While I agree that pointless, 1-2 paragraph diaries spewing common wisdom make me as nauseous as the next Kossack (as does endless speculation), but having penned my own primary diary the previous night, I take exception to the idea aruged by thereisnospoon that the primaries don’t matter, why? Because last time they did.
thereisnospoon speaks of "Crashing the Gates", but when did the grassroots movement against Bush swell? Why the pre-primary season around a little known Governor who managed to out fundraise his opponents with numerous small donations from ordinary citizens like you and me. And why? Because he was willing to take a stand and tell the truth when no one else thought it politically convenient. Howard Dean managed to entirely shift the debate from tip-toeing around Bush’s then popular policies to directly and passionately challenging them. Sure Dean ended up losing but his message was more or less taken by John Kerry (with the addition of his Vietnam record and mortgaged house money). Kucinich and Clarke probably would not have even entered the race had it not been for the dramatic shift in debate that Howard Dean brought.
In his diary thereisnospoon argues:
So for the love of all, stop concentrating on the petty, useless politics, and start concentrating on getting the goddamn TRUTH out there.
but earlier in the same diary writes:
There are now almost 50 million Americans with NO HEALTHCARE--and the medical insurance lobby owns half of Washington. And you spend your time claiming that a President Hillary would be the end of the fucking world, as if single-payer health insurance weren't called HILLARYCARE by the GOP--or claiming that a President Edwards would somehow have more clout to persuade congresspeople to betray the Kaiser mafia.
No, it would not be the end of the world if Hillary won, but the truth is, we'd be no closer to sensible single-payer health insurance because when Hillary had the chance to suggest such legislation she chose instead to allow insurance companies to write a confusing and hardly better than now policy. The Clintons couldn't even pass a universal health care bill written by the insurance companies while Democrats controlled Congress and the Whitehouse. And I'm sorry, but given a choice, as we thankfully are, I would much rather trust policy making to someone with an record of actually expanding health care, not just proposing watered-down political-copouts.
And while the Middle-East goes to hell and will likely haunt the world's security for decades to come, thereisnospoon wants us to believe that there is no difference between candidates who had the sense to oppose such incredibly short-sided, destructive, policies rather than cave into Republicans attacks of cowardice? I care about the primaries because I'd rather have my Executive Branch not run by those with poor judgment and thin skins (Hillary certainly does not have the latter). thereisnospoon then writes:
The Legislative branch is owned lock, stock and barrel by K-Street, with the exception of about 50-100 good progressives.
Well why not express our support for those 50-100 legislators with a Daily Kos diary? Are we really going to believe that Hillary is apart of that 50-100? I sure don't, which is why I don't want her winning spring of 2008.
And yes, it's "tiring" to weigh the candidates and select our favorite(s) but it's an important process that often determines the message (and therefore the "truth") that's transmitted an entire campaign. I'm still hopeful that some principled unknown with a pragmatic record of accomplishments will "Crash the Gates"...which is why I care about the primaries enough to diary about it. I normally enjoy thereisnospoon's diaries, and love the username, but primaries are about exlporing issues, policy and the truth--and hopefully the diaries discussing them are (I would like to think mine did). I don't wade thorugh the diaries on Daily Kos as much as I once did (thank you Diary Rescue!) so maybe I'm not the best to judge, but complaining about bloviating diarists when there are pundits who paid to write the same pointless speculative articles seems like misdirected energy to me.