I'm a Hillary supporter. I have been since I first hear her speak in 1992, and I will continue to be a supporter. She'll have my money and my vote whenever she needs it. And Hillary has made it clear that if Obama wins the nomination, she'll be out there supporting him, and so will I.
In that spirit, I made a trip over to Daily Kos this morning, wondering if the tide of unity was at least lapping the shores there yet. It isn't.
So why another diary about what happens at a blog other than this one? Very simple - Daily Kos, for better or worse, has the highest profile of any progressive blog out there (arguably), and the tone over there matters. The MSM gleefully reports the Hillary hate that has manifested itself there, and I can unhappily report that it continues unabated.
The first diary I saw was this one , right at the top of the rec list. I saw it was entitled "An Open Letter to Clinton Supporters", so I thought I had struck gold in the first 5 seconds of my trip. Wrong.
This diary purports to be an open letter, but it's nothing more than an excuse for some of the more obnoxious partisans to slap Hillary around and tell us how awful they think our candidate is, and I said so in the comments. Here's a taste treat from that diary:
The truth is that there is a quiet battle being waged for the soul of the Democratic Party. Your candidate was on the wrong side of that divide.
The diarist then goes on to give us a list of the faults of Hillary Clinton and her campaign, as he sees it. And this is an open letter to Clinton supporters, which I would assume is intended to bring them us over to Obama
Guess what folks: telling me how horrible you think my candidate is won't accomplish that goal.
On the other hand, I did find several excellent diaries about topics other than the primary, which has always been the case at Daily Kos. There is no limit to the number of passionate people who will write and discuss any number of topics intelligently and without rancor.
I also found a response dairy to the one I mentioned above, which I think struck exactly the right tone. It was well written, but without the need to preach to we Clintonistas and inform us how wrong we are. He/she made very mild criticism of both Clinton and Obama, and gave them both compliments as well.
Barack Obama is campaigning on the idea that a president can be public-minded, that he can serve the interests of the nation as a vocation and that the role of the president as the First Public Servant is just as important as that of Commander-in-Chief.Now, I understand that Sen. Clinton has been "delivering the goods" on jobs, on housing, on health care, on retirement ... For people following issues, it just seems like Sen. Clinton is better. She seems to know more. Her solutions seem more immediate. More relevant.
I didn't agree with everything in the diary, but it was an excellent call for unity. I rec'ed the diary and logged off to do some work.
Imagine my surprise (of which there was none) when I came back this afternoon to discover another anti-Hillary diary, this one slightly hysterical and focused on Hillary is44. Now, I've never been to that site and I don't post there. I have no idea if what the diarist claims is true, but that's not really the point. What really got my attention was the incredible vitriol in the comments. I won't dignify some of the crap I read, but you can feel to check out the "Shrillary" comments for yourself if you like.
We've got a long way to go, people. If I may be so bold, I would like to give Obama supporters a little unsolicited advice, which is worth exactly what you're paying for it: if you really want to help bridge the divide, resist the temptation to tell us how wrong our candidate is. If some fool alleging to be a Clinton supporter says something outrageous, don't take the bait. We all know who the trolls are, there's no need to feed them.
I would also like to thank the reasoned and dedicated Obama and Clinton supporters here at MyDD. I think it's remarkable how much closer together we've come over the past few weeks, and that's due in large part to people actually making an effort. MyDD is a much more pleasant place than Daily Kos, and likely will be for some time. We've still got some road ahead of us, but we're definitely on the way.
I continue to support Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (let's face it, she's just awesome!), but if the time comes, I will support Barack Obama with my time, my money and my vote. And so will Hillary. What about you?
Update [2008-5-16 20:40:34 by Denny Crane]: It was suggested in the comments that I should acknowledge that there are plenty of nasty anti-Obama diaries written by Clinton supporters, and that's absolutely true. If we are going to win in November, we'll need to come together and stop beating each other up -that goes for both sides. Fellow Clintonistas, we can't expect unity unless we're willing to work for it too. It's not a one way street.Thanks to DawnG for the suggestion.
Additionally, I returned here to MyDD this afternoon and was truly dismayed t find that very same dairy on the rec list here. I think it's unfortunate that a divisive diary that pretends to be helpful makes the rec list, but such is life.
|
|
|
Permalink :: 72 Comments :: Post a Comment
|
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.
