This campaign season has me confused.

[Obamanaut]

I stumbled across DU sometime during the 2004 season, following up on a link from another site, and I stayed because I kept learning things by following links in the DU posts.

I was a republican, had been since first becoming eligible to vote, and switched over during this same learning period because they went too far (and I cannot even recall what they did to piss me off.)

Now, I am becoming extremely confused and conflicted. Things are not the same - anywhere. I can recall when Clinton and Gore were nominated at their convention, and how I thought how young, vigorous, and exciting they seemed. I even voted for them despite being a registered republican.

Posters are at each others’ throats. Candidates are at each others’ throats. It is generally unpleasant everywhere.

I watched an old movie last night, Primary Colors. The character Libby said words to the effect that “…our job is to make it clean. If it’s clean, we win, because our ideals are better... “ (probably not an exact quote, for which I apologize.)

What have I missed? When did it all change?

[judy]

1. I don't know, usnret...

But I know that the axiom is still true: "if it's clean, we win because our ideals are better".
This is why I hope that Obama doesn't fight back with the same obsolete methods as Hillary (personal attacks, "shame on you"s, he is not fit to be this or to be that). Attacks are the tools of those who have no vision.
It could be that Obama has no vision either...that is possible, I don't know him.
But I know that tit for tat will only turn voters away, and bring victory to McCain.
Just like the idea of Peace seems to have become obsolete probably since Reagan, the idea of a clean, positive campaign seems to have completely disappeared probably since Lee Atwater...
It's time that someone brings these ideas back. Whoever it is.

[Obamanaut]

6. Some of my conflict is of my own making. We have come so

far in my lifetime (I'm 65), and when we narrowed it to the two front runners, I felt such a great excitement - "Look what we have done." I guess when the nastiness began it was a letdown.

It must be that we still have a long way to go.

[Benhurst]

2. We are down to two flavors of Kool-Aid being offered,

"Hope" and "Experience." Unfortunately both have a strong aftertaste of bullshit.

[judy]

3. Could be...however, don't get me wrong

I will vote for a democrat used gum wrapper against McCain.
What I mean, is I won't vote for Nader, and will support whatever candidate wins the Democratic nomination.
This from a Kucinich supporter...

[Benhurst]

4. Most of us will end up drinking whichever flavor is offered us,

licking our lips and saying, "Mmmmmm Mmmmmmmm Good!" when faced with the Republican alternative.

[housewolf]

5. The problem with politics is that the closer you get

the dirtier & messier it is.

Most citizens, especially those who go to work everyday, who rely on what they see on tv or an occasional article they read, basically only see what the candidates themselves want you to see. Their pre-packaged messages, talking points and spin.

Behind the scene, there are incredible tensions and manipulations going on.

This year the Dem primary is as hotly contested as any general election. For each side, the stakes could not be higher.

And sad fact of the matter is... negative campaigning works. It strikes an unconscious chord of fear of "the other" that makes people vote for "you" rather than voting for "the other". As long as the "politics of personal destruction" work with the voters, politicians will use it under the guise of "contrasting" themselves with the other.

As for DU, here we are are just a bunch of siblings squabling and carrying on. Imagine a family where everyone has passionately held beliefs and fight like cats and dogs - that's all that's going on here. It will be better here after the convention but the Democratic Party is very diverse; there will always be dissenters.

[Obamanaut]

7. Thanks for the help. Like McCain, I am a career Navy man, but

he scares the crap out of me.

[sun zoom spark]

8. It may have been Clinton's impeachment process ...

...after the Republican revolution didn't quite achieve its goals. The politics of personal destruction became much more visible after that, including the revisionist history that began to appear: every president from Wilson to Clinton was put in the dustbin for some offense. I recently watched the weirdly fascinating documentary "In the Face of Evil" -- admittedly not an historically accurate retelling of history -- and discovered that Truman, Eisenhower, even Nixon were wimps in the face of Communism. Wow, that is a one-note revamping of the last 60 years ... Churchill? A lightweight. It's astounding we won WWII with FDR as president. On and on -- a total rewrite of the history books.

The dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine opened up the floodgates for unchallenged opinions, too -- the "fair market" value of unsubstantiated claims in ever-increasing volume.

I don't mean to put most of the blame on the GOP -- the current Dem election cycle has caught the personal-destruction flu, and I think we're the worse for it. Since mid-term elections 2006 the temperature in DU's boards has risen measurably as the Dems' goals haven't been met, either -- and it's only getting hotter in here. Name-calling and backhanding two worthwhile candidates doesn't seem productive.

I'm glad you stuck with DU this far. The Democratic Party is in for a bruising ride the next few months, and I only hope that the primary numbers translate to record turnouts in the general election. (Generally a good thing for the Dems). I'm hoping the Clinton and Obama supporters realize this is an election about the country, not just their candidate.

Hang in there, usnret88. Thanks for being so upfront about your uncertainty. There's a lot of us out here with the same concerns.

[uppityperson]

9. Welcome to DU and that is a very good post.

[sun zoom spark]

10. A quote by Salman Rushdie re: "Primary Colors," from 1996

I just happened on this in my reading. Thought I'd pass it on. It may not let us all rest easier, but it puts a lot of our current turmoil in a positive light.


"Those who read newspapers and novels now get their primary information about the world from TV news and the radio. There are exceptions, of course. The success of that excellent, lively novel 'Primary Colors' shows that novels can still lift the lid on a hidden world more effectively than the finest reporting. And of course the broadcast news is highly selective, and newspapers provide greater breadth and depth of coverage. But many people read newspapers, I suggest, to read the news about the news. We read for opinion, attitude, spin. We read not for raw data, not for Gradgrind's 'facts, facts, facts,' but to get a 'take' on the news that we like....the news has become a matter of opinion."

There's also this, however:

"I want to suggest that citizens of free societies do not preserve their freedom by pussyfooting around their fellow citizens' opinions, even their most cherished beliefs. In free societies you must have the free play of ideas. There must be argument, and it must be impassioned and untrammeled. A free society is not a calm and eventless place -- that is the kind of static, dead society dictators try to create. Free societies are dynamic, noisy, turbulent, and full of radical disagreements."

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. "Getting into politics is like stepping in dogshit."

Quote from "The Motorcycle Diaries".

One that I fully agree with.