to, and we don't need to lose any Sanders supporters from DU.
Watch out.
There are a few Hillary supporters who are intentionally trying to rile up Sanders supporter, trying to pick personal arguments, trying to insult us, trying to belittle us, trying to "thin our ranks."
Let's apply a savvy strategy to keep our voices heard on DU.
Some basics:
1. Obviously, watch your language. No swear words. Don't insult either Hillary or her supporters. Don't label people. Don't say people are stupid or insulting or bad or worse. You can say that an idea is bad. You can say that actions are bad. But don't call people out, even people who aren't on DU.
2. Avoid using the word "YOU" as much as possible. Use the passive voice. Don't use the word "you." I can't say that often enough. Just review posts and make sure you delete the word. Don't say anything to or about any DUer personally. That's the most important strategy you can employ to stay on DU.
3. Talk about issues as much as possible. Try to say something positive about Bernie in every reply to every post from a Hillary supporter. Even if you say something negative about Hillary in a post, use every opportunity to post to say something positive about Bernie. That has two effects. First of all, it shifts the conversation to what a great candidate Bernie is. Second, it puts you in a good, positive mood and you are less likely to get into trap of exchanging insults.
There are a couple of Hillary "supporters" who have a nearly professional ability to trap people into losing focus from the pro-Bernie to the exchange of personal insults. One of them is very adept at avoiding the kinds of insults that are obviously personal and instead appearing to talk generally. A lot of Bernie supporters get caught in the trap. Watch out.
3. Keep cool. Re-read posts. (I need to do this too.) Yes. Censor yourself. Bernie is doing well. He is remaining positive. We need to remain positive too. There is utterly nothing to get angry about.
We will soon be going out and talking to voters. When we do, please keep my tips in mind. I've done a lot of tabling and talking to all kinds of voters. Win people's hearts. Smile and be kind. Exchanging personal insults will only make it harder for Hillary voters to become Bernie voters in the general election.
This is about winning.
We need you on DU. Stay with us. Don't let the Hillary folks throw you off the Bernie bus.
Thanks.
Hope I am not too condescending in this post, but I have a lot of experience with this. We all make mistakes. Don't get discouraged. We have justice on our side.l