As I watch the “learning” process that appears to be unfolding on DKos, I see us making some repeat mistakes. I propose some very simple things we should ALL keep in mind as we seek to move the Democratic party forward through discussion on this site:
- Hypotheticals are impossible to prove (e.g. Bernie would have won, etc.). They make for weak arguments. The fact is Bernie supporters (full disclosure...that includes me) don’t know whether or not he would have won. And starting a discussion with your preferred hypothetical is unlikely to move the ball forward.
- Suggesting that something different could or should have been done in either the primary or the general doesn’t have to be an accusation of malpractice, should not be presented that way, and this should not be received that way.
- A good future path forward will likely combine elements from a number of our members’ perspectives. Hillary clearly wasn’t WHOLLY right in the primaries, but neither was Bernie. Hillary’s approach to the general wasn’t wholly wrong. let’s find the good and discard the bad.
- We MUST have made mistakes. Do you know how I know this? We lost. Lost big. While it MAY be true that external factors played a role in this (e.g. Comey announcement), who cares? We can only seek to change the things we have control over. If a factor cannot be influenced by us, why are we fussing over it?
- Research has shown that mistakes can be a powerful tool for learning and improving, but only if we learn the real lessons. This is HARD for reasons relating to emotions, hard-to-discern facts, and a host of human brain biases. But it is worth doing, or at least trying.
- Rationalizations are insidious. Test what you are saying and see if you would agree if you changed some element (e.g. would a quote from someone else's mouth still be acceptable to you?). Test it against Democratic core principles. It is OK to accept imperfection, but let’s be mindful when we do it lest we convince ourselves it is perfection.
Losing sucks. let’s interact with each other in a way that makes it less likely we will lose next time.