Originally Posted by
Steel Inquisitor
What do you agree with me about?
I didn't say anything about feelings not mattering in politics, my argument is that feelings is not what solely defines politics. This isn't therapy, this is about getting elected and making policies law. Which require immense planning and being able to win over millions of people. If you're not concerned about the latter what are you following politics for?
Again, didn't say they did but you've shown little concern about policing your own side when they put us all in danger. Tankies aren't your friends, they're sabotaging your own movement and putting the blame on the opposition. Don't normalise their behaviour or they will be the face of your movement. Why should anyone think otherwise if you're ok letting them speak for you?
Every primary is a tough primary. They do, but you can't expect everyone to simmer down, when all that will lead to is the nominee being sabotaged and Trump winning another term. Those are the stakes.
What are you going to do about it?
What's worrying is that your response didn't acknowledge the left's priority to get better running campaigns. Like it's not a concern worth trying to fix. You've has two elections now running for president, it's on the left to get the results it wants. It's a struggle, the left aren't entitled to anything in politics. You want something, you're going to have to fight for it.
I think bad feelings lead to bad election nights.
Which is why, if the tenor of these types of online conversations doesn't improve, November is looking particularly troubling for the Democrats.
Story time!
Once upon a time, I worked Tech Support at Apple for a few months.
I didn't like it - I tend to internalize criticism. Was convinced I was headed for some kind of breakdown, then walked off after a tough call.
Anyway.
They used to tell us "Fix the real problem".
They meant the caller -- specifically, their feelings of anger and frustration.
If they're too angry, they can't listen to you.
If they're not listening to you, they can't hear your instructions.
If they can't hear your instructions, they can't follow them to resolve their issue.
And if their issue isn't solved, they're not gonna buy anything from you.
You fix the "real" problem by establishing a rapport, being empathetic, listening, being kind, etc.
It's a deceptively tough job. There's a lot juggling and managing of feelings.
Even though it wasn't for me, I still saw how it could be rewarding.
You enter a tough situation, there's conflict, but you calmly step in and work together to solve a problem.
When it goes well, it feels good.
I think we need more of that right now.
I don't see the wisdom in attacking voters that we need.
We need to console Progressives, and then sell them on Joe Biden.
So let's look at some of the language used in our conversation, and some possible feelings they might inspire.
If the goal is to unite the Party for November, then lets dismiss the Never-Biden folks for now and focus on the regular Progressives.
They just witnessed both their candidates fail spectacularly.
They witnessed the faster-than-light-speed coalescing behind a single Center-Left candidate, probably at the behest of Party leadership, in direct response to the success of a Progressive candidate.
And though Biden has been gracious in victory, we both know online conversations between regular voters has been decidedly less than gracious.
So, the regular Progressive might be feeling crest-fallen, vulnerable, and hurt.
You know that Biden will need their votes, that feelings are important in politics, and that it is highly likely that a third-party candidate will more closely align with their policy views.
You've used phrases like "Tankies", "sabotage", "This isn't therapy", "disarm", "Don't expect us to let our guard down", "Get your group under control".
To me, this seems like conflict-oriented language. It's very us-versus-them.
That tells me that you've probably had heated arguments with Sanders supporters before.
That tells me that you might be feeling angry and defensive yourself.
That even tells me that you are probably engaging in our current conversation, maybe not from a place of open-minded discourse, but rather to 'win'.
How do you think your conflict-oriented language, and your general get-over-it attitude, makes regular Progressives feel?
Do you think you are making them more or less inclined to vote for Joe?