General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: How the extreme left gave us Nixon, Bush and now Trump [View all]Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)There's no way to prove a speculative outcome.
What we can say is that none of the "Trump is a crazy scumbag" ads ever gained us votes in the polls. They were designed to win over "moderate Republican women in the suburbs"...a demographic that turned out not to exist. We were at the exact same level of polling support after a month of those ads as we were when the campaign started. With ads designed specifically to gain votes we didn't otherwise have, that is proof of failure.
The ads I would have run would have emphasized what the Clinton-Kaine ticket was going to do, to solidify our base, AND would have talked about the positions the Sanders campaign added to the platform, in order to remind disappointed Sanders supporters that what they had done had made a difference and that the party had been changed for the better.
I'd also have bought time for a nationwide tv address by our nominee to talk about nothing but what we were going to do. It would have been expensive, but the campaign could have afforded it and the press couldn't have blocked people from seeing our candidate on live national tv.
Would you actually have objected to either of those ideas?
In addition to the problems with the messaging, we can clearly conclude that:
A) It was a mistake to have more Clinton-Kaine staffers in Utah than in Michigan,
B) It was a mistake to waste staffers and resources in states everyone knew the ticket could never carry such as Arizona and Georgia,
C) It was a mistake to keep campaigning in Ohio when we knew the state was lost(as the party knew for certain by mid-Octover,
D) It was a mistake and for the nominee not to appear in the Upper Midwest until the day before the elections.
Party professionals party officials have been saying those things.
As to "barbs, towel snaps and vinegary sarcasm"...why do you do that to people who are on YOUR side of the spectrum?
Why do you feel entitled to do that?
When you do, it always sounds as if your intent is to silence people. Why would you do that on a discussion board?
The point of a discussion board is to discuss things.
I don't mind if you disagree with my views...that would be perfectly legitimate, you have every right to disagree with me or with anybody else, I enjoy a good, idea-based exchange...it's just that there's no reason to be personally nasty to people you will eventually need to make common cause with, just because they disagree with you. Refute that person's argument, make a case for a different view, that is what challenging people is about...All I'm saying is leave personal abuse out of it. There is no argument that can ONLY be made by disrespecting people on a personal level. I don't just challenge that kind of thing with you, I call it out when it's people on MY side of an argument doing it and will continue to do so.
And it's not about wanting extra deference for myself. It's that progressives should always treat other progressives with at least a basic level of human respect. Nobody here should be treating anybody else as though they have no right to be here.
Being a progressive is, among other things, about building a respect-based world.
The only people we should ever be personally hostile to at all are people on the OTHER side...like Trump and those around him.