I was a Deaniac in 2004, and I can tell you, it is PAINFUL at the end. [View All]

When the media played the scream over and over and his support collapsed between Iowa and New Hampshire I was angry. As the contests went on and he couldn't win a primary despite having been ahead in the polls for months, it was disheartening, and I refused to accept that it was over until he actually dropped out.

I thought Dean got a raw shake from the media and from the party establishment and I was bitter. I went through a phase where I swore I hated Kerry and would never vote for him. I was mad and defiant and it took me a while to get over it. In the end, I not only voted for Kerry but gave up several weekends volunteering for him, and I wouldn't even say I had to hold my nose to do it (though I wasn't as enthusiastic as I had been about Dean, or am now about Obama). I am just really glad I had stopped posting at DU by that point, so I did not have to deal with Kerry's supporters trashing my candidate and gloating that it was over before he dropped out, as it would have inevitably hardened me toward Kerry even more than I already was.

My point is, Obama supporters need to recognize that this is painful for Clinton's supporters at DU and in real life. Many of them have volunteered on her campaign or given money and they are just not ready to give up until she does, and we should respect that. Sure, I think there are some who are threatening not to vote for Obama in order to scare the supers into thinking he is unelectable, but the vast majority of her supporters here and in the real world are genuinely upset and feel that she has been treated unfairly by the media and the party establishment, and while I disagree, I recognize that I would probably see things differently if I were a Clinton supporter, as candidate preferences inevitably color the way we view things.

As an Obama supporter, I have been really upset by threads like <http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5986258|this one>, which do nothing but insult Clinton supporters and rub salt in an open wound. I am not saying Clinton is above criticism, and if she attacks Obama I'll be all over her for it. But I am sickened by the degree of hatred that Obama supporters continue to display despite how close we are to winning and being in a position where we need to unify the party.

Is it stupid to judge a candidate based on his or her supporters on a message board? Absolutely. But it's inevitable. I've gotten so mad by things Clinton supporters on DU have said that I have threatened not to vote for her a few times, even though I can't imagine I would actually go through with not voting for her in the voting booth. But obnoxious Clinton supporters here would have made me less inclined to want to be a part of her campaign if she got the nomination, and I imagine many of us have made her supporters less inclined to want to volunteer for Obama.

The best thing we can do for Obama and for the party right now is to chill out, be grateful that it's almost over, give Clinton supporters time and space to come around, and work our asses off offline to register new voters and help Obama win the remaining primaries. Dwelling on Clinton's decision to stay in the race for a few more weeks and attacking her and her supporters accomplishes nothing, and it flies in the face of everything our candidate stands for.