This piece has been building in my head for a while, and is probably bound to draw some criticism. That's fine, as it is intended to be thought-provoking rather than a demand for conformity.
We bash Republicans a lot. On left-leaning cable news outlets, editorials, blogs and message boards, and in our diaries here on Kos. Don't get me wrong, they've earned it, especially the Republican Party itself, but it has just left me wondering from time to time exactly who we are trying to convince? I don't think a lot of open-minded Republicans and undecideds come here looking to be enlightened or cajoled by our rhetoric onto "our team".
Maybe our intellectual and media focus could be on more pressing issues, facing our own party, our nation or the world? More below the fold.
I get a good thirty emails a day from causes of the left, candidates of the left or the Democratic leadership. The vast majority are asking for money (necessary, I realize to champion our causes and candidates), but almost always have cheesy appeals to emotion. The subject lines usually read something like:
"You won't believe what the Koch brothers said this morning!"
"Mitch McConnell outrage!"
"Jon Stewart rips Rush Limbaugh apart! MUST SEE!"
"Fox News Craziness!"
It's tiring, ineffective (for me, anyway) and frankly, it's something Fox News and Rush Limbaugh do on a regular basis. Shouldn't our central argument be not just that Republicans and their Party suck, but that our ideas and candidates actually ARE better than theirs?
Shouldn't our calls for donations be based on support for ideas and candidates rather than fear of our opponents offensive craziness?
I'm as guilty as anyone, when you read diaries I've posted in the past. But I'd like to be better than that, and for the left and journalism to be better than that as well. We're certainly smart enough here on Kos to be.
Maybe we could create some space for more discussions about Climate Change, South Sudan, biodiversity, education, womens' rights, social justice by electing to publish diaries that say more than the obvious, and do more than feed our own sense of superiority over our political enemies.
I do love this community and I think it could be better.