2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: PPP teaser about OH poll tomorrow [View all]Azathoth
(4,611 posts)Democrats have watched defeat get snatched from the jaws of victory many, many times, and deep down they are always looking for it to happen again. But the criticism of Obama was mostly fair; he did fuck up, badly. He walked into a critical debate in front of 70 million people and largely refused to stand up for himself and his supporters. Pointing that out isn't "fear-based thinking" -- it's acknowledging objective reality. Dealing with an unexpected external threat like bad jobs numbers, an October surprise, etc. is one thing. In those situations, you rally behind the big cheese and stand united. But it's something else to march onto the battlefield only to watch your general stride out in front of his forces and preemptively surrender to the other guy. That's a demoralizing gut punch, and claiming it as a victory is not an honest or factually-grounded reaction, even if doing so might be politically advantageous. Having someone's back even when they don't have yours is the definition of lockstep.