The circular firing squad: I've seen this before.

Supporters of Hillary Clinton, please read this.  You risk winning the battle and losing the war.  I've seen this happen before, even if it was among the Republicans that time.

The year was 1986, the place North Carolina.  Republican Senator John East, ill with cancer, had declined to seek reelection.  The front runner in the Republican primary was Congressman James Broyhill.  His chief opponent was a former ambassador named David Funderburk.

Funderburk had the backing of the National Congressional Club, which as some of you may know, was backed in turn by the infamous Jesse Helms.  He ran one of the nastiest campaigns I've ever seen.  One could hardly watch TV for fifteen minutes without seeing one of Funderburk's attack ads, calling out Broyhill for liberal this, liberal that and liberal the other.

Broyhill won the nomination anyway, and when East killed himself that summer, Governor James Martin, also a Republican, appointed Broyhill to fill the now-vacant Senate seat.  All in vain; the damage was done.

North Carolina's next Senator would be former Governor Terry Sanford, a Democrat.  That Senate seat continues to switch back and forth between the parties, even as the other one has remained solidly Republican to this day:  Sanford was succeeded by Lauch Faircloth, Faircloth by John Edwards, and Edwards by Richard Burr.

Supporters of Hillary Clinton, please keep this in mind, lest you find yourselves campaigning for John McCain.

•  Tips, flames, attack ads

  Blah blah blah liberal blah liberal blah blah blah blah liberal blah blah.

  by Sura 109 on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 11:40:43 AM PDT

  •  so only HRC has attacked?

    sorry that is contrary to reality

    by tony the American Mutt on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 12:26:02 PM PDT

•  Chill out

  BOTH sides in this campaign for the nomination need to CHILL OUT, or we will be inaugurating President McCain next January.  And anyone who thinks that wold not be so bad, hasn't really thought about it.

  by dpicker on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 12:35:50 PM PDT

•  No Dem - Hillary or Obama supporter

  will be campaigning for McCain.  Period.

  It would be nice if folks would realize how good we've got it with both of them still in the race.  They have a candidate.  One, single, sitting duck target.  We have not determined our candidate.  They have to plan - and spend - on two moving targets.  Now, if we'd quite attacking our own (and by their voting records and bills-sponsored records they are BOTH our own) and start shooting at the REAL target...

  Additional benefit - as long as we have 2 candidates (and they put up a show, i.e., fight) the media will concentrate on them.  Neither of ours will be dropped into a media 'black hole' - which I watched happen to Bill Clinton after he became president and to John Kerry while he was running.  Free media coverage.  Think about it.

  by bfitzinAR on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 01:38:53 PM PDT

  •  The point was, by hatin' on the other Dem

    you are effectively campaigning for McCain.

    by Sura 109 on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 04:00:56 PM PDT

    •  Then I agree, with reservations

      "hatin' on" the other dem is a problem that will be hard to heal for the GE.  Campaigning for your candidate - be it Hillary, Obama, or Kucinich - during the selection process is a right, and a duty.  Whatever your reasons for supporting your candidate, they are valid for you.  By supporting your candidate, you make it known that you have certain issues that you'd like to see addressed - by whoever wins.  So while I agree that "hatin' on" the other Dem is a REAL BAD IDEA, it only becomes campaigning for McCain if it goes so far as to result in "if your candidate wins the nomination, I won't vote/will vote green/will vote McCain/will take my toys and go home" - the primary season is where we can talk about dreams, the GE is where we must talk about reality.

      Of course, I'd like to see - and have written a diary that got nowhere on - more research and less vitriol.  To that end, I'm totally on your side, if only because "hatin' on" the other candidate as a reason for why I should vote for yours tells me you can't think of any reason why I would want to vote for your candidate rather than against mine - and THAT gives the Rs a huge advantage in the GE.

      by bfitzinAR on Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 08:53:35 AM PDT