I've been watching, with no small amount of dismay, as many people here seem to be splitting into separate camps regarding a variety of issues. Support for and criticism of the Administration is one fault line, but by no means the only one.
Six weeks from today -- a mere 42 days -- is election day. Hanging in the balance is control of the House, Senate and numerous state elections and ballot issues that may well have a profound effect on redistricting for the next decade. The stakes could not be higher.
Nevertheless, some people seem to feel the need to argue amongst themselves over a variety of issues that have at best a tangential relationship to the actual election. If you ask me, there are sound arguments on both sides on most of these debates and there should be a debate. The question, though, is when that debate should occur. None of these arguments are going to be settled in the next six weeks and many of them will never be resolved. Being a Democrat has always been something of a messy business; Will Rogers noted that decades ago.
But, there is a time and a place for these intraparty squabbles. Six weeks before an important election is, in my opinion, not such a time. It seems to me that what we are doing is forgetting who and what the real opposition is and, in so doing, losing sight of something pretty basic -- the fact that we're all on the same side. We're losing sight of the forest for the trees.
Elections are choices. In the case of the 2010 election, the choice is as stark as day and night. The opposition has plunged itself into the realm of the demented and has shown itself to have learned nothing from the failed Administration that we all celebrated the end of just two years ago. Do any of us really want there to be a Speaker Boehner or a Majority Leader McConnell? Do we want to see some of our best elected officials lose their bids for reelection? Is there any race in the country, even those involving Blue Dogs, where the Democrat is not preferable overall to the Republican alternative? I think not.
Personally, I like the fact that Democrats have differences of opinion. If you think my message here is to shut up and blindly follow our leaders, either I haven't done a good job of making my point or you're misreading what I'm trying to say. I think that there are a number of things we need to have a debate about within our somewhat disorderly family of Democrats. Now, however, is not the time.
So, I have a small proposal. Can we call a truce among ourselves until November 3? Let's focus on the job at hand, which is defeating an opposition determined to take us back to what we left behind two years ago. In fact, some of the extremists who are now GOP nominees are even further out in right field.
Personally, I think a lot of the pundits and conventional wisdom are wrong. I don't think this election has to be the disaster some are predicting. However, preventing that from coming to pass means we need to get to work and set aside our own differences for a few weeks in the service of a common interest. It seems to me to be a small price to pay for keeping the GOP at bay for another 2 years. Furthermore, I'd rather see any intraparty debate take place in an environment where we've astonished the pundits with some measure of success rather than in the aftermath of what will inevitably be interpreted by the pundits as a repudiation of Democratic leadership. In this environment, with such low expectations, the bar for success is tantalizingly low.
I'll just add here that I'm by no means a blind cheerleader for anyone. I have my share of frustration and grievances with the party's leadership. Nevertheless, I've reached the conclusion that airing those grievances now is counterproductive to the greater purpose of defeating a GOP that has truly gone round the bend into irrationality and which presents a danger to the future of the country.
Disclaimer: this diary is in no way meant to be a criticism of any individual or any particular diary. If you take it that way, my apologies in advance, for it is not my intent in any way shape or form.