The Sanders v. Clinton battles have been wearing on my spirit.
So I decided it was time to take a trip in the Daily Kos Time Machine (not to be confused with the Hot Tub Time Machine) and used the Search function to look for diaries from July 1, 2007 through June 1, 2008.
My adventures through time and space below the fold...
The first thing I noted was that, of course, it wasn't a two-person race. In those halcyon days, John Edwards was still A Thing. Hindsight being 20/20 we can be grateful that he flamed out before the news of his extramarital infidelity came to light, but that scenario wasn't even on the radar in the summer of 2007.
The second thing I noted was that the Clinton "inevitability" theme was being proclaimed on the front page. From the intro to astronautagogo's diary of November 3, 2007:
How many more "Inevitable HRC" front pagers from Markos must we have to endure?!
Up until now, the MSM has virtually given Hillary Clinton's views & positions on the primary trail a pretty tame ride. Very rarely has Hillary ever been in a position throughout her POTUS bid thus far, in which she is confronted in the public eye with the real tough questions. Very rarely is she ever forced out of her canned comfort zone. The few times she has been however, it's been a VERY startling look at the truth behind the masks. We saw it at YearlyKos, we saw it in Iowa when a man asked about Kyl/Lieberman & we saw it a few nights ago in the debate.
DailyKos & the progressive blogosphere have a history of generally being out ahead of the MSM curve. The MSM has been saying HRC is inevitable because of all her name recognition, her vast experience in the limelight, her time in the whitehouse & because she's Bill's wife.
Aren't people saying the same thing about Clinton now, in 2015? Name recognition, her time in the White House, her marriage to Bill? Add in her time in the Senate and as Secretary of State now.
People are dismissing the "Sanders Phenomenon", of people encouraged and activated by his campaign. But there was this in a diary from howardpark back on July 1, 2007 (just a bit over 8 years ago):
Three months ago bloggers and everyone else professed amazement at Obama's number of donors and fundraising success. Then it died down and pretty much all I saw for the next few months was a lot of meaningless snarky nit-picking about Obama's perceived campaign strategy or utterance by him or a staff person, but really nothing about the what drives Obama and what is propelling his campaign. Me included. And I admit I'm judging blogs mostly by MyDD & DailyKos. Thus, I'm sure I'm slandering a lot of bloggers who I don't read, but it's how I feel, sorry. A lot of smart people seem to enjoy finding little things to knock Obama about. That is good, it keeps his stratospheric expectations down to earthly levels. Nothing is worse for a 2008 campaign than unrealistic expectations in 2007.
Last week, however, I saw it. I saw how students at Howard University were grabbing for Obama signs like starving children would grab for candy. Students are almost always a leading indicator in campaigns. I've seen it too among friends of friends and family who -- mostly I never could have imagined would vote for a African-American -- who are flocking to Obama in places like my hometown of St. Louis where both Democrat Congressmen (Clay & Carnihan) have endorsed him. I've seen Obama too, a lot lately, and for the first time since the 1970's someone evokes the best of the 1960's. The Obama campaign is what generational change looks like and what a movement looks like. He has not been tested yet but it's clear that Obama is not a fad. I also see it almost every day in the District of Columbia a few blocks away geographically and miles & miles away psychically from the DC of the Capitol & K Street. I see it on the faces of junior high kids who run over and want to talk to me, a middle aged white guy, and ask how they can get an Obama T shirt like mine. They are faces of hope that I just don't see on an average day.
Sanders is getting the same interest, the same excitement about his campaign. (howardpark, by the way, is an O'Malley supporter in this primary; a worthy candidate indeed.)
Psifighter37 (who last had a comment in May of this year -- come back soon!) had this interesting analysis of the polling in the race in July of 2007, including impact if Al Gore entered the race. Clinton, Obama and O'Malley could easily parallel Clinton, Sanders and O'Malley at this point, with Clinton having a larger lead at this point because of her name recognition. We know how that turned out.
And almost 8 years ago to the day, a former Kossack reported a Rasmussen poll that showed Clinton with a 19 point lead over Obama.
Point of all of this history? Maybe that it's too soon to declare the race "over". Maybe it's to remind people to listen to one another. Maybe it's to remember that while we may differ on methods, our goal is the same: to keep the GOP from ruining this country (at least any more than they already have).
Peace out.