Threads and what they accomplish: time to stop misleading flames

[genius]

If I posted a poll asking whether Clark, whether Edwards or whether any other one candidate could be elected President, the answer would be no because those who do not support one of these candidates would jump in against them - even if those could be elected President. It is important for the people at du to show courtesy because no one candidate has the support of the majority of people here. If you add in any freeper vote, the freepers will always vote that all our candidates are un-electable.

Instead of trying to divide and attack each others candidates, how about if we try a little respect? If a positive thread in support of a candidate is posted, don't jump in and flame with extreme statements, like they are un-electable. Arnold was considered un-electable until he won. The California Democratic Party laughed at the idea of him winning, something the CA Dem leadership considered an impossibility until it happened. It is also important for the initial poster to avoid attacking other candidates in the lead thread - like I used to be for so and so, but now I realize that this other candidate would be better. The Presidential primary is not for three more years. For all we know, Chris Rock will be the front runner at that time. Let's try for a little harmony in the meantime.

[welshTerrier2]

1. OK but ...

i am sick of thread after thread after thread after thread after thread ... you get the idea ...

how about, instead of the ad nauseum candidate posts we talk about issues ... if you want to talk about Clark's view on social security, great ... if you want to analyze how Edwards see the role of the U.S. military in the Middle East, no problem ...

but years away from the next presidential election, posting only "do you like this guy better than that guy" or "how would mickey mouse do against McCain" is total nonsense ... the world will be a very, very different place by the time the next presidential primary season rolls arounds ... if the Democratic Party and its supporters focus on candidates rather than hammering out a system of values, issues, positions, talking points and political strategies, whatever candidate you're supporting will lose ... and the Party will lose ...

these vanity posts about presidential preference, when not accompanied by thoughtful analysis, are a total waste of time ... worse than that, they turn DU into a shallow version of People Magazine ...

[applegrove]

2. I agree. If the thread it repetative - then stop with it. That wastes all

of our time.

[cestpaspossible]

3. Thank you for an intelligent and insightful post.

you said it well.

[Salviati]

4. Exactly what I'm thinking...

If the democratic party spent every moment of the next 4 years searching for the perfect candidate to run, I guarantee you they would lose in an unprecedented defeat.

We need to make the next election about the issues, not the faces, and we can do this by engaging the people about the issues, not about X's plan for Y, which is still fundamentally just about X.

What we need to do is to have serious discussions about the Y's of politics, and then tell the voter, "OK, you know what you want to do, now vote for someone who will do it..."

I do like the open nature of the discussions here, but if I could only just ban the "Who we should run in 2008" threads. I'd be awfully tempted, they're just a form of political masturbation...

[Ian David]

5. If I ever seem disrespectful in those threads, will someone please PM me?

I don't mean to seem disrespectful towards anyone's idea for a presidential nomination.

Except Sharpton.

Sharpton is nuts.

[Crunchy Frog]

6. I agree with you about treating other DUers with respect

even if they support a candidate that you don't. I therefore try to not to go out of my way to say negative things about potential candidates, even ones that I have a very negative opinion about. It's needlessly divisive and alienating.

Incidently, I aggressively defended Kucinich and his supporters on an attack thread from last night that was finally, mercifully, locked.

[Constitution]

7. Thank you for posting this.

I've noticed that certain people in the democratic underground are always attacking Dennis and I have to keep seeing their postings. I don't know any Democrat who thinks Dennis can't be elected but a lot of Republicans who don't like him are saying it.

[kevsand]

8. I'm glad someone finally said this,

but I have to confess, now you've got me wondering how a Chris Rock/Mickey Mouse ticket would do... :)

[reichstag911]

10. Nah,

I don't think Mickey would take the #2 spot after he's been #1 since 2000.

[John_H]

9. LOL! You should change your user name to IronyLover which would be

as ironic as your current one.