[From the diaries by susanhbu.] Cross-posted at Daily Kos
Since Dean pissed off Tom Hayden and Dennis Kucinich last week, and Kerry pissed off Kos and a bunch of other folks this week, it’s been a full-bore circular firing squad around here lately. And I’ve come to realize that we’re still harboring a lot of resentment towards one another over the primary. Doesn’t make much sense, and seems kind of silly, but there it is. Name calling, snarky “I’ll stop when you stop” playground comments, attempts to prove that this guy is more of a hypocrite than that guy…it’s stupid. We sound like a bunch of juvenile idiots.
So herewith, my attempt to lay out some explanations and guidelines to get us over ourselves.
Howard Dean has the support of millions of Democrats
Those of you pissed at Dean, or who just don’t like him, or who just don’t like his supporters, need to learn to accept that he’s a popular guy. It doesn’t demean you, John Kerry, liberalism, centrism, or anyone or anything else to admit that he has the support of millions of Democrats. Stop with the knee-jerk “I’ve got to counter anything good said about Howard Dean” bullshit. It’s tired and old. Us long-time Deaniacs would like to work on issues of substance and stop having to defend our guy every single goddamn day from our own fellow Democrats. Give us a moment’s peace so we can listen to the right shriek about him (at least their caterwauling is amusing in its futility).
Reality: Dean led in the primaries. Don’t give me the “Undecided always led” bullshit. Undecided wasn’t a candidate. Undecided was a bracket filled with the ABB crowd, just waiting for someone to emerge. If Dean won Iowa, he would have gotten the same groundswell Kerry got. But he didn’t. He imploded – with the help of the media, thousands of orange-hatted asshats like myself, his own inability to shush at key moments, his crappy and misguided attack ads, and Kerry’s great ground campaign in Iowa, he came apart and Kerry got the nomination in Iowa (let’s be realistic -it was over that day).
Reality: Dean had 750,000 people willing to sign up on his website before he dropped out – and those are just the ones willing to sign up. Many, many of those people have stuck with him and many of those people are in red states. Some are obnoxious. Some are stupid. Some are crazy. Some are brilliant. Try and define Deaniacs, and you’ll succeed in looking like a fool as you’re attacked by all the folks who don’t fit that description.
Reality: Dean could have beaten Bush. There isn’t one person on this website – not one – who can say with any certainty whether he would have or not. Not liking Dean is not a compelling argument that the electorate at large wouldn’t vote for him (just as loving Dean as I do isn’t an argument that they WOULD). But people responded to him, and they still do. That means something’s going on, and if you don’t get it, you need to look closer. When he dropped out, I had become convinced that he never had a chance against Bush. As time goes on, I’ve become more convinced that he might well have cleaned Bush’s clock. As said above, it doesn’t demean John Kerry or anyone else to just accept that Dean could have pulled it off.
Dean dropped out in mid-February. On March 18, he announced Democracy for America, from which he raised and spent millions on behalf of John Kerry and other Democrats at all levels – right down to library boards in Florida. He has led, he out-organized the other candidates to become DNC chair with popular support, and has been out there keeping his promises since. This man is not your enemy – he’s on your side.
And Deaniacs: He’s not perfect. Lots of people don’t like his style or his politics. That’s okay.
John Kerry has the support of millions of Democrats
Dean (and other) supporters who reflexively attack Kerry for being a douchebag must learn that there are millions of our fellow Democrats who were not only just fine with John Kerry, but that many of these folks are just as passionate about him as we are about Dean. It doesn’t demean you, Howard Dean, liberalism, centrism, or anyone or anything else to admit that he has the support of millions of Democrats. Stop with the knee-jerk “I’ve got to counter anything good said about John Kerry” bullshit. It’s tired and old. I’m sure Kerry..um…Kerryacs would like to work on issues of substance and stop having to defend their guy every single goddamn day from their own fellow Democrats.
(note: I admit to believing John Kerry is a douchebag, my recent opportunity to meet him only making that belief more firm. Doesn’t mean I want to chase him around beating him up – just that we all get our own opinions)
Reality: Kerry won Iowa by out-organizing everyone else and running a super-great campaign there. We all knew the ABB crowd would fall to whoever won that day, so let’s stop pretending that anyone is an asshat for suddenly swooning for the lanky guy from Boston. It hurt, but he won.
Reality: Kerry had millions sign up on his website in the end. Many, many of those people have stuck with him and many of those people are in red states. Some are obnoxious. Some are stupid. Some are crazy. Some are brilliant. Try and define Kerryacs (btw, what the hell do you call yourselves? Anything fun?), and you’ll succeed in looking like a fool as you’re attacked by all the folks who don’t fit that description.
Reality: Kerry should have beaten Bush. (May have, or did, some will say. That argument isn’t germaine to this diary) There isn’t one person on this website – not one – who can say with any certainty whether Dean was stronger than Kerry or not. Not liking Kerry is not a compelling argument that the electorate at large didn’t like him (just as loving Kerry isn’t an argument that they did). But people responded to him, and they still do, if not in the same way as with Dean. That means something’s going on, and if you don’t get it, you need to look closer. As said above, it doesn’t demean Howard Dean or anyone else to just accept that Kerry did his best to pull it off. And it’s reasonable to disagree with how he ran his campaign.
Kerry has introduced legislation to provide health insurance to children – the Kids First bill is a great piece of legislation. He was late, but he DID stand up and talk about Ohio. I wish he’d done it earlier, too, but he did it. Many of his positions in the campaign were right on the money – some were not, but the bad doesn’t erase the good. And his recent statements about SSM may have been a bit outside his lane (I’m in the STFU camp), but he does have a right to his opinion, and we have the right to disagree. And his opinion hasn’t been any big secret, so I’m not sure what we’re so shocked about. I think he’s wrong on the substance, so let’s talk about the issue instead of rehashing old shit and having a “my Democrat is better than your Democrat” pissing match. Taken on the whole, this man is not our enemy – he’s on our side.
And Kerrycrats or whatever you call yourselves: He’s not perfect. Lots of people don’t like his style or his politics. That’s okay.
Denny K is liked by upwards of three dozen Democrats
Okay, that was a dig – just kidding! Seriously, there are plenty of people who just love Dennis the way Deaniacs love Dean, and Kerrywags love Kerry. Kuchinch folks, you’re in the minority – more people side with Dean and Kerry than side with your guy. Everybody else, there are more people that side with Dennis than we like to admit. It doesn’t demean you, Dean, Kerry, liberalism, centrism, or anyone or anything else to admit that he has the support of millions of people (let’s face it, a lot of Denny’s support is coming from outside the party).
Denny’s got as much to say as anyone, and is certainly a leader in the liberal world. I think a discussion of the manner of his recent attack on Dean is reasonable, and a discussion of the merits of the Iraq policy is always reasonable, but the name-calling (listen up, you `elf’ folks) is irresponsible and unhelpful. Let’s get some realistic perspective on this stuff, for God’s sake. It isn’t like he maced the pope, or something – he went after a guy he doesn’t like very much, so as with Kerry.
And Kucinichites: He’s not perfect. Lots of people don’t like his style or his politics. That’s okay.
So let’s move on. Let’s try to debate the issues of the day, not the issues of 10 months ago – we will like different politicians, but sitting around here rehashing the primary just wastes our time. And frankly, it makes for boring reading.