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I'm a big umbrella Dem who has supported different choices from yours in primaries, but supported ALL Dem candidates who are Dems in good faith, regardless of the slice of the spectrum. And I've long believed your "stick in the eye" conclusion, with my version being that ANY Dem (that is, non-law-breaking types who really aren't Dems) is better than any Rethug. I applaud your commitment and activism. Thank you. And I hope you DO pull the Massachusetts senate race out of the fire for us.
*************QUOTE************ Better than a stick in the eye
I didn't make this system up, I just live in it.
Let me give you a little background about me. I was a 60's radical. I was politically active before I was sexually active. At 15 (I was born in September of 1952) I campaigned in New Hampshire for Eugene McCarthy and I was gathering signatures for Eugene McCarthy as I worked against the war in Viet-Nam. In 1968, after the RFK assassination, I figured we should all drop the two party system. Nixon won. Eight years of Republicans.
Then came Carter. I was 28 years old and a Massachusetts Democrat when I campaigned for Ted Kennedy against Jimmy Carter. Hell, Carter could have solved health care in his first term and refused. I wanted a real liberal. Ted was and has been my man. 1980. Split party. Enter President Reagan. Nothing in my life was a worse choice than letting that right wing piece of shit near the White House. He began to dismantle the middle class, and the rest is history. But I'm not done.
I entered the labor movement in 1989. In 1992, after Gephardt failed I supported Bill Clinton. We finally had a Democrat in the White House with a Congressional majority to boot. He wasn't everything we wanted, especially in trade agreements. Many of my fellow union activists said, "screw them" and we sat on our hands in 1994. We got a Contract with America. No group did more to create a "war on Labor Unions" than the 12 years of the Republican dominated Congress. It was almost as if we were hunted down, especially when they took over the Executive Branch in 2001.
I'm 57 years old now. I've seen it all, from a political perspective.
I know which side my bread is buttered on. I learned the hard way. A bad Democrat (and Coakley is not bad) is better than a Good Republican (and Brown's not that good).
By way of example. I'd rather have Ben Nelson (a bad Democrat) than Olympia Snowe (a good Republican) any day.
I know the difference and I speak from experience.
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