This is going to be a short diary. More of an observation. Far too many people are deploying the idea that any candidate that attacks their own candidate is being a big meany. People repeatedly deploy the argument that any criticism of their candidate is out of bounds and only serving to hurt democratic chances to defeat Trump. This is an election—its a campaign. Once we have our nominee, they are gonna get the shit kicked out of them by the republicans. If our nominee can’t take a hit, they shouldn’t have been the nominee.
Let me give a few examples. From the start, I want to note that I have been supporting Harris and Warren. You’ll see why that matters as I go forward.
Way back in the first debate, Harris kicked the shit out of Biden about bussing. And lots of folks cried fowl. I had no problem with the attack. It was Biden’s job to be ready for that sort of attack, and to have a rebuttal ready. I mean seriously, his previous comments about working with segregationists and all the rest were already being heavily criticized, and the atack that Harris used was totally not unexpected.
In the second debate, Tulsi Gabbard kicked the shit out of Harris with attacks on Harris’s time as Attorney General. I had no problem with the attack. It was Harris’s job to be ready for that sort of attack, and to have a rebuttal ready. I mean seriously, these sorts of criticisms were already common, and the criticism that Tulsi used were totally not unexpected. I want to be clear...Gabbardis is literally the last democrat I would vote for. I believe her to be a hack, a right wing puppet, and a hater of Muslims and gay people—but the failure of Harris to be ready for Gabbard’s attack was on Harris, not Gabbard. Harris’s failure is one of the reasons why my allegiances are shifting more toward Warren. They are still my one and two, but the order is shifting based on Harris’s inability to take a hit.
Last night, it was Castro’s turn to attack Biden, implying that Biden is old and rattled. And you know what, Biden should have seen that one coming and had a reply ready. To the degree he didn’t, that’s on Biden, not Castro.
This is an election, its a campaign, its the preliminaries for choosing the best candidate to put up against Trump to save the soul of our country. So yeah, there are gonna be some hits here and there. If your candidate is on the receiving end of one of those hits and performs poorly, don’t blame anyone but your own candidate for not being ready.
Cause the democratic primary is beanbag compared to what the general is gonna be like. Stop hiding behind calls for civility when your own preferred candidate screws the pooch.