Suggestions for Obama's team. How to win an election. Or not.

I'll say right up front that I am a fan of neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama. They're ok, and if one of them wins the nomination, I will definitely vote for them in the general election. I will vote for whomever wins the Democratic nomination.

That said, I'm really sad to see so many Obama supporters behaving in ways that are counter-productive, not only for their own candidate, but for the Democratic Party as a whole.

Please consider.

1. Every time an Obama supporter posts something rude on DU, thousands of people see that post. And they notice the rudeness right next to the Obama sticker. The two ideas get melded together. Do you really want your candidate to be associated with the word "rude" in undecided people's minds?

2. Every time somebody posts a concern or question about Obama's position on an issue, the worst possible response is to have a hissy fit and attack the poster, screeching "Faux outrage! Awk! A hil-bot in disguise! Awk! A racist freeper! Awk! Old coot! Awk!" and so forth. See, it does nothing to win undecideds over to your camp.

3. The correct response to the news that another candidate won a primary in a small state would be to post any of the following - (a) Polite congratulations to the winner. (b) Obama will do well in the upcoming primaries. (c) Note that Obama came in a very close second - this is far from over. The incorrect response is - "Hillary stole it! Awk! Diebold! Awk! Racism! Awk! Crybaby! Awk!" Again, this does nothing to endear people to your candidate.

I hate to see a decent candidate's message drowned out by the stupidity of some of his supporters.

It's a fucking message board that the majority of Democratic voters don't visit or care about.

Even small numbers add up in their effects.
From one-on-one discussion to groups of friends/family/co-workers - it adds up.
Even moreso when discussing with activists and other 'influentials'...each demotivated activist could have much larger end results.
An activist who can convince 5 friends, who then each convince a few more, etc. -- that is an important element in any election.


Maybe we will be talking past each other, because where you see a "fucking message board" I see an online community.

to be clear, my POV is not anti - Obama AT ALL, or any other candidate, but rather Pro-democrat and pro-civil discourse so needed for a healthy democratic process.

Let me address your points.

1. This is true of some supporters of all the candidates. It seems no more true of Obama supporters than of other candidate's supporters.

2. It depends on how the question is framed. If someone is posting racist emails out of "concern", they don't deserve a serious answer. If they're lying about Obama's record like the question "Why did Obama vote for the bankruptcy bill" and posting fake evidence, they deserve to be blasted. If they're actually asking, they deserve a respectful response.

3. As an Obama supporter, I posted an OP wishing all well before the results came in, and a congrats to Clinton and her supporters here after they came in. So did many others. Also, it wasnn't only Obama supporters suggesting (wrongly, I believe) that NH was stolen.

Thank you for your concern and broad brush application of "bad Obama supporters". It was so helpful.

Rarely is an argument won in the eyes of onlookers by one person "blasting" another. If someone points out an untruth, even the most vicious dribble, we can counter it with truth, and we can do it in a calm and collected way.

I do fear that a lot of Obama supporters are acting in ways that are hurting the Senator's campaign. They're not the only ones, of course, every camp is doing it... But I don't care if Clinton or Edwards' supporters lose the race for them. I don't want Obama supporters to lose the race for us. :P

was in the 2006 elections and it worked. no probs.

See? Sounds silly when somebody else says it, doesn't it?

This point might be better framed without naming a candidate.
when training new people for advocacy, it should be stressed for trainees to be respectful, to listen to concerns and address them in a polite way, and to nicely back off if met with intense resistance.
Later in the race, that same person who rejected your candidate may be more easily persuaded, or might have reconsidered some of your points in new context.
If you were rude and obnoxious, that re-consideration is less likely to happen.

We want to WIN in november.
NOTHING is more important than that.

Now, some advocates are not really advocates at all, but rather shit stirrers here for their amusement. And at OUR expense.

Thank you for trying to raise the level of discourse - more of us are doing this, in the interests of better democracy.

Your descriptions fits some supporters of every single candidate. Every one.