My advice to all of our candidates.

[Funtatlaguy]

As a true undecided whose overriding issue is who can best and most easily defeat Trump and possibly have Senate coattails, I have some unsolicited advice.

Of course primaries are about pointing out differences.
And with that will, of course, come with some sharp elbows and negative ads and statements.
But please be mindful just how different this year is mentally & emotionally.
All Dems and many Indy’s and a few Repubs are scared to death of another Trump term.
When hearing any political talk, his overwhelming presence is still in our thoughts.

Therefore, I suggest this for all Dems in the primaries.
Before you say or put out any statement (like comparison or contrast ads) that might be viewed as negative or bashing, please remember the tone you use and I suggest one other thing.

I would start any criticism of a primary opponent by saying something like this:
“Before I talk about some differences between me and others running for the nomination, just know that he/she/they are infinitely better than our current President and I will work as hard as I can to elect our eventual nominee. That being said, here’s some differences between me and (fill in the blank)......”

I think primary deciders and fence sitters would appreciate hearing this.
It would Clear their heads of any Trump thinking and make them more willing to listen to what you are saying and accept it as just normal primary compare and contrast campaigning.

Just my .02 as someone who loves so many of our candidates and is also scared 💩 less of another four years of Trump.

[brooklynite]

1. Thanks for the suggestion, but No...

People here shouldn't need to be continually reassured that their candidate is infinitely better than Trump; if they haven't figured that out, they probably shouldn't be here. Conversely, people shouldn't be so enamored of their candidate that any critical post by other Democrats is assumed to be "bashing" / "assassination" / "a hit job".

[Funtatlaguy]

2. I wasn't referring to this web site. People here are different.

We are political junkies.
Fans of individual candidates here should cut loose all that they want.
My advice was only for the candidates themselves on the stump or in interviews aimed at the general public.

[FailureToCommunicate]

3. Agreed. (...for the 'unwashed masses' not DU wonks) Also, some way to assure folks that

'the preceding message was NOT created by Russian bot farms or the Koch Bros' would be helpful.
Too much of the infighting last time time was targeted strife from outside our party.

[Funtatlaguy]

4. We Americans are all on edge thanks to our pathological President.

[dubyadiprecession]

5. Refer to trump as "douchbag" on the debate stage.

You know, as in casual conversation, because he is.

[PatSeg]

6. As I recall 2008 and 2016

when it came to policy, our candidates were pretty much alike. The differences were often very minor and insignificant. In the end it was the person we were voting for, the person that we trusted to make the big decisions, protect us, and be the face of America to the rest of the world.

I agree that it would not sit well with voters to watch our candidates go after one another, being the differences would not be all that great and people are really tired of politics. I would add to your advice, don't start speaking in political "talking-points", as if rattling off a grocery list. People pick up on that immediately. It sounds insincere and robotic, causing the average person to tune out. As much as people may care about policies, they care more about who the person is and will most likely vote for the person who actually connected with them.

[Funtatlaguy]

7. We have a lot of plain spoken candidates who speak their minds.

[PatSeg]

8. And it is so refreshing

If the candidates talk more like real people, real people will be more inclined to actually listen.