Over the past few months, I have grown increasingly bothered by some of the talk out in the blogosphere. The talk that has particularly bothered me has been the attacks by members of the netroots on politicans for simply opposing or supporting a certain piece of legislation that comes down the pike.
The biggest example of this is the absolute hatred that was thrown at Senator Joe Biden after he voted for the Bankruptcy Bill. The fact is, Senator Biden had to vote for that bill. MBNA is a huge force in his state, and that company provides a lot of jobs for the citizens of Delaware.
The same thing has happened on different issues and at different times with Steny Hoyer and Joe Lieberman.
What bothers me most is how willing we are to throw party members overboard if they don't follow the tenets laid out on Daily Kos, MyDD, or Swing State Project. When I read some of the posts, I begin feeling like there is no chance for the Democrats to pick up anything because we are so ready and willing to cannibalize the next Representative or Senator who doesn't toe the netroots party line.
We should stick to our principles. We shouldn't waffle and we shouldn't allow it to happen on our watch. However, being a Democrat means being all inclusive. We must be willing to support a candidate who perhaps doesn't fall in line with us 100%. Honestly, do we really want a rubber stamp in Washington anyway?
The best example I use is this: John McCain. He is a pretty conservative guy. I would say he is probably more conservative than George W. Bush. However, if he were running for President, i know many people, myself included, who would give serious thought to voting for him. Why? I know he is a conservative, and I know that he follows his party most of the time. However, there are times when he speaks his mind, and if the truth hurts, he doesn't care. He tells it. He isn't afraid to disagree with his party. He does it well though. He doesn't demand someone resign for voting a certain way, and he doesn't attack members of his party over silly issues.
The Democrats need the 11th Commandment. "Thou Shalt Not Attack Another Democrat." The GOP has been doing it well for years. We wonder why they control all three branches of government and a majority of state houses? There is your answer. To use another cliche: The Democratic Party needs to run like the Corleone family. We don't ever let anyone outside the family know what we think about each other. We don't let them see the cracks in the armor, so to speak.
I'll leave you with this: My goal in 2006 is to win enough seats so that we can address Rep. Nancy Pelosi as Madame Speaker. Perhaps we should lay off Melissa Bean and Steny Hoyer, at least for a while?
Oh, and leave the gun, take the cannoli.