In response an excellent diary: "If Bernie beats HRC in the primaries, Its unrealistic…"
by Roger Fox, I wrote a comment. The tenor of many preceding comments after Roger's post both disappointed and dismayed me.
So I have taken the liberty of reprinting my comment to his post here.
I voted McGovern too, even though he ran a horrible campaign. Yes he was ignored by the corporatist wing of the democratic party. Yes he was the victim of Republican smears--but think about this:
Every Democratic candidate will be unsupported by corporate America. Every Democrat will be smeared by swift boaters and other Republican scum.
We need a candidate who will articulately face down the opposition, say what he/she means, means what she/he says and does a damn good job of talking directly to the American people.
Too many progressives are wilting under the guise of "pragmatism". That is a sell-out. What the Hell happened to the fighting spirit of old-time Democrats (and I don't mean Dixiecrats). Despite the fact that he was a Republican, it is well-known that prominent Democrats of the day wanted Eisenhower to run on the Democratic ticket. Ike was a shoo-in. He helped win WWII not so much by brilliant tactics and strategy but by his ability to get people of vastly different points of view, with divergent interests, work together for the common good.
If Bernie Sanders posses those qualities, then despite daunting odds, he has a chance. The operative word here is "IF".
I am dismayed at how many Kossacks violate that very true adage to not "take counsel of your fears." As another WWII general, George Patton said: "I don't want to make my boys die for their country, I want the other guys to die for theirs."
A more aggressive stance is necessary. We will be out=spent. We will be smeared. The 300 Spartans who held off Xerxes' 100,000 did so because they were unafraid to defend their beliefs, no matter what the cost. They saved Western Civilization--just those few men.
We have a chance--and an OBLIGATION--to do just that. Although the starting numbers are small, we have every chance to win--but not if we are so craven as to not FIGHT.
Riddled with self-doubt we cannot win and will not win. I guarantee it. No matter what reprobate villain the Republicans chose, they enter the 2016 battle with the expectation of winning.
We must do no less.
Do we Progressives want to win in 2016? If you answer yes, then be prepared to get your nose bloodied and your hands scraped. We cannot afford to nominate a spineless soul like Al Gore.
Do not take counsel of your fears. Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight. FIGHT!