Here is a simple litmus test - Democratic Underground

mudesi

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Sat May-31-08 11:55 PM
Original message

Here is a simple litmus test

Look, I'm going to make it really easy.

If by this coming Wednesday, you still support Hillary Clinton taking this primary all the way to the convention, you are not a Democrat.

That's being super generous, considering Barack Obama has been the Democratic nominee for about 2 months now. But I'll cut you some slack and pretend to agree that she still had even the remotest chance at winning the nomination back then.

Florida and Michigan have been decided. She deserved nothing and got more than any rational person would have given her, thanks in no small part to Obama's willingness to compromise on that which shouldn't have been in contention in the first place. The decision to seat those delegates, even if they only get half a vote, is an absolute travesty of Democracy and everything Democrats are supposed to stand for. But I digress.

In the past, whenever a nomination was taken all the way to the convention, the nominee lost the general election. That's just a fact that you can look up for yourself on Wikipedia if you want to. Nancy Pelosi knows this and so do the super delegates. They are going to back Barack Obama 4 days from now, and he will officially be the "presumptive nominee".

Supporting Hillary Clinton's crusade to the convention is tantamount to supporting John McCain. If you support John McCain, you are no Democrat and have no place in the Democratic party, no place on this board, and frankly, are a traitorous scumbag beyond any help.

Do you want the supreme court to get two more religious fundamentalist justices? Do you want the Iraq war to continue for another hundred years? Do you want to lose your job, your health care, and your civil rights? Taking it to the convention is almost certainly a guaranteed John McCain presidency. I would like to think things are different this time, and maybe they are, but why even take the chance? Why give McCain any advantage?

There are three groups of people in this forum right now. Clinton supporters, Obama supporters, and the rest of us. Obama supporters have been on his side from the beginning, while Clinton supporters have been on her side from the beginning. But "the rest of us" includes people like me, who supported one of the other candidates (Kucinich), and realized after super Tuesday that the presumptive nominee was Barack Obama.

Others did the math after Wisconsin, while others did it after Ohio and Texas. Some remaining undecideds did it after Pennsylvania, while still other remaining die hard Clinton supporters did it after North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Oregon, and all have come to the correct conclusion that the Democratic nominee is Barack Obama. Because they are Democrats, they have switched their allegiances accordingly.

At this point, anybody working against Barack Obama is either a Republican or a Republican. You can say that he was friends with a coke addicted pastor of a church that burned crosses 20 years ago and make the case that he can't win the general election, but that makes you a Republican. You can say he can't win the states needed in November because he eats babies for dinner, but that makes you a Republican.

Cite mountains of research (undoubtedly authored by Karl Rove), polls, and studies indicating why he can't win, say Michelle is a hindrance, say America is racist and not ready for a black president, say he fumbles at debates and speaks in too many platitudes without substance, say he's too tall or he has big ears or he's too young or people think he's Muslim or his middle name is Hussein - Any excuse to make a case against him: It makes you a Republican.

There is no reason for the rest of us to be convincing fellow Democrats to support the Democratic nominee because by definition, fellow Democrats already support the Democratic nominee.

In the past I have listed various positions one ought to hold as a litmus test to call oneself a "liberal". Simple things like being 100% against war, or capital punishment, etcetera. I have always stated that the Democratic party needs to be run by the liberal base, but I recognize that there are conservatives, "moderates", and others who also want to call themselves "Democrats", and those people have replied to me, in not so subtle language, that the Democratic party needs them as well, and how dare I tell them what to believe.

Well this time it's not so complicated. There are two candidates running for president this November. One is named John McCain, and he has an "R" next to his name. The other is named Barack Obama, and he has a "D" next to his name. If you are a Democrat, you won't actively undermine the Democrat running for president in November.

You'll instead work to attack the Republican, you'll denounce the talking points sure to come Obama's way via the corporate media (It's already starting: "Obama's new pastor problem"), you'll rightly flame any concern trolls, you'll cheer on Obama as he tears McCain a new one at the debates, you'll vote for him in November and you'll jump for joy and pop a bottle of champaign when he crushes McCain in a landslide victory.

Then, as a true Democrat, after he is sworn in as president of the United States, you'll criticize him if he doesn't fight for what's right, doesn't stand his ground against the Republican machine, or doesn't end this disastrous Iraq war. You'll demand that he hold Bush and Cheney and the rest of them accountable for their crimes against humanity. You'll demand that he adopt a true universal health care plan.

What you won't do is try to make it as hard as possible for him to win in November. That means getting off the delusion that Hillary Clinton can still win this primary. It means accepting the winner of this process, no matter any reservations you may have about him, no matter your hurt feelings, no matter what hopes you had for your candidate.

It means you'll vote for him, even if you have to plug your nose, you'll vote for him. It means you won't make demands for VP positions, or threaten to cut support because of real or perceived offenses committed against you by other supporters of his, or by "the rest of us", who are sick and tired of Hillary Clinton and all that she stands for.

This is what makes one a Democrat. Hillary Clinton has declared war on the Democratic party. If she doesn't drop out, and I don't believe she will (though I certainly hope I'm wrong), then Wednesday is decision day. You can be a Democrat, or you can be a Republican. It would be nice if it wasn't a two party system, but that's the unfortunate reality. Continuing to support someone who actively attacks the Democratic nominee doesn't make you a Democrat. There are no more contests after Wednesday. This is it. No more excuses. Decide now.