Notes about my election cycle at DU

[burythehatchet]

Background: I joined about a year ago and (after some forgotten passwords and changed e-mail addresses)have settled in. One of the great disappointments over the past few months has been the constant and repetitive threads that aim to discredit one Demo nominee or another - its usually the same crap over and over and over. It's sort of similar to the IP forum. Same people spew the same stuff ad nauseum, and you can be sure that no one is there to have their opinion influenced.

That having been said, I think its a shame that during this important time when we choose our candidate, we are spending so much energy on tearing down our candidates. Furthermore, since DU has gained national prominence and is on everyone's radar now, I'm quite ceratin that the candidates themselves have sent staffers to DU in order to influence as well as attack their opponents. TO THOSE PEOPLE I SAY PLEASE STOP - YOU ARE DEVALUING THE GREAT ASSET THAT DU IS.

So what should be a period in time where where we should all be discussing the relative merits of our candidates' positions, we end out drowning out the debate with inflammatory rhetoric.

I completely understand that my rant/plea is not going to change anything, but it made me feel better.

[HFishbine]

1. Your's is one view

Others recognize value, however unpleasant it may be, in challenging each other on our candidates.

[tom_paine]

2. Yes, the Freepers who start the vast majority of our candidate flame-wars

are very pleased no doubt.

With an economy of effort and usually less than a paragraph of writing, they can touch off a DU bloodbath that lasts hours.

Consider what I am saying and look and see who is starting these candidate flame-wars threads (usually) and who jumps in with a quick one-liner to keep the pot boiling if it starts to slide down the page.

Think about what I have said. Too many DUers seem to be putty in the hands of Uncle Karl's Paid Technomaniacs and Freeper-Brownshirts.

[burythehatchet]

3. Jeez I hadn't even thought about that

[burythehatchet]

4. In saying that you presume

that its actually a civil debate - I would say that point is "debatable". I completely recognize the value of beating up a candidate insofar as that will toughen him/her up for the general election. But honestly, is that what you are seeing/reading?