If you haven’t read Steve’s post over at Delaware Libertarian you should. And even though it’s obvious he doesn’t have a horse in this race he makes some valid points. Now allow me to add a few of my own.
Has this election season become overly divisive? Yes. I won’t argue with that point, instead I’ll try and analyze what makes this year more impassioned than 2000 and 2004.
We can start with Obama, but we’re not going to end there. And that’s problem number one. Despite all the labeling (empty suit, the “One”, Messiah) most Obama supporters can see past their candidate to the issues. The fact we receive absolutely no credit for understanding the issues and are constantly accused of hero worship and kool-aid drinking is a major source of conflict. These terms, which have been used since day one, are insulting and pretty much shut down the possibility of civil debate. Which I’m beginning to think is the point of these attacks.
Moving past Obama we arrive at the heart of the matter: The last eight years. And make no mistake this election is about the last eight years. It’s also about the Democrats’ role in making two Bush terms possible. Did you catch that last line? We helped put Bush in office. Twice. And if you agree with my assertion then you might understand the rigid stance Dems have embarked on this year. If not, let me explain…
In 2000, when Bush ran against Gore the electorate was pretty disinterested. Nader’s platform of there’s no difference between the candidates resonated. And to my ever lasting shame I was one of those people who joked about “Gush and Bore”. Boy, am I sorry now. Little did I (or anyone, I suspect) foresee how destructive the Bush Presidency would be. I actually believed he was against Nation Building! So when 2004 rolled around we were ready to win. Were we not? Didn’t we rise up and defend Kerry against those vile swift boat ads? Umm… no. Didn’t we organize and do everything in our power to change an Electoral College map that was stacked against us? Nope. Did we allow any disagreement with Bush and Co. to be used to question our patriotism? You betcha.
What’s missing this election, and what many are lamenting, is the loss of the predictable liberal debate. You know, the sort of dialogue where liberals are objective, quickly pointing out their candidate’s imperfections while justifying their support. This trait is one of the reasons Republicans love liberals. Normally, we’re quite happy to show the other side where to aim the knife.
So what happened this year? Obama? To some extent, but not all. This movement is much bigger than one man. It’s almost as if the Dems woke up one day and realized an election is about winning; that winning is step one, and without step one there is no step two. In essence, we’ve taken a page out of the Republican playbook. We not only fell in love, we fell in line. And we’re staying in both of these states until election day. Political purity be damned. We’ve played that game before – a game, I might point out, that Republicans haven’t participated in until this year.
Granted, McCain is a lousy candidate. He use to be the Republican only a Democrat could love. Now nobody loves him. Which might explain why our trolls constantly (and I do mean constantly) go after Obama. Could it be they attack Obama because they have nothing good to say about McCain?
It’s going to be a long two weeks. My advice would be to buckle in for a bumpy ride. Liberals, being liberals, will return to standard form soon enough and the Delaware blogosphere will survive… once everyone ventures out from their respective corners.