Primary season is nearly upon us, and online activists are inevitably filing off into their respective Kos camps. I'm been there before; I had Hillary fever in 2007. Symptoms include spending way too much time online, reacting to every single occurrence in the talkbacks with a rapid response 'attack', and extreme emotional attachment your candidate(s). It's time to inoculate ourselves, and be rationale about the choices that we're being presented with.
Take a breather. Your candidate isn't "precious", and either is mine
There may be many good reasons to support your candidate or not to support another: there has never been a woman President, Hillary voted for the Iraq War, income inequality + corporate socialism have run amuck, and we're debating the future of the party. Those are all important things that will impact our lives for generations. For that reason, being passionate about your beliefs and debating the direction of the Democratic Party is healthy. But "campaign fever" isn't - especially when we forget that we have common with one another than not. We can choose to obsess and engage in internecine conflict, or to be constructive. My hope is that we'll be a great resource for Democrats of all stripes.
The upside is tremendous. This community can dissect the merits of our candidates' policies, pool our research and ideas, influence the campaigns, and respond to GOP disinformation. Daily Kos isn't representative of most voters, so passions run higher, and we're more politically engaged. We can be an asset for communicating Democratic messaging and help people to decide which candidate they will prefer to support.
The downside is that Democrats are at high risk of campaign fever. I've witnessed many campaigns - from local on up - where we amplify our differences and become fast enemies. Democrats with slightly different ideas become 'an evil', and some of us act as venomous as Tea Party Republicans while our preferred candidates are held up as divinity. Yes, we do have the tendency to be as partisan as "them" and just as irrational.
The rollercoaster emotional experience of launching a software start-up has made me a more level-minded person who doesn't become needlessly high or low. You don't know what's what until it happens. Looking back into this community, I recall the emotionally charged environmental here circa 2007 - and beyond. It's given me the perspective that we shouldn't become overly attached to campaigns or their soaring rhetoric at the expense of our actual daily lives and relationships with one another, virtual or otherwise.
Candidates aren't cure-alls. From 2007, Edwards turned out to be a creep, President Barack Obama didn't herald in a new progressive era nor the generational lapse of the Republican Party, and Hillary wouldn't necessary done anything differently. That's not to say the President hasn't delivered significant policy achievements: he just didn't live up the the machinations of "campaign fever". I was wrong to believe Hillary would either, and am more circumspect this time around. She's assembling a good team and saying the right things, but I want to see actual policy, in writing. That's where this community can help.
I'm singling out Hillary, because she's the perceived frontrunner and frequent topic of discussion on this site. She's a formidable politician, who with the right policy agenda, could become a very good President. Or she could falter as "more of the same", and not meet progressives' expectations. We just don't know yet, and I refuse to be overly excited about her or any of the candidate until we have tangible information to discuss. However, this community can determine the merits of her platform when the time comes and shine a spotlight onto the alternatives. It's just not worth obsessing over any candidate - yay or nay - at the expense of time being spent with family, friends, or other worthwhile pursuits.
Some of my closest friends are hardcore Hillary fanatics; other don't feel she's earned the accolades. That's okay, but I refuse to worship at the alter of a political candidate again. My world won't end if Lincoln Chafee or Martin O'Malley strongly challenge Hillary or if Hillary defeats her opposition, and either would yours. There's a strong case to be made for all of the aforementioned candidates, so it's worthwhile for Democrats to try to be remain open to every realistic possibility. I pledge to listen to opposing voices here, despite my admiration of Hillary, and to remain grounded against a relapse of the "fever".