I Hope DU Doesn't Develop 2004esque Head-In-Sand Syndrome

[tritsofme]

To me it seemed like during the 2004 general election cycle, DU collectively put its head in the sand and ignored any faults and failures of the Kerry campaign.

People who tried endlessly to explain what Kerry really meant and why he was right when he said, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it" missed the point completely.

We need to realize that there will be bumps and missteps along the road to November 4, and we should be able to discuss these and their effect on the campaign as reasonable adults, and without reflexively claiming anyone that doesn't keep campaign talking points in their breast pocket are trolls.

Optimism is good, blind optimism is not. There is a very good chance that we will lose this election. It could happen, be prepared. McCain is a doofus, but so are a lot of Americans.

In my opinion, at the end of the 2004 campaign, most polls pointed to a Bush victory. However some people here were so enthralled with their own propaganda that they refused to see such a possibility. They said there was no way Kerry could lose, no way Americans could be that stupid. He did, and they are. All these people were left with were voter fraud fantasies.

I guess the whole gist of my post is, don't believe what happens on the DU echo chamber matters to the real world. You don't have to preach talking points you don't really believe in as gospel. Be candid, tell us how you really feel about an issue, that's the only real way to be constructive in this campaign, and I feel that saying what is on your mind is the real point of message boards such as this one.

[griffi94]

1. i fear you're going to be disappointed

obama will be a good candidate, but he's going to face plenty of obstacles. mccain imo will be a formidable opponent.
he's a media darling, he has the reputation of being a maverick and he appeals to independents.

i've already seen plenty of members here casually dismiss mccain. imo that's a mistake. at the end of the day the gop base will largely turn out to vote for him. not because they like mccain but because they hate obama. the polls show a pretty tight race in the swing states. i'm interested to see how obama will court those voters.

[Yael]

2. The rules are clear. Discussion is encouraged

out and out bashing the nominee isn't.

Like the thread this morning talking about how he never won - that the DNC just anointed him, bla bla bla.

Shit like that has no place here.

[tritsofme]

3. Well I am basically expressing my opinion that in 2004, discussion was discouraged by many.

Many people would have just as soon lived in a fantasy land where a landslide victory was assured, and ignored any other indicators to the contrary.

[griffi94]

4. they're already doing that

just post anything besides "obama is gonna kick some gop butt" and watch the fallout.
and should you bring in reality to the equation like saying obama is going to have to find a way to get voters in swing states that are traditionally red, you'll get a real thoughtful reply, such as "he won't lose"

[sandnsea]

7. Repeating TP's 1,000 times was discouraged

As if you haven't had the $87 billion remark explained 1,000 times and still pretend you don't know what it means. That doesn't help anything which leads me to believe there are still disruptive trolls here, or just plain idiots.

[tritsofme]

8. I know what he meant, you know what he meant, that wasn't the point.

It was a major gaffe where Kerry stepped into the shoes of the caricature the Bush people were trying to paint of him. That was the problem.

[sandnsea]

9. And so what?

You think any human is going to be able to go six months without ever saying a sentence that can be misconstrued? Not going to happen. So the question becomes whether we will exploit it and handwring, or get behind him when it happens. There's no need to have bashing sessions when a candidate makes a mistake. It isn't putting your head in the sand when you recognize a bloop and get busy explaining it and getting back to the campaign.

[Bake]

5. Are you kidding? It already happened long ago!

I just hope DU manages to pull its collective head out of there ...

Bake

[sandnsea]

6. Oh joy, let's rip Obama apart before it's even started

That worked so well with Kerry and people who refused to help diffuse the 4 or 5 mistakes his campaign made, and continues to bash away with them like you are now. You don't win elections by hand-wringing over a fumbled word.