Hey guys. For reference, I'm undecided because I like both Clinton and Sanders so much. If Clinton is sailing to victory, though, I'm going to vote for Sanders to give him the biggest possible stick to carry into a convention. Even if he loses, he's already dragged Hillary to the left, and has done immeasurable good for the Democratic Party, and I believe, for the future of this country. We had a debate that talked entirely about policym and that was largely his doing.
I'm irrationally exuberant again!
But ever since the debate, I've had a bit of an issue with a small number of sanders supporters who are getting distracted by how badly our national media sucks.
They are quite rightly pointing out that CNN, along with a bunch of other news sites, disagreed with their own viewers and readers about who won the debate. They all anointed Hillary, while their viewers and readers said by wide margins that Bernie won. For understandable reasons, these folks are really pissed at the corporate media.
Corpers gonna corp, guys. They're circling the wagons, just like anyone could have predicted that they would.
I've watched the debate three times. My opinion? America won that debate. The Democratic Party won that debate. Hillary and Bernie both had a fantastic night, and both came out of it looking really good. O'Malley is doing better because now people know who he actually is. So that's a start for him.
My advice on this whole media sideshow is do what Bernie Does.
Don't let them get under your skin. You don't win this by picking fights with CNN, who honestly love the idea of talking about something that isn't actually a policy question. You win this fight by refusing to let them bait you, and by talking about the issues, and organizing.
That's how you beat them.
Not by screaming about how stupid CNN is. Because everyone who's ever watched them already knows that.
I'm so excited about the future of the Democratic Party. We have two fantastic candidates both of whom I love, we have a republican party that is actively self-immolating, we have a situation where a Democrat is likely going to go head to head with an actual living, breathing punchline of a fascist billionaire, who looks like he walked out of an Austin Powers movie.
I don't want to see Bernie's campaign damaged by this kind of thing. I'm not undecided because I dislike either candidate, I'm undecided because I literally want both of these people to be president at some point and for different reasons, but that's not an option.
So be like Bernie.
You defeat these people not by playing their game, but by refusing to recognize that their influence and stupidity even exist.
You can win this. You can absolutely win this. But not if you play their game.
Don't let them bait you into looking like tinfoil-hat wearing muppets who they can portray as loony conspiracy theorists. Talk about the issues, and you can win. Feed the grassroots and you can win. This opinion poll sideshow is a waste of your time. Don't get distracted. They will be this annoyingly wrong for the rest of the campaign, because that's kind of what they do. That's their whole business model. Especially CNN.
Forget the Media. They were never going to back your guy in a million years. You can force them to change their story. You can leave them with egg on their suits, and self-inflicted credibility wounds. You can make them look like the fools that they are. You can do this if you keep working, and keep organizing. Don't hit them head on. Outmaneuver them.
And just because I want to get it back into circulation again, here's a helpful chart/video you can steal:
Once again, I am so full of hope, and so excited about the future of this country, and the Democratic Party. I literally could not be happier.
I'm really, really, really looking forward to the general. I am hungry for it. For eight years I've wanted someone who was going to (figuratively) hit the republicans square in their stupid faces, and our top two candidates have both promised to do exactly that. Obama will go down in history as one of our most important and most effective presidents, and will probably be named the most patient man in American political history. That's all well and good. But it doesn't suit my style of politics at all.
Now it's time for a scrapper to take the lead.
Kossacks, I've been so damned hungry for this for so long, I can barely contain my excitement.
They had eight years of patience. Eight years of exceptional kindness. Eight years where one man did his best to heal the deep, deep political divides this country has. A president who expended immense Political capital trying to bring them to the table.
And they spat in his face. They lied about his birth certificate. They shouted that he was a liar during the state of the union. They subjected him to violent, hateful, racist rhetoric. They attacked him at every turn. And through it all, President Obama was the adult in the room, gently attempting to do his job in impossible circumstances.
After eight years of No Drama Obama, the Republicans aren't going to know what hit them. They've been lulled into thinking that Obama's patience is a weakness, and one shared universally by Democrats. They think we're all the same, all gentle. All professorial. All patient.
I can't wait to show them just how wrong they are. And I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not alone.