Fellow Democrats,
I issue a call to stay united in cause and purpose and stand together to fight the real enemy – the Republicans.
I am sure the vast majority of us agree that the Republican Party is becoming more and more fractured with every passing day.
They have Trump who scares the living daylights out of the Republican establishment and not because they disagree with him – but rather because he is too honest for them and voices aloud what almost all of them feel inside, but have become good at hiding.
Then you have Cruz who is not all that popular among the Republican establishment either and yet it is clear that either Trump or Cruz will win the nomination unless they pull some shenanigans and anoint someone else through some contested convention strategy. And of course the latter would shatter the Republican Party as surely as a Trump or Cruz nomination.
Further you have the Koch brothers who have been mostly shying away from supporting any Republican Presidential candidate.
Finally we have the Supreme Court fiasco where the Republican Senate has vowed to not even consider President Obama’s nominee which is further damaging incumbent Republican candidates up and down the ticket.
By all accounts Democrats should not only be able to win the Presidency this year but should easily be able to retake majority in the Senate. Some are even suggesting an outside possibility of retaking the House majority. This should be the year that Democrats enjoy taking the election in a full blown rout just like the Republicans did in 2014.
But there is a risk to the Democrats achieving these goals. What is that risk you ask? The risk is that we are becoming disturbingly fractured and split as well. Is that fracture as bad as what is happening to the Republicans? NO, and we had better make damn sure we don’t come anywhere near that or we could be in trouble this year!
Democrats have the best opportunity since 2008 (perhaps even bigger) to win in a big way up and down the ticket and we cannot afford to blow it!
The level of infighting among Bernie and Hillary supporters is becoming truly disturbing. I don’t view this as the normal competition between those who support one Presidential candidate vs another. It has gone beyond that in so many ways. Rivalry during the Primaries is perfectly normal, passion is perfectly normal – both are healthy during the Primaries. But only if it does not cross a certain point and in many ways it is clear to me and many others that we have crossed that point in a big way.
Be passionate but do it in a respectful and non-aggressive way. Rally behind your candidate, try to convince others but do it respectfully.
Listen I am a Bernie supporter myself so I understand the passion and strong feelings BUT we must realize that just because someone is behind Hillary does NOT make them evil, clueless, in denial or any of that. Those who are behind Hillary have their reasons and they are just as valid as the reasons that others are supporting Bernie – they love our country just as much and are just as dedicated in most cases to moving us further left and are just as progressive as Bernie supporters.
Hillary supporters have their issues with Bernie and many feel that he cannot achieve much of what he is fighting for because the changes are too radical and he would never get them pushed through Congress. Bernie supporters counter that incremental change has been proven not to work and we keep moving further to the right.
The bottom line is that Hillary and Bernie supporters disagree with the best way to move America forward but that is OK, that is what America is all about. We feel differently about how to achieve our goals and that informs our decisions and who we support.
So while we are having these discussions about our preferred candidate with those supporting the other candidate let’s keep in mind that we are on the same side and ultimately want the same things.
So please, I ask you, I implore you let’s disagree with respect and courtesy and above all do not attack anyone or become overly aggressive.
What is even more disturbing are those who say they will sit out the election if their preferred candidate does not win the nomination. The stakes are simply too high this election year to do this. Between the Senate, House and Presidential race and the fact that the next President will probably nominate at least 2 and possibly 3 SC Justices, if we let the Republicans win by our inaction and lack of vote then America will move radically right and because of the SC lifetime appointments we will continue to see grave harm to Americans for the next generation – even if a Democrat wins in the subsequent 2020 elections!
Now when we get through these Primaries I sincerely hope that we will ALL come together to rally behind the Democratic nominee with our full support and fight the true enemy – the Republicans!
In the meantime, before the convention – disagree but do it respectfully without attacking each other.
P.S. And please don’t forget to support Democrats up and down the ticket — all races are important including state & local races.