Back in Pre-Election Times, those who wanted President Obama re-elected and who wanted to elect more and better Democrats to Congress encountered quite a bit of pushback from some bloggers who post regularly on Daily Kos. Those folks wanted President Obama to lose and for Congress to return to Republican control: to teach "us" a lesson ... "us" being Democrats who believe that electoral politics is the best way to effect change.
Our reasoning was that if you don't Vote For Democrats, Democrats will not win elections. And when Democrats do not win elections, our lives are not better ... they are worse and, in fact, they suck.
Just ask a Michigander or a Wisconsinite if you are unfamiliar with the phrase "losing elections sucks".
And guess what, naysayers? You lost! The math challenged Dick Morris and Karl Rove and YOU, those willing to subvehiculate Democrats who are deemed Not Perfect ... lost. L-O-S-T. LOST. President Obama is NOT a one-term president as YOU and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wanted. We elected not only more Democrats but a whole bunch of better Democrats, including my own soon-to-be-Senator Tammy Baldwin. Yay, "us"!
A little history lesson. We were told by the site moderators that calling those who wanted the president to lose "Obama Suxxers" would not be allowed. We were told to stop calling people who seemed frustrated by the hard work of electoral politics by names they self-identified with. People who advocated for third-party candidates were asked to find another home so we could do the important work of electing Democrats on this web site dedicated to electing Democrats. That intervention was welcomed by those of us who were getting ready to roll up our sleeves and do that work.
Then the election happened. Democrats won and won big. Democrats made a statement even in states we lost because our gains have scared the bejeebus out of the Republicans.
So here y'all are ... back again. Working as hard as you can to deflate people and gin up false outrage at what the president and our Democratic congressional leaders have NOT DONE (but MIGHT DO ... MAYBE THEY WOULD ... SCREW THE FACTS ... THEY'RE GOING TO!!!!).
And the Rox-Sux wars began anew. Sigh.
"I Vote For Democrats" is not "I Vote for Third Way". It is insulting on a site whose purpose is to promote Democrats in elections that such a comment is uprated and not hiderated. Do you really believe that the Democratic party is the freaking Third Way? That is a insult to everyone on this web site who calls themselves a Democrat and those elected Democrats and Democratic candidates who posted here in support of our GOTV Blogathon.
But do you know what is not insulting? To be called "partisan", the new "pejorative" chosen to replace "Obama Roxxers".
I am partisan ... I am a Proud Partisan. I am a member of the Democratic Party and it is not enough for me to elect Democrats, I am going to support the Democrats I elected. Why? Because I want their policies to succeed because when Democratic policies succeed we can elect more and better Democrats. Social Security and Medicare and Voters Rights and Civil Rights are Democratic policies. They don't just magically happen because we elected Democrats. They happened because we supported the Democrats we elected. You can't just show up every two years (or every four years, as those who stayed home in 2010 did) to vote ... you show up every single day talking up Democratic policies, sharing Democratic ideals and making sure that those around you remember which PARTY gives a damn about their lives and which PARTY does not.
So when the naysayers drone on about holding our elected officials feet to the fire, that is fine but DON'T BURN THEIR FEET OFF! No one is elected on a single issue and governing is hard work. Not every decision will please everyone.
And one more thing, completely off-topic except that it ticks me off as much as the other nonsense being peddled ticks me off. When you choose to insult someone by saying "what sort of person is content to express themselves solely through trite images lifted from the Internet?", you don't insult just one person. You insult the hundreds of users who rec'ed the HAHAHA election diaries over the past six months. And you insult the hundreds who follow (and love) the Pootie & Woozle diaries. And you expose a weakness in your thought process when you cannot understand this simple thing: we are more powerful when we work together and embrace the things we have in common rather than insult those we disagree with.
(That comment, by the way, made LOL Cat weep)
And that is actually the lesson I hope can be learned from the past election season.
Get over your anger and disappointment and start working for a better Democratic party. Hint: it will not be perfect but it will be a hell of a lot better than what you had been advocating for. Start by following Van Jones and Richard Trumka ... they got themselves a seat at the table because they were willing to help elect and re-elect Democrats: to build a coalition for our future.
Here's my Democratic ass ... ready to kick some Republican asses in the next election.
Are you ready to join this coalition?