Garling Gauge

Hey Democrats, Stop Whining!

Do what I want Do what I want Do what I want

If you’re growing weary of the whining and complaining accompanying the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, you are not alone. As a liberal Democrat even I am sick to death of the bitter whining of my political brethren. From inappropriate calls for Sen. Hillary Clinton to exit the race, orders for the superdelegates to ‘decide now’, and complaints from the candidates’ themselves about the debate questions they receive, the Democratic whining is reaching a fever pitch.

Egalitarianism and unity are defining ideals of the Democratic party. But those potential strengths are also its Achilles’ Heel, as fairness, conformity, and be-nice-ness are making the Democrats look like shallow wimps as we head towards November.

What we have needed for quite a while now are Democratic nominees who campaign like Republicans. Why? Because they win. The hurdle for Democrats are our emotions. We don’t want a candidate who will win, we want a candidate who will make us feel good. Especially for left-leaning Democrats, the emotion factor trumps the logical argument. Democrats are feelers. As a group, we would rather feel good about who we nominate rather than win, even if the policies between the Democratic candidates are similar.

Take this political election cycle for example. Who did we have running? Sen. Joe Biden, the head of the foreign relations committee, Gov. Bill Richardson, former Sen. John Edwards, etc. With the Democratic winds blowing strong, these were _easy_ wins in the general election. But did we choose the easy win, the candidate most acceptable to Republican swing voters? Did we choose the candidate best suited for independents? No, we’re down to the mortal enemy of the GOP due to sexism and latent hypocritical animosity towards Bill Clinton (Hillary), and a neophyte untested charmer (Obama). All of the serious Democratic nominees had very similar policy stances, but instead of the easy win, we had to narrow it down to the (arguably) riskiest candidates of all. And then we complain about it.

Democrats are acting like weenies.

Now that the race is down to two, however, it is clear to many of us who experienced the Clinton years and don’t hate politics that we need a scrappy fighter to beat the Republicans in the fall. Obama makes us feel great, but Clinton will do what takes to win. As noted by (too many) pundits, Obama can’t even close the deal on Clinton. This could be an unnecessary problem in the fall should he become the nominee.

Additionally, Democrats can disagree without being disagreeable. The only thing causing a rift in the party is the party itself. Without any sense of loyalty (compared to the Republicans), Democrats are at each other’s throats over who they think should be the nominee. Read the comment section of any news on any site about Clinton, for example, and the Obama supporters spew vile words towards a cornerstone figure of their own party. Democrats are connecting Clinton with the Bush years and old politics. It makes sense that many Obama supporters are young, and were not politically-minded during a Democratic administration. Bush is all they know, and anything connected to the past must be bad, right?

On top of all that, the extended primary has placed a media focus on the Democrats while John McCain lingers in somewhat obscurity.

There are also varying views on whether Clinton staying in the race is helping or hurting the Democrats. But one thing is certain, the party is doing the most damage to itself. From party elders such as former Democratic National Committee chairman Robert S. Strauss calling for Dems to rally around a nominee, to Obama supporters raging against Sen. Hillary Clinton, to former President Clinton complaining about attacks on his wife, to the Speaker of the House telling the Superdelegates they can’t choose who they vote for, Democratic whining has reached a fever pitch.

Fret not little Dems, the party will unite.  Both Clinton and Obama would be a ridiculously superior president to compared the geezer known as John McCain.

But if you truly want party unity, stop complaining about the process. Swing voters hear your whining too.

Stumble it!