What's up with all the candidate hate here?

[darknemus]

I'm reading thread after thread and I have to admit, the signal / noise ratio frightens me a bit. I see tons of stuff like:

Ha-Ha! Dean's gonna drop! He's finished! woot!

Kerry sucks! Skull and Bones, Skull and Bones! He had botox - he's evil!

Edwards didn't tie in OK! HE CAME IN SECOND! What a pathetic sleazy little trial lawyer!

Clark is a Republican! Clark doesn't know where he stands on the abortion issue! Clark is short! The more people see Clark the less they like him!

Admittedly, the two guys who seem to get the least amount of flack, Al & Dennis, are the guys who have the least chance (currently) of succeding in the primaries.

As I posted in an earlier thread - I am still undecided on my primary pick come March 9th here in Florida - but I tend to focus on the positive. All this bashing just makes things seem a bit.. juvenile, don't you think?

I'm HAPPY Dean's raised the huge amount of money he has for Wisconsin ads. I'm HAPPY John Kerry has this incredible support - perceived or not, at the present. I'm HAPPY that Clark isn't backing away from the Bush is AWOL claims and that he managed to win Oklahoma. I'm HAPPY that Edwards did really well in South Carolina and seems to be on the start of a bit of a roll.

Heck, I'm even HAPPY that Kucinich has the will and fortitude to stay in this thing, even when he's drawing 1%-2% numbers. This is the guy you want as a motivational speaker, without a doubt. His perseverence amazes me.

I'll even say that I'm HAPPY Sharpton is in the debates, because frankly, his lack of poll #s gives him the balls and risk taking ability to say the things he says there. Admit it, you'd LOVE to hear some of the other candidates say the stuff Reverend Al does. But a guy like Kerry with 50%+ poll #s in a certain state simply won't do it - as it becomes an issue of perception. Wrong, I know - but true.

So I think ALL of our candidates are good people. Every one of them is doing the one thing that I think is panamount during this election cycle. They are running against Chief Chimpy McSquatter and pointing out his fallacies. Does anyone truly think that it makes more sense to bash candidate A or B then it does to bash the current administration?

I'll admit it - I'm confused. I want to see LANDSLIDE this November. I want to see ALL of the candidates rally around the eventual nominee. I dont care if that guy is Kerry, Dean, Edwards, Clark, Kucinich, or even Sharpton. Hell, I dont care if it somehow goes to a brokered convention and they draft Hillary (I know its not happening - its just an example of my feelings). This is ALL about defeating idiot in November, 2004. Period. Otherwise, we very seriously might not have a 2008 to rest our 'maybe next time' laurels on.

-darknemus

[Wetzelbill]

1. excellent post

[Maat]

2. I agee....

well-put.

[spooky3]

3. hear hear!

[Qanisqineq]

8. ditto

n/t

[Chicago Democrat]

4. I so agree with you!

But then again, it would be slightly boring if everyone played nice nice all the time, eh? Also arguments within the family are soon forgotten, esp when we have 400 lb gorrilla aka Bush sitting on our front lawn, throwing poop at us!

[Stuckinthebush]

5. How refreshing

Thanks for this.

I sometimes think that DUers have lost their collective minds over this election, and forget the most significant problem in the country right now is Mr. Bush.

I do believe that the bashing is done by a minority of posters, so shouldn't be seen as representative of the DU population. That gives me hope.

I find it so depressing that there are some who are so aligned with an individual that they forget that we are all on the same team. Of course, there will always be those that believe that no one is good enough except their candidate, but thankfully those individuals are few.

Let us not reside on the fringes alone, but let's all live together in a community dedicated to ensuring Bush loses and that liberal ideals are put back into the White House.

[YouMustBeKiddingMe]

6. A passionate primary season

[Armstead]

7. The candidates are all surrogates -- Hence the passions

IMO a lot of this is not just aboiut the partoicular candidates. Rather each one represents different aspects of a fractured party. Some are "change" candidates to varying degrees while otehrs are more status quo to differing degrees.

Since the nation and Democratic Party are so polarized, the normal tugs of wars over specific candidates take on an added dimension.