Some good words from Robert Reich about our fight against W

[Kat45]

In Robert Reich's email newsletter, he had a number of interesting things to say, but I think these words about our fight to unseat W.are particularly important, as many Democrats get so passionate about one particular candidate that they mercilessly trash all the others (as we've seen on DU).

"But regardless of which Democrat is your candidate, it's vitally important that we keep our eyes on the prize -- which is ending the
administration of George W. Bush. As the primary season heats up, there will be a natural temptation to lose sight of this larger goal and focus instead on rival primary candidates (I experienced this first-hand in our primary fight last year). The predictable result is a kind of cognitive dissonance: Each candidate's supporters magnify his or her strengths and exaggerate the weaknesses of primary rivals, while becoming steadily more annoyed at rival camps. We forget we're all Democrats who share the same basic values. George W. Bush and his Karl Rove brain would like nothing better than for Democrats to clobber one another for the next six or seven months, and go into the general election next spring tired, bruised and badly fragmented. Democrats
must resist the temptation. The stakes are simply too high. America cannot afford a second term for W <snip> So here's my advice to activists: Don't get so emotionally invested in any particular primary candidate that you lose the psychological capacity to be enthusiastic about whomever emerges as the Democratic candidate six or seven months from now. Remember, the overriding goal is to unseat W. The real
fight begins next spring. It will take everything you have."

[illini]

1. Good post and much needed.

Mr (whoops! im not going to say) needs to hear this.

[ScrewyRabbit]

2. Positive agreement

I would take any democratic candidate over Bush.

[oasis]

3. Reich is excellent on the pundit programs. He knows his stuff.

hopefully he'll be a staffer for the eventual Dem nominee.

[Emillereid]

4. Reich gets it right

Whatever else happens in the election -- the thing that we must focus on with the proverbial laser beam -- is the complete excision of Bush and his fascist cabal. No purity games among democrats this time. I saw good people refuse to hold their noses to vote in 1968 which allowed Nixon to win. We've got to keep it in our minds and not forget that Bush is THE number one enemy -- and any democrat would be leaps and bounds better (yes, even Lieberman) than this aberration in American politics. So let's have our friendly debates and discussion promoting one candidate over the other -- but let us not so cut each other up, that our candidate walks in wounded into the election battle. Too much is at stake this time! ANYONE BUT BUSH!!!

[searchingforlight]

5. Thank you for posting this.

[Stuckinthebush]

6. Reich is a very smart man

I hope all DUers read this.

Thanks for posting it.

[myomy]

7. Reich On!

.

[Tripper11]

8. kick

This makes so much sense and seseves a 2 kicker!!!

:kick::kick:

[TheBigGuy]

9. I agree...I do take potshots at this or that candidate..

..mainly becuase of my contrarian nature.

But make no mistake about it....I will be 1000% behind whichever Demcorat gets the nod to take on Bush.

[scarletlib]

10. My Dream: Dem.Unity Ticket

First I'd like to see both a pres and VP come from the ones running for the nomination. Then I'd like to see the rest run as a "Unity Ticket" and campaign with the nominees. I'd also like to see and hope that many of the candidates would be offered up front positions in the future administration and they would all "run together".

[Kat45]

11. Kick - so more people can read these wise words

:dem: :kick:

[robbedvoter]

12. Glad he came around. In 2000 he was egging Gore to concede day 2

(heard him on WNYC spewing the mediawhores memes - we are tired, enough already, blah, blah, blah....