As a Dick Gephardt supporter and fairly recent dKos diarist I've had a rough ride of it lately..
There's this vetting, or self-censorship that has begun to set in on my part, and here's why....
A poster on dKos who is advocating for someone other than Dean, however earnestly, will bump into four genres of response:
a) Quick, one paragraph hits that basically "flash and trash" some clever, some not.
b) Replies of the "oh, no, not this again" variety. These are typically from Howard Dean supporters, who argue "you can't say this about Howard" or "this line of thinking was debunked weeks ago" while holding the Dean opponent to a much higher standard of advocacy than the typical pro-Dean post here.
c) Hard fought debates about ideas & issues, with respectful acknowledgement that we're in this together, and informative info/links where we differ. When this happens, it's great.
d) Haughty, dismissive hits from people who don't even bother to engage you, address your points, or, sometimes, even correct you. The use of the term "sigh" or "obvious" is usually indicative that you are in the zone of someone who "stopped being polite" to people like you about six months ago...
What's ironic about this is that anyone reading dKos gets a pretty good idea of "what's on the mind of a broad range of Howard Dean supporters" and more...but
for Howard Dean supporters themselves, what's on the mind of the 80% of Democrats for whom Howard isn't the first name that pops into their head SHOULD BE of vital interest.
Howard Dean needs our votes, our energy. And, yes, our insights.
So why is it that I'm perceiving the discourse coming the other way to be so hostile?
I guess you can chalk it up to the nature of this message board...and my own damn mouth....
but I do know this: the "culture" of a campaign is important, and comes from the top down. You can see and feel this when you step out and work for almost anyone...and in the case of Howard Dean...
while I am extremely impressed with the energy and structure of the campaign itself, I think the ethos and the delivery need work at this point.
Howard Dean may very well be the Democratic Nominee in 2004. Until then, all of us would do well to heed the Bard:
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown
peace and happy thanksgiving....