The bitter primary rancor at Daily Kos might, if you didn’t venture out into meatspace, make you think that Democrats are as divided now as they were in 2008. Facebook, at least my timeline, would probably lead you to the same conclusion. However, the real world looks a lot different.
I live in Dexter, Michigan just outside of the so-called People’s Republic of Ann Arbor, arguably one of the most liberal cities in the Midwest. Democrats came out resoundingly for Sen. Sanders in straw polls by the Ann Arbor Democratic Party as well as the Washtenaw County Democratic Party (of which I am the Chair) and in the primary itself. Simply put, the Ann Arbor area was overwhelmingly feeling the Bern.
Since the primary and even since it became evident that Sec. Clinton will be our presidential nominee, we haven’t experienced the widespread sniping back and forth that you find here and on Facebook. An Ann Arbor-based statewide organizer for the Sanders campaign, Michelle Deatrick, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for a County Commission seat with solid support from the County Party (donate to her campaign HERE.) Her son Alexander, also a Sanders organizer in Washtenaw County, is working with a potential progressive candidate for the state Supreme Court. Both are Sanders delegates to the DNC but will support for Sec. Clinton if and when Sen. Sanders concedes and asks his supporters to get behind Sec. Clinton. And both Clinton and Sanders supporters alike are cheering the two of them on in our area.
In our Democratic Party gatherings, people are civil to each other and, in general pledging to work together to advance our common issues and to defeat Donald Trump at any cost.
So, as the swiping and griping happens ad nauseum here at Daily Kos, know that it’s a bubble and those who are engaging in the bitterness are largely talking to themselves. Outside of this bubble, at least in the area where I live, a bastion of DFHs and proud progressives, we’re moving on to defeat our true enemies including the most odious enemy of all, Donald J. Trump.
Feel free to join us : )