I saw on the news this morning, the editor of Time magazine with the new edition that had this dramatic headline on its cover:
"The Struggle for the Soul of the Democrats"
Is that what we're doing? If so, is it any wonder that this has become so bitter and so personal? Sometimes it seems that both sides are lined up like those old pictures of battlefields gone by with their lines and lines of infantryman. Is this an accurate picture of what's going on?
I'm not sure I agree with Time. Clearly, we do disagree, and whichever side wins or doesn't there are people who will feel disappointed.
I hold out that is a "good thing" for our party to hold itself up to the bright light of scrutiny that comes from a contested primary. If we're reflective, if we think about where we want the party to go and what we stand for, I think we could actually end up in the position of strength rather than constantly reacting to what the other guys are saying and doing. I feel that our Democratic Congress is still reacting rather than leading, and I'd like to see that turn around...and a good soul searching and re-evaluation of our core values might be a start.
But, in the meantime, more people have been pulled into the democratic process, and I think that's a positive result, however you dice it. Voting can be addictive and starting young, you set good citizenship habits for life.
My choice is Obama, because I believe him to be our best choice for our next president. I could go into my reasons why, but hasn't that been done to death in diary after diary? That said, I'm pretty uncomfortable with the messianic message coming from some of the Obama camp. No one person can solve all our problems.
After a period of some uncertainty, I started to feel okay again about Hillary herself after the last debate. I think she could be a good president, particularly if she is careful about who she puts around her. Certainly, when faced with the prospect of John McCain, there's not even a question in my mind.
We're picking from two good candidates, not selecting the least-worst-of-the-lot as what seems to be going on with the other party. This puts us in a great spot heading into the fall.
That said, we're facing possibly months of bitter acrimony ahead. I don't realistically expect that either side will tone down the nastiness or the bickering. But, I want us to win in the fall.
How do we pull it all back together?
Or do we just wait and figure that out later?