Once they’re at the convention with his 30 percent, they presumably figure they can threaten and bully the party to nominate him. This way, he doesn’t have to work to expand support beyond his core group of supporters.
so desperate for relevance that they would apparently attend a Klan rally if it gave them a shred of a spotlight
No doubt there are additional examples of how Daily Kos can gin up infighting among Democrats, but I’ll stop at those two articles, which were published on the same day (May 15, 2019) on the front page, by the same author.
Of course, it goes without saying that this author has every right to publish whatever he wants here, since he’s the founder of the blog. He is of course not subject to warnings or “time outs” or whatever slaps on the wrist might apply to regular users.
I get that the very reason political blogs became so popular is that they allow you to spout off to anyone who’ll listen to you on the Internet. And back in the early days of the blogosphere, some spouters with a real flair for this medium — like Markos Moulitsas — could gain a very sizable audience. And that’s much more satisfying than just spouting off to your relatives at the Thanksgiving table.
But nowadays Daily Kos has a nobler purpose: to help the Democratic Party.
Egging on infighting does not help the Democratic Party.
Here’s my philosophy:
Every action we take in this world can either be part of the problem, or part of the solution.
On the same day that Markos wrote the above articles with a poison pen, he had earlier posted a Straw Poll recap saying
it feels like this cycle is nowhere near as nasty as previous ones. Perhaps it’s the massive field, diffusing the intensity of any single candidate. There’s also a lack of a real villain. I mean, anyone in this field who is genuinely unacceptable ideologically is nowhere near viable.
And in the very first Daily Kos Straw Poll of this cycle, back in January, Markos wrote:
It would be nice if we could be civil to each other, and each others’ choices. We’re all on the anti-Trump team, so no need to turn our fire inward. I’m not naive enough to think that we’ll always have a civilized discussion over tea and crumpets, but … can we at least try?
I won’t go all Yoda and proclaim “Do or do not. There is no try.”
I’ll just say this:
When you’re the founder of a popular Democratic organ on the Internet, posting statements like the latter two, which may help to tamp down infighting (while not stifling healthy debate) is being part of the solution.
When you’re writing with a poison pen, you’re being part of the problem.
Please choose wisely.
Please be a good role model.