Had a talk with a friend last night.

[redstatebluegirl]

She is like me, not far left, but not center either. Right now we both feel we are under fire from friends who are far far left. I volunteered last week to canvass for a Democrat running for an open seat in my home state, I was home for a visit so I thought I would try and do some work while I was there. I went to the candidate's headquarters and was immediately accosted by a young staff member who said he didn't think I would be effective because I was not "progressive enough". I looked around the room and there were very few volunteers ready to go out in the field.

This interaction was an interesting one, I asked him what made him think I was not progressive enough and he told me I was "to old to be progressive and I had lived in a red state for a long time". Wow, that was a quick impression I made . I asked him to sit with me and we had a very good discussion. I told him that he needed to take a deep breath before he accused someone of "not being progressive enough". I told him that the party had room for all types of Democrats, that the main thing we have to do is come together on what we agree on, that the Republican party wants to ruin our great country. during this conversation he asked often if I supported Bernie or Hillary in the 2016 primary, I said Hillary and told him what issues were important to me, why I felt she was the most qualified candidate and how I made my decision. I told him that I totally understand why many people have gravitated to Bernie and told him what I cared about most is that people his age were voting and getting involved in the process. I also told him that I did not support Bernie because he had not been a member of the party, even though he votes with us most of the time, I also said he did not share my passion for civil rights and strong gun control. At that point he came unglued. Another staff member approached me and asked me if I still wanted to help, I said of course, I will help any Democrat trying to unseat a fascist. She smiled and said "Danny can be kind of crazy when it comes to Bernie sometimes", I told her I admired his passion but they don't want him running off people with my years of experience who want to volunteer to help, she agreed.

What I saw that day was the potential issues related to our taking back the House and Senate in the fall. There are lots of people out there who want to divide our party by some progressive litmus test. I am a Democrat, as someone said once, I am not a member of any organized political party I'm a Democrat. We have to have a big tent, we have to be willing to accept some things, and people who may not meet our standard of perfect Democrat but can help us win, and win we must.

I love the passion of the young people who have come to our party and our beliefs, the important ones, equal rights, equal pay, income inequity, gun control, woman's right to choose. We don't have time for the cosmetic ones. I liked Bernie when I first started following him, then I sensed he wanted to divide my party making it impossible for us to win, it was very similar to what the tea party did to the republicans. We need to keep our eyes on the prize people.

[Orsino]

1. I guess it's kind of cool for progressivism to become identified with youth.

The up-and-comers generally have more reason than we did to lean left. But goddammit, it's a year or two late for Bernie litmus tests.

I'm glad you stuck around, and hope that other good Dems are not being turned away from that campaign.

[redstatebluegirl]

4. I agree, that was also part of my discussion with him.

It helps that I have worked most of my life with young adults. Plus I remember how passionate I was at that age which helps. We do need to be careful of the litmus tests though.

[lagomorph777]

51. Ageism is apalling when it comes from our side. I'm probably to the left of most kids...

...though I'm 3x their age.

[NewJeffCT]

13. Not only that

But, Bernie Sanders himself is not exactly a spring chicken...is he also too old to be progressive?

I know a lot of former hippies in their late 50s and into their 60s that are still very very liberal as well.

[deurbano]

28. Yes, there's that. Kept hearing how "old" Clinton was until Sanders was a candidate.

[pnwmom]

42. Even against Bernie and Trump, some would STILL complain she was too old. n/t

[KPN]

2. Well said. Though I had a bit of a

hard time with your sentence about Bernie, I understand your perception and accept it. We are all entitled to our opinions. Great post!
👍

[California_Republic]

7. Agreed KPN

‘Wanted to divide ‘ I understand that he may have caused some division, I hardly think that was his goal


But great job sticking with it after an initial unfriendly welcome.

[Kali]

3. ...

"and was immediately accosted by a young staff member who said he didn't think I would be effective because I was not "progressive enough""

a staff member did this?

[redstatebluegirl]

5. Yes, I wrote an email to her to let her know. He was a paid staffer running the office.

[Kali]

6. I can't believe staff would treat a potential volunteer like that.

[TexasProgresive]

9. Some people can be so radical that they are stupid

or at least do and say stupid things without thinking- Oh maybe that's a definition of stupid- act or speak without thinking.

[OnDoutside]

10. It could be the fervor of inexperienced youth ?

[Basic LA]

19. That's what I think, too.

Like with my son-in-law who never complains about the GOP, but to this day rages constantly & passionately about Debbie Wasserman Schults.

[OnDoutside]

31. I guess a lot of it is down to the effective demonization of people like DWS via social media, but

maybe we need to consider there's a lack of awareness of where they are getting their news, and a lack of a reserved nature as to its veracity. A touch of "why is this bastard telling me this ?" skepticism towards unofficial news outlets especially, wouldn't hurt !

[jalan48]

8. Very Weird.

[Gamecock Lefty]

11. Shame on that guy!

I’m an older guy (63), live now in a red state (Missouri) and get more liberal the older I get! It doesn’t matter if you were a Bernie or Hillary supporter, it doesn’t matter if you live in Oregon or Alabama, it doesn’t matter if you support Greenpeace over Peta or MoveOn.

What matters is keeping Republicans OUT OF OFFICE!

We are a big tent party, lets act like it, but we love our country and its ideals that are for ALL OF US, not just a few.

Remember: Priority #1 – no conservatives making laws for us!

Over and out!

[Left-over]

14. I totally agree with you/

I am the same age as you and the older I get the less I like any of the right wing ideology. We, as people who embrace a progressive agenda, need to vote for that platform. Once I heard someone say that "a bad day at home was better than a good day at work". I use that analogy to say that "A democrat that I do not agree with totally is much better to vote for than anyone espouses the right wing policies that are being pushed by the republican's democracy destroying corporate machine."

[charliea]

52. I've lived in Missouri

I'm 64 and I live in Oregon now but decades ago I lived and worked in St. Louis. I remember their 'blue laws'. I was there when Ashcroft was the attorney general <*sigh*>. Can't tell you how pleased I was that he lost to a dead guy, or how appalled I was to see him appointed US attorney general. Republicans sure do seem to pick from the bottom of the barrel.

I was an independent voter up until the 2016 election. Given that Republicans were a car full of evil clowns, and I wanted to vote in Oregon's primary I joined the Democratic Party. Now I've stayed in, supporting the best chances we have to throw the reprobates out. Not too much of a problem here, we have only one state position with a Republican in place (SOS). The House, Senate, and Governorship are all Democrats.

That volunteer has a lot of passion, but needs a little expansion of his world view, which I think the OP did well. Without contradictory evidence I'll assume that he's passionate (excellent!) but needs to know that help can come in many forms...

This was a Will Rogers quip "I am not a member of any organized party — I am a Democrat."


#RESIST

[YessirAtsaFact]

12. Too old to be progressive sounds like age discrimination

We need everyone and every age to take our country back.

I’m glad you took the time to educate this person. I’m not sure what I would have done, but I doubt it would have been that graceful.

[raccoon]

24. Same here. I'd probably have told him where to go and left.

Good for OP for handling it so well!

[iluvtennis]

15. Thanks for sharing and glad that a cooler/more well rounded head prevailed. You are right, we Dems

gotta keep our eyes on the prize and put this "who's a more progressive BS on the back burner"

[BobTheSubgenius]

16. I had very much hoped - naively, as it turns out - that people like Danny had learned a lesson.

I know the rules about rehashing a previous primary or election, but, to me, this idea of coming together in spite of past differences needs to be a tenet. This is the easiest and best-known example.

[Chakaconcarne]

17. As Naive as this person may have been....

What should be acknowledged is his passion for progressive causes which means the person is engaged and will eventually mature, like we all do. Having the conversation with him simply expedites that process.

[murielm99]

18. I hae seen this in some of the grassroots organizations.

It is time to stop the litmus tests.

[Gamecock Lefty]

20. I like what Left-over said!

A bad Democrat is better than a good Republican!

Oh my gosh - a "good" Republican - did I say that? I could hardly quit laughing while writing that!

[Angry Dragon]

21. He was way out of line

[FakeNoose]

22. I would have laughed at that kid

The nerve of that guy! How dare he pull shit like that on you or any volunteer for his candidate?

[enough]

23. The most plausible explanation is that the opposition hired him. Taking this attitude

toward somebody who walks into a campaign headquarters to volunteer is ridiculous.

[raccoon]

25. Good thought. Also, is it possible he could be a mole? nt

[skypilot]

35. Was scanning through this thread to see...

...if anyone suspected something like that before I posted because that was my very first thought.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

26. Thank you for posting that.

The young man you first met has no business being the one who interacts with volunteers for that campaign. He is far too quick to judge someone based on their apparent age, and the entire Bernie vs Hillary thing has zero place in any campaign now.

I think as someone else has already mentioned, his essential problem is that he has both the passion and intolerance of youth.

I sincerely hope the candidate moves that young man to another position in that campaign.

[Ilsa]

27. None of us are going to agree 100% of the time on everything.

Kid is naive. He isn't doing his candidate any favors by running off volunteers with his purity test.

[Eliot Rosewater]

29. Yeah, I have been warning about this and it worries me a LOT.

The thing I TRY and tell them without attacking their favorite politician is ANY democrat in ANY seat is ALL that matters until the NAZI'S and TRAITORS and FASCISTS are out of power.

They do not yet understand that the party with ONE, count them ONE more seat than the other decides everything.

Everything, even whether or not something is voted on.

That if my choice is losing control or voting for total asshole with a D, I vote for the total asshole as if YOUR life depends on it, the staffer you spoke to life depends on it, because they do.

Passion is great, use it to put the FIRE out first.

Problem is many of them have been convinced that Hillary and people like her are the enemy...WOW what a fucking bunch of BULLSHIT that is.

[poboy2]

30. Yes, the 3rd party or purity vote is a LUXURY we cannot afford at the moment.

Coalition of the decent, DEFEAT THE FASCISTS.

[bdjhawk]

57. Agree 100% with you and with mtngirl47 comments

These attitudes scare the hell out of me, as well. They are so sure of themselves and so black and white/draw a line/adamant in their purity tests. Their hatred for Hillary sickens me--under a HRC presidency, Dreamers, immigrants, women, minorities, LGBTQ, the environment, health care, etc, etc would NOT BE UNDER ATTACK! Yet these know-it-alls keep attacking Dems and Repugs as the same and hate HRC as much a tRump.

I truly believe many of those behind getting tRump elected (Mercers, Rove types, Russians) have infiltrated and influence these younger zealots. Many also have a huge misogyny issue and it sounds like the twit in the original post may suffer from that.

[brush]

32. Thank you for posting this, and thank you for educating that allegedly progressive young man.

[Sophia4]

33. The disagreements are about policy which has to be negotiated in a congressional

or state legislative milieu anyway.

Both Bernie and Hillary supporters agree on their commitments to democracy, the rule of law and equality as basic principles in our society. And those are the basic commitments and ideals of the Democratic Party.

Now we see as the Trump administration takes form with appointees and aides moving in and out of high positions and as it rolls out its (horrible) policy just how much Democrats really differ from Republicans in terms of basic values and just how much the most extreme edges even of the Democratic Party (and the movements around it) agree.

Disagreeing over policy is a minor issue when you basically agree on the fundamental values of our country.

Republicans do not agree with us when it comes to basic values like making sure everyone sleeps in safety at night, fair elections, good health, equality for all regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, access to education and healthcare for all, respect for each individual, working together where appropriate, etc. We Democrats all agree on these basic values.

[mtngirl47]

34. I recently experienced something similar when I was joining a rally sponsored by Indivisible.

I arrived at the rally--prepared with my sign and some extras. I also had some fliers for an upcoming Meet the Candidates forum/fundraiser. Saw some folks I knew and proceeded to visit and pass out fliers. A young woman from the Indivisible group ran up and said that this was "their event" and she wasn't letting Party people take it over! I was shocked---about half of the group were Democrats that I knew!

I tried to talk to her...to explain that we had been working with them...but she was close minded--said the two party system had ruined the country and she was sick of all the negativity coming out of the Democratic candidates. I asked if she felt the same about the Republicans....and she said that Republicans and Democrats were all the same.

Well hell. No talking to her!

As the rally progressed I was able to ask about the attitude I encountered and I learned that most of the folks in the local Indivisible group were single issue people. Another precinct chair was there and she indicated that the Indivisible people didn't like to interact with party officials but did fine with individuals that were Democrats.

Will we be able to get them to vote? Will we be able to get them to vote for Democrats?

[pnwmom]

43. I dropped out of the group on FB. They reminded me too much of Jill Stein people. nt

[TNNurse]

36. I am glad you were able to calmly speak to him.

I might have wanted to explain to him that I was active and "progressive" before he was born. And I would have been pretty passionate about that.

I do agree he needs some observation, he might be a mole or just someone who needs work on his people skills. Some of the Bernie people have apparently developed a sense of judgment beyond their experiences.

[redstatebluegirl]

38. I think we have to learn to talk to these types of people in a calm way.

We cannot dismiss the passion they feel, I see it as a teaching moment .

[SunSeeker]

37. Ironic that he accused you of not being progressive enough...

and then blew up when he found out you did not support Bernie because he was not progressive enough on civil rights and gun control.

Thanks for staying in there. We need you.

[Cha]

54. Yes, the irony.

Excellent point, SunSeeker

[Tarc]

39. "Danny can be kind of crazy when it comes to Bernie sometimes"

Lovely. It's bad enough fighting the Cheetos-tinted fascist and his minions every day, now we still have to worry about ageist millennials who cannot let go of the 2016 primaries?

[redstatebluegirl]

40. I used to be really angry about Bernie, but I remembered what I was like

when I worked my first campaign where I LOVED the candidate. He is young, Bernie was the first candidate to light the fire in him, that is hard to let go of sometimes. A teaching moment if you will, I think his heart was in the right place.

[Tarc]

41. If you can reach them, that's good.

I was worried this guy was a jackpineradical, Jill Stein type.

Thanks for volunteering, I'm going to look into the local D office soon and see what they need for help for the fall.

[demigoddess]

44. interesting

1. all democrats should unite against the republican fascist movement

2. could this be a republican undercover sabotage tactic, to keep the dems divided and not able to fight republicans?????

[hell674]

45. You had me all way up to,,,

You had me all the way up to the second to last sentence. That sentence invalidated everything in the post.

[redstatebluegirl]

46. That is what is great about DU and the Democratic Party, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[relayerbob]

47. Too bad you have problems with understanding truth

[Xipe Totec]

50. Speaking in absolutes - the true mark of an open mind.

[Cha]

55. Too bad. I can most certainly relate.. it's

true for me.

[GoneOffShore]

59. And the perfect is the enemy of the good.

Every day, tell yourself that.
It's important.

[redgreenandblue]

69. +1. Something tells me things didn't go down the way the OP claims they did.

Notice that last paragraph mentions "cosmetic issues" as being not important. I wonder what those are....

Notice that "universal healthcare" is not listed among the important issues. Hmm...

[Demsrule86]

71. I support health care of any kind at this point...as many won't face...getting single payer will not

happen over night and the best way is to fix the ACA and add a public option for those who don't have many exchanges in their state and those who's states did not expand Medicaid. And Democrats don't have to agree on every issue. In fact the only way we get back into power is with a 50 state solution which will include some moderates. This young man was rude. He has no reason nor right to attack a Democrat and demand them to tell them who they voted for in any primary. It is none of his business and irrelevant. I voted for Sanders in the Ohio primary. I supported Hillary Clinton fully during the late primary season and the general. I worked my ass off to get her elected. It is what Democrats do they rally around the general election candidate...they don't message vote which is so stupid it makes my teeth ache. But I will not vote for Sen. Sanders again in a primary for a number of reasons including but not limited to his comments on identity politics.

I don't know if anyone else picked up on the breathtaking irony of a young man accusing a lifelong Democrat of being 'to old' to be progressive while supporting a candidate who will be nearly 80 if he runs in 20. Sen. Sanders is but one politician and he is not a Democrat. Supporting him should never be a litmus test for progressives or Democrats which is the only party who can stop Trump and his merry band of criminal minions.

[relayerbob]

48. I guess Bernie was too old too

since he was the oldest candidate in the race

I support youthful exuberance, but do not appreciate arrogant stupidity at any age. That young person should be chastised by the team lead and/or run off before he does permanent damage to your group and your candidate

[Kablooie]

49. When things swing one direction they return to swing an equal amount in the other direction.

Everything has swung to the very hard right so soon we have to expect that things will swing very hard left.

That's probably not a good thing because then it will swing back to the deep right after awhile but it seems that's always how things work.

It will be a long time before it swings a little left and a little right but that is the healthiest situation because both sides get something but not enough to create an extreme backlash from the other side.

[Demsrule86]

72. People say that, but it has been my experience that they don't swing hard left...they swing to the

middle...as in the 90's.

[DownriverDem]

53. I totally agree

I keep telling folks to focus on beating the repubs. We don't have time for division. If we don't unite we don't win. I don't get that guy. How does he except to win without all Dems? Folks like him thinks he needs to take over the party. Fine. Join the party. Come to the monthly meetings. He would see that the Dems welcome all. More than anything we need electoral wins. Then folks like Danny can work to make the changes they want.

[barbtries]

56. that he would make those assumptions

just like that and be willing to refuse your help astounds me. i cannot even imagine. you seem to have really handled it well.

aargh.

[DinahMoeHum]

58. (sigh!) Nothing-But-The-Best-For-The-Oppressed. . .

. . .strikes again.

That attitude stinks.

[radius777]

60. That kid is no Democrat, but an alt-left populist independent,

like many of those that voted for Bernie and Stein.

The modern Dem party is one centered around diversity - gets most of its votes from metro areas (cities and surrounding suburbs) as any 'electoral map by county' will show; the rank-and-file Democratic voter is a center-left Clinton/Obama Dem who embraces the global village concept of the world, and is anything but a heartland populist or nationalist.

[Pacifist Patriot]

61. I hope you don't mind me saying...

I love you.

Finding common ground and having the patience to do so is so important. Beyond words important.

I work well with reasonable Republicans in my community, and consequently we get stuff done that benefits everyone. Ultimately, that is the goal. As a Republican said to me Sunday night, "if we can agree on 80%, why waste time on the 20%?"

I know that isn't a popular sentiment, but it is reality in many areas. Bipartisanship works. Ask Dingle about the Clean Water Act If anyone doubts me.

[redstatebluegirl]

67. Ahhh thanks!

I am not perfect and I have reacted irrationally to some posts here since 2015 but when I am out there doing my thing I try to be measured. I genuinely like young adults by and large, I get frustrated, I scream on here, but then I remember what it was like to be that age

Thanks again!

[Demsrule86]

73. Hey I love you too...it may not be popular, but you are right on the money. And I completely

agree with. You have to work with the other side...now we can't do that now because the right is unwilling to do so..and the country suffers for it.

[Amaryllis]

62. I have encountered stridency in all ages, and it is nearly always destructive. It excludes

allies.

[GulfCoast66]

63. You are a better person than I.

I would have told to shut his pie-hole and direct me to an Adult who is actually interested in winning an election.

But that just me.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

64. If you're gonna run AS a Democrat you gotta run WITH the Democrats.

[KentuckyWoman]

65. Another k and r

[Skittles]

66. that guy sounds like a fucking moron

he is probably angry because he knows he helped Trump

[redgreenandblue]

68. "I also said he did not share my passion for civil rights"

[redgreenandblue]

70. And what exactly are those "cosmetic issues" that we don't have time for?

Hmm...