Democratic Primaries

When did everyone become so delicate and thin-skinned about politics, of all things? When did criticism of other candidates become "attacks?"

You are not the first people to have your candidate criticized and you're not the first to lose a campaign. We didn't have these "oh we need time to grieve" self-pity fests when Carter beat Ted Kennedy like a pinata in 1980, or when Gary Hart had to drop out in 1984. I supported both of those candidates who lost, worked my ass off on their campaigns, and you know what happened when they had to back out? Some of the campaign workers cried the day we had to shut down, but after that, we got over it and went to work for the guy who became the nominee without being whiny little babies about it. We didn't demand or even expect anyone to coddle us or pat us on the head and say, "There, there. You tried." Who had time for that, when there was a nominee who needed our help? So help we did. Because it wasn't about us and our precious fee-fees; it was about electing a Democrat.

What is the MATTER with all of you berners that you got so emotionally over-invested in a mere politician? What part of he's a politician--that's it!--are you incapable of understanding? You don't sound like political supporters. You sound like a cult when you talk about "grieving" the failure of your dear leader and his "revolution" to summon the masses to beat the blue meanies or however it works in your political fairy tale.

Look, it's okay to be enthusiastic about a candidate, and, yes, even unhappy that he lost. But to need to GRIEVE about the campaign not winning over enough voters, as if you just lost a loved one? Do you not get how that's a little off-kilter?Why is it necessary to GRIEVE about other people not wanting what you did--which is what an election boils down to? It's not about you or BS or his supposed ideas. It's about which group has more people saying what they want from a candidate. It has nothing to do with you, personally, so why are you taking it so personally, when you weren't even the candidate who was voted against?

Even when I was 18 years old and having to sweep out the Ted Kennedy campaign office before we turned over the keys to the realtor, I didn't need to fricking grieve over the end of his campaign. None of the older people around me did, either. TK gave it his best shot, we gave it our best shot in support of him, but we all came up short. That's all there was to it, and crying about it didn't change it.

Elections come and go, year after year, if you're a real political junkie. Or every 2 or 4 years, if you're not. Candidates and campaigns, too, come and go. Many run, but very few make it to the finish line. The chance of disappointment is always far higher than the elation of victory. That's how it's always been, and how it always will be. Nothing you do will change that. All you can do is accept however a campaign turns out, and move on.

So why did I understand all of that at 18, while so many berners much older than that don't?