I have grown more alarmed each day as I watch the hateful rhetoric escalate between the two candidate camps on the internet. Both sides have been attacking the other with such vitriol that I fear we are about to damage our party beyond repair. Whether it's hatred toward "hilbots" or "Obama cultists" doesn't matter, both sides are equally responsible when it comes to the left side of the blogasphere. And if it continues, both sides may be equally responsible for a McCain win.
For the most part we simply disagree on who is the best candidate and who would be the best President. That is all. On the vast majority of issues we all agree, with only slight differences within those issues. But the thing that we all agree on whole-heartedly is that a Republican in the White-House would be catastrophic for our country.
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Obama Supporters
One of the ironic things to me is the way some of my fellow Obama supporters show and perperuate the hatred toward Hillary and her supporters. For many of us one of the biggest reasons we support Obama is because of his message of unity and respect. We see in him a chance to get past the decades of warfare within our country. We see in him our own feelings of respect between us and our own good friends and family who happen to be Republicans. We are sick of the conflict perpetuated by the GOP message machine, the so-called-liberal-media and some within our own party. The politics of personal destruction have taken their toll on us and we desperately want a change.
And yet it is a favorite tactic of far too many of us. We so desperately want our candidate to win that we are willing to engage in that which we decry.
Hillary Supporters
Too many Hillary supporters are willing to do the exact same thing that FOX and the GOP message machine have been doing for years. They will pounce on any "gaff" Obama or his supporters make and turn it into the most important issue facing us. They take something like The Wright sermons and act as if it is proof that Obama has the same attitudes. They use GOP frames like "elitest" and "out of touch with small town America" even though they know that that is something the GOP has deeply engrained into the public mindset regarding ALL Democrats. They know that it is damaging to the party as a whole but the short term gain is all the are concerned with. They know that all of this was used against Bill and Hillary for the eight years Bill was in office and the eight years Hillary has been a Senator.
And yet they use the tactics that they fought so hard against when it was employed against the Clintons, against Obama. They want so desperately for their candidate to win that they are will to engage in anything to see that happen.
Supporters vs Candidates
The reason I am leaving out the responsibility of the candidates in all of this is because I think that it is all of us that I think this diary can have an impact on. Hillary and Obama really don't care what Mike S has to say. Especially since I am in California and have already cast my vote for Obama.
But the ones that can have an affect on the party are us. We are the ones that friends call to ask for opinions on the latest issue, story or tactic. I know that I am not alone when it comes to having a majority of friends who are not as active and informed regarding politics and the campaign. All of us get those calls and all of us can have a calming effect on large swaths of the Democratic electorate.
So Please, Please, Please stop the hate.
