Hurting your favorite candidate

Not that it's any surprise, but every time I write about a contested Democratic primary, there will always be a number of people who aren't happy that I don't worship at the altar of their favorite candidate. Anything but blind worship is considered disrespect. And while there are some that I do disrespect (Biden and Kucinich come to mind), I generally like and respect the rest of the field.

But every election there's a crew that screams about biases and the like. I consider it an occupational hazard, and I know those people will always be there, but I want to make it clear that 1) those people are wrong. When I have a favorite, I'll say so. I'm not afraid to speak my mind (if you hadn't noticed). And 2) those people aren't doing their candidates any favors. Being obnoxious, whiny, and wearing tin foil hats don't reflect well on the object of their adoration.

In 2004, the "most annoying supporters" prize went, I'm sad to say, to the Dean crowd. In 2006, the Hackett brigades were insufferable. Remember? Only Hackett was "electable" because Brown was "too liberal" and blah blah blah blah? Senator Sherrod Brown showed just how irrational (in addition to insufferable) that crowd was. The runner-up prize went to the Christine Cegelis supporters, who, despite all their kvetching, couldn't help their candidate win in a ridiculously low turnout primary. It's as if they were so busy crying about the injustices suffered by their candidate that they forgot to turn out and vote.

In 2008, the prize for "most annoying" is a close race between the "Talk about Gore running even though he's said he's not running!" crowd and the "Why is everyone always dumping on John Edwards?" crew.

Really, all the whining does neither you, nor your favorite guy any favors. It does the opposite -- it turns people off from your guy. I painfully saw this happen with Howard Dean. Once you become a self-styled ambassador for your guy, your behavior rubs off (for better or for worse) on the person you are promoting.

Like I said, I can take the whining. It comes with my job description. So I'm not saying this for my benefit. I'm saying it for the benefit of the guys you claim to be helping. Edwards doesn't need a bunch of crying babies defining who he is online. No one mistakes that for passion. They take it for what it is -- weakness and obnoxiousness. It didn't help Dean. It didn't help Cegelis. It didn't help Hackett. And it won't help Edwards and/or Gore this cycle.

Be strident. Be passionate. Fight for your guy (or gal). That's politics. But once you resort to whining, the only people you are helping are those running against your candidate.