OK, so let me lay it on the line: I know that many of you are very, very, very, very, very passionate about Bernie and Hillary (well, hell, even a few of you feel that way about Martin). And that’s fine. I confess that this year I’m tossed up about who I’m going to vote for, but I’ve been there. It sucks when your Democratic candidate is the subject of lousy news or a bad poll, and it’s great when it happens to one of the others. It’s very tempting to use a platform like this to fight it out — and often you all seem to get out of control.
Here’s the thing though. This year more than any other: Don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees. This year, the Republicans are not just wrong, they are incredibly, incredibly dangerous. Trump may or may not win the nomination, but his crazy, undemocratic ideas are in control. It’s his party now. And we are — Sanders, Clinton or O’Malley supporters all — the activists that stop them.
The Republican Party is no longer a party with philosophies that we disagree with. The Republican Party has become home to bigots and lunatics that its leadership has allied with for decades. Now they are about to gain control of the whole thing. And while our little primary fight is certainly important, when we all overdo it — regardless of for or against whom — we help weaken the eventual nominee in his or her fight against the cretins on the other side.
Having an extremist party to run against brings us the opportunity of a lifetime: For our candidate to win over 45 states, to take back the Senate, and even the House. Why handicap that opportunity?
So I’m asking something of all of you: Don’t overdo it. Leave the stupid attacks to the other party’s primary. We don’t need grenades about Bernie’s gun control record or Hillary’s sources for money. What we need is a united democratic party going into our convention so we can send the fascists on the other side packing once and for all.