As I look across the political landscape today, I see the makings of possible Democratic presidential defeat already forming.  While it is clear that Trump will be uniquely vulnerable, we said the same thing 2016; we were wrong then and we could be wrong again. This time the danger of a Democratic defeat comes not from a viable Republican presidential candidate (Trump is probably the worst candidate that the Republicans could put forward), but from within the Democratic/progressive movement itself.

In some ways the upcoming 2020 presidential election cycle may be similar to the run up to the presidential election in 2016. If you were paying attention to Democratic politics back then you remember the bitter battle between the supporters of Hillary Clinton and those backing Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nomination election process played out, and then later into the general election campaigning.  It was really a battle between very progressive Democrats and their progressive independent allies and more centralist Democrats on the other side.

In those days I was an active on the Democratic Underground website which hosted discussions between some of the most politically active Democrats and progressive independents. The conversations on D.U. between Clinton and Sander supporters began in a heated fashion and descended in the gutter from there. If you think that the discourse between Trump supporters and Trump haters is rough on social media sites today, the conflict between Clinton and Sander supporters was just as bad back then, perhaps worse.  I now hesitate to admit that was one of the most active combatants.

Even after Hillary won the nomination, the battle between those on the very progressive Democrats and independents and the more centralist Democrats continued unabated. As the general election neared it became obvious that many of the more active Sanders supporters were going to at best hold their noses and vote for Clinton, but they most certainly weren’t going lift a finger try to get her elected. Others vowed to sit on their hands and not vote at all while others stated publicly that they would cast their ballots for Green Party candidate Jill Stein who had zero chance of winning.

So some of the most politically active progressives were so totally alienated by the bitter nomination fight that when Hillary won they were unwilling to do their part to insure that Trump would not occupy the White House for the next four years. If you don’t think that was important, consider this – in each of the key states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, Jill Stein got more votes than the margin of Trump’s victory over Clinton.  (Let that sink in.)

And that’s not even taking into consideration the loss of the enthusiasm for the Democratic candidate of the people in those states who worked very hard for and contributed to Bernie Sander’s campaign.  It certainly doesn’t take into consideration the Sander supporters in those three states who showed their displeasure by not voting at all.

Even the Russian hacking and election interference was directed towards exasperating that situation and tuning Sander’s supporters against Hillary Clinton.  As you will recall the leaked DCCC emails, some of them altered by Russian agents to make them appear more incriminating, were selectively released through Wikileaks to paint the picture that Bernie had not received a fair shake in the nomination process. If the Russian objective was indeed to anger Sander supporters and turn them against Clinton in order to benefit Trump, it worked.

It can be effectively argued that the alienation of Sanders supporters during and after the nomination process was largely responsible for Trump’s victory and the ensuing disasters the country has had to endure ever since.  We cannot allow family feuds pave the way for another Trump victory in 2020!!!For this reason I will never publicly announce which Democratic/progressive candidate I prefer in the Democratic Party process before the nominee is chosen.  I certainly won’t get in nasty arguments with other Democrats and progressive independents like I did in 2016 where we tear down each other’s candidates while getting less and less enthusiastic about supporting other candidate if he/she were to win the nomination.

Many of us, myself included, are hoping against hope that Trump will eventually be impeached. That is certainly is a possibility, but what are the chances of getting enough Senate Republicans to cooperate in order to achieve the two-thirds margin in the Senate necessary to removal him from office? Yep, there is a good chance that the Democratic nominee will have to face Trump in 2020 unless another Republican can beat him in their primary, which is probably unlikely.

Trump is such a danger to this country and our way of life that we obviously cannot allow our petty internal feuds on social media to again increase the chances for his reelection. Regardless which candidate you chose to support in the Democratic nomination process, be that person be very progressive, centralist, or somewhere in between, here is what you can do to keep peace in the Democratic/progressive independent family on social media:

1. If you chose to engage in political discussions and talk about your favorite candidate’s good points, totally refrain from trying to tear down his or her opponents for the Democratic nomination.
2. If others chose to try to tear down your candidate, don’t respond in kind. (Yes, I know that this will be hard.)  Instead point out the reasons why you chose not to attack their favorite candidate because any such effort would only help Trump in the long run.
3. Spread the word early, make it clear to all of your social media friends that you will not tolerate any effort to induce negativity into Democratic nomination process in your virtual presence because any person winning the Democratic nomination is sure to be far superior to Trump.
4. When others indulge in negative attacks on each other’s candidates for the nomination, remind them that such attacks are ultimately counterproductive and explain why.
5. And most importantly, once the nomination process has been completed, be willing to support whichever candidate wins the nomination with your entire being.

It has often been said that “united we stand, divided we fall”.  While it is true that within the Democratic/progressive family we may not always agree on proposed solutions for a number of important issues, but at least we usually agree on what issues need to be addressed.  This is what makes us different from both establishment Republicans and rabid Trump supporters.  This is what should bind us together.

Regardless of our internal disagreements we must get our priorities straight.  We have long experienced the danger to our people, our country, and even our planetary home under Republican rule.  These dangers have multiplied since Trump moved into the White House.  Our first and by far our most important priority should be to insure the Trump’s days in power are numbered.  Once coalition has taken over the presidency and both Houses of Congress, we can then discuss among us how to best move forward to achieve our goals.

Cajun    8/8/2018