Amen Kos

By: Chris Guy
Published On: 1/30/2007 11:31:12 PM


Recently, Markos over at DailyKos made one of the most spot-on observations I've read regarding the netroots in a very long time. That is, how unbelievably shrill and annoying people can be trying to push their prefered candidate down your throat. It does the complete opposite of what you're trying to accomplish. Here's what Markos, who worked for the Dean campaign in 2004, had to say on the subject:

In 2004, the "most annoying supporters" prize went, I'm sad to say, to the Dean crowd. In 2006, the Hackett brigades were insufferable. Remember? Only Hackett was "electable" because Brown was "too liberal" and blah blah blah blah? Senator Sherrod Brown showed just how irrational (in addition to insufferable) that crowd was. The runner-up prize went to the Christine Cegelis supporters, who, despite all their kvetching, couldn't help their candidate win in a ridiculously low turnout primary. It's as if they were so busy crying about the injustices suffered by their candidate that they forgot to turn out and vote.

Sen. Brown (D-OH) beat incumbent Republican DeWine by 12 points by the way. (Yes, I know that any Democrat probably would have won in Ohio last year. But that's the whole point, isn't it? There was no "electable" candidate in that race.)

The candidate you support doesn't always lose the race by themselves. What people didn't understand in 2004 was that a bunch of college kids in bright orange hats from out of state aren't gonna convince someone from rural Iowa to vote for Dean (His dissappointing finish in Iowa happened before the "scream" speech). And, for example, if you support Barack Obama and call Hillary Clinton names, you're probably hurting your guy more than her.

More from kos:

I painfully saw this happen with Howard Dean. Once you become a self-styled ambassador for your guy, your behavior rubs off (for better or for worse) on the person you are promoting.

Like I said, I can take the whining. It comes with my job description. So I'm not saying this for my benefit. I'm saying it for the benefit of the guys you claim to be helping. Edwards doesn't need a bunch of crying babies defining who he is online. No one mistakes that for passion. They take it for what it is -- weakness and obnoxiousness. It didn't help Dean. It didn't help Cegelis. It didn't help Hackett. And it won't help Edwards and/or Gore this cycle.

And before you get mad, remember Markos points a finger at himself as well as others. We've all probably been guilty of it at some point. I was just so glad that someone as well-known and well-respected as him finally said what I've been thinking for the longest time.

Comments



A little OT but.. (Kathy Gerber - 1/31/2007 7:45:27 AM)
.. this a.m. there are several excellent diaries at dailykos. Just to mention two -

By dengre NEW Abramoff emails reveal insights and GOP troubles...

From Conservatism is Dead, and it's Not Coming Back by thereisnospoon -

Every single problem that we face nationally and globally is completely beyond the scope of simplistic, old-school conservatism to address.  Nearly every problem requires the mobilization of large-scale structures to resolve.  Consider them:

Nuclear proliferation.
Global warming.
Environmental degradation of other kinds.
Peak Oil.
Stateless Terrorism.
Overpopulation.
The threat of catastrophic "Andromeda Strain" viruses.
The worldwide drug trade.
Worldwide water shortages.
Genocides.
The "double-income" trap--with concomitant "latchkey kid" syndrome.
Moral degeneration (yes, it exists, as anyone who has witnessed the decline from Glenn Miller to Britney Spears, from MLK Jr. to P-Diddy, from Doogie Howser to MTV's Real World, can easily attest.)

And the list goes on and on.

Ayn Rand has no answers for these.  Neither does Burke.  Nor Rockefeller.  Nor even the PaleoCons, for the most part.

These problems are enormous.  Daunting.  Intimidating.  At times, they seem utterly intractable.  So much so that one school of political thought has totally withered in the face of their unrelenting pressure, while the other stands at an historic crossroads that will define its future for generations.