Let it go.

It has been a long and bitter campaign, and it may continue until June.  All of us can recall many events which have made our blood boil.  We know from the math, though, that the campaign is all but over.  Clinton will probably need well over 80% of the remaining undeclared non-add-on super delegates to get the nomination and she'd be lucky to get 20%.

So why is so much of our energy directed against Hillary Clinton?  There's nothing she can do to get the nomination - only a spectacular scandal or very unlucky meteor strike will keep Obama from being our nominee.  We don't like some of the things Clinton and her campaign say about the Democratic standard-bearer, but we need to put things in perspective.

She doesn't have the power.  You do.

So let her attack.  Obama's rapid response team will take care of it.  All of us at DailyKos can just take it on the chin without throwing a punch back.  It's up to us to set the tone and welcome Clinton supporters back to DailyKos.  If we think the campaign is over, we should act like good winners.  So I ask the community here - when the Clinton campaign makes you seethe, take a couple of deep breaths and let it go.  Then we can all focus our energy to defeating John McCain.

•  Not another unity diary!

  Scanning the diaries today, I thought about how much time, energy, and emotion is spent attacking Hillary Clinton.  We might criticize her attacks for splitting the Party, but she can only do that with our help.

  by CA Pol Junkie on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 02:29:23 PM PDT

  •  The issue isn't winning

    We know that we've won, but I think most of us believe that Hillary Clinton has the power to bring this party down before she is finished.  That is why so many of us are actively working against her.  If she would run a more positive campaign, a lot of the negativity would stop from our side.

    by smash artist on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 02:34:47 PM PDT

    •  Her power will wane

      I'm frankly skeptical that Clinton will even have the money to fully compete until June.  Rather than choosing a fond farewell, she has chosen a slow fade and increasing marginalization.  As you note she obviously is not going to run the kind of positive campaign that would benefit our Party, but we can't do anything about that.  We can take it upon ourselves to do what she isn't and reunify the Party.

      by CA Pol Junkie on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 02:41:27 PM PDT

      •  But she hasn't chosen a slow fade,

        she's chosen to go out in a gutter politics blaze of sewage and many of her supporters are cheering her on (understandably, after all they do support her).

        When she and they finally come to grips (and more than likely, it will be swift and jarring like Edward's suspension was)I expected this place will erupt in an unfortunate cacophony of gloating for a day or two, along with pleas to show some respect for our fellow Democrats. Expect much justified hide ratings.

        I have already decided that I will be bailing from the online communities I frequent for several days after this ends because I refuse to take part in that type of celebration.

        It will be a frustrating and sad time for her supporters if/when it actually happens and I'm not up for the pile-on.

        There has been too much bitterness and bile shed to expect a quick healing from either side. It might take months and some will never get over it.

        I know there are online communities I will never set foot in again and people I once respected who will probably never regain back my respect. That's the problem--everything online it permanently etched on the tubes.

        Even worse -- I'm not an partisan Obama supporter. I think he is a talented and unique politician who is going to disappoint many people simply because there is no way he can live up to the expectations that will be demanded of him.

        He's also not nearly as progressive. In fact, I'd call him the "accidental progressive" and hope he lives up to the label but won't be surprised if he doesn't.

        I simply find him much more appealing than Clinton who has the negative marks of the war vote and stench of political dynasty against her.

        I'm just a person who finds Rovian politics the absolute dirtiest of any politics practiced, and I am appalled to see a Democratic candidate not only use the politics of fear, but rely on the Rovian playbook against a fellow Democrat.

        As I said last night, these are not the tactics of winning, they are the tactics of destruction. You don't use them in primaries against your own unless you are a repuglican.

        Whoa, sorry for the rant. Bitterness, I guess. ;)

        by mentaldebris on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 03:14:04 PM PDT

  •  Amen. Tipped & Rec'd. because...

    Yes We Can...Let It Go.  And really need to pretty quickly here.

    by Larry Bailey on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 02:34:49 PM PDT

  •  Finally...

    ...some common sense.  Thanks.

    by TheOrchid on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 02:57:53 PM PDT

•  I'll let it go when she apologises for the lies

  and other crap she's said about Obama to date, as well as the lies and crap she says tonight in the debate, plus the lies and crap that she says in the coming days and weeks leading up to the convention.

  Of course, she could stop lying and crapping on the party and Obama, and then she'd only have to apologise for the previously mentioned lies and crap.

  This post sponsored by the letter 'c'...for crap.

  by darthstar on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 02:37:44 PM PDT

  •  Hillary will be Hillary...

    ...and we can't do anything about that.  Her supporters should be able to come back to DailyKos without facing so much hostility, though.

    by CA Pol Junkie on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 02:42:49 PM PDT

    •  I'm inclined to HR any

      gloating and taunting that is bound to take place. Once this is done we need to pull together. I'm sure we will. We aren't republicans.

      by kitebro on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 03:11:09 PM PDT

      •  I doubt very much you will be alone on

        that. I'm going to pull a Keyser Soze (And poof. Just like that, s/he's gone.)for a few days.

        There will be gloating. Oh yes, there will definitely be gloating. :(

        by mentaldebris on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 03:19:13 PM PDT

  •  Are you...

    ...supporting HRC's opponent in the primary or divorcing her?  It's hard to tell the difference.  :-)

    by TheOrchid on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 02:59:19 PM PDT

•  When she packs up the kitchen

  sink and starts to approach this race with a little dignity and grace I will agree wholeheartedly with your point.

  But there is still way too much damage she can inflict on the party, win or lose. Since the media appears to be in her corner I think it's a little too soon to ask his supporters to back off.

  IOW, when she backs off, they'll back off. But with one of her pollsters telling her she needs to go all-in negative, I don't expect the hostilities to cease anytime soon.

  by mentaldebris on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 02:45:28 PM PDT

•  The Clintons need to go, forever!

  by cmpnwtr on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 03:04:17 PM PDT

•  imho some of us, including me, are afraid...

  and won't be comfortable until Clinton concedes.

  We're afraid because the Obama candicacy, in spite of, and because of, it's idealism, integrity, etc., is an anomaly in the U.S. presidential selection process;

  We're afraid because the campaign coverage from the traditional media (do ya like that, Kos?) has been so poor;

  We're afraid because of the non-issues that nevertheless have hurt Obama's numbers;

  We're afraid because the Clinton campaign persists without heed of the logic you raise;

  We're afraid because we, and our children, and our country, and the world, so desperately need the hope and change that Obama advocates.

  by synductive99 on Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 03:12:20 PM PDT