The Dems on the Brink of Political Civil War

I believe that a confluence of events has the Democratic Party on the brink of political civil war. The long and never ending campaing combined with the bitterness of the personal nature of the campaign have combined with other forces that have stirred the pot. If the Democrats don't watch out they will eat their own, blow themselves up, and hand a huge victory to the Republican party when everyone expects the opposite. I see the up coming civil war being stoked by four factors: the grueling and personal nature of the primary, the battle between the DNC and Florida and Michigan, the media's love of Obama and their subsequent personal attacks on Hillary Clinton, and the left wing blogs stirring it all.

1) The Democratic Primary
Ever since the South Carolina primary, the Democratic race for President has stopped being about any issue and has become all about personal traits like: race, sex, experience, and integrity. The two sides have traded sometimes very personal shots at each other. It all started with Bill Shaheen saying this about Obama...

The Republicans are not going to give up without a fight ... and one of the things they're certainly going to jump on is his drug use. It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone? There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome.

He was later let go but the bitterness had only gotten started. Later on, Samantha Power, an Obama advisor, referred to Hillary Clinton as a "monster", and she was removed (a recurring theme).

It culminated in a very bitter debate on CNN in January. Some of the highlights had Obama talking about his civil rights work while Clinton was a

corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart

Clinton countered

when you were practicing law and representing your contributor ... in his slum landlord business in inner city Chicago.

They traded jabs in what became an ugly brawl. Of course, more recently, Geraldine Ferraro uttered these now famous words...

If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a
woman [of any color], he would not be in this position. He happens to be very
lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.

There were other less famous comments by the likes of Ed Rendell. Just today, the Obama campaign released this memo

Senator Clinton’s newly released White House schedules—showing a lack of candor on her NAFTA Record, her role in passing FMLA, and her role in key foreign policy decisions—are just the latest in what has become a legacy of misleading voters. On issue after issue, Clinton says one thing while her record says another.

So, what is the result of the personal nature of the campaign? A full quarter of Clinton supporters would vote for McCain in a general election match if their candidate isn't chosen for instance. Keep in mind this campaign is long from over. It may go all the way to the convention, and it may ultimately depend on the presence of so called super delegates, party insiders. The issue of "electability" will be one that each will be using to sell themselves. This of course will include trashing their opponent.

2) The media's love affair with Obama and by extension their venom toward Hillary...

The best example is this comment by Chris Mathews about Hillary Clinton

I will never underestimate Hillary Clinton again. T]he reason she's a U.S.
senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a
front-runner is her husband messed around.

The MSM hasn't merely fawned over Obama, but they have subsequently turned their venom on Hillary Clinton. MSNBC has been the most blatant. Here is what David Shuster said about Hillary a couple months back.

Chelsea Clinton was sort of being pimped out

The media attacks have come from everywhere against Hillary Clinton and some have even called it sexist. What all of this negative media attention toward Hillary has done is poison the water on a race that is itself plenty poisonous. The two candidates are doing a plenty good job of creating lots of bitterness on their own, and all the media is doing is adding some fire to an already lit flame.

3) Florida and Michigan

At this point, the Democratic party is running dangerously close to alienating their own voters in two rather large states. The whole thing is not only a mess but a complicated one. It all started when Florida and Michigan disregarded the DNC and moved up their primary prior to what the DNC insisted. This act turned into a political game of chicken between the two states and the DNC chair, Howard Dean. Neither side flinched and Dean decided that their delegations wouldn't be allowed to count toward the delegate count. Of course, this power play had one disastrous side effect, the disenfranchisement of millions of Democratic voters during one of the most hotly contested primaries ever. As it stands, there is no resolution. The worst case scenario is that delegations from the two states won't be seated at the convention. Other scenarios have the delegations seated but the delegates would be decided by means other than the will of the states Democratic voters.

If any of these scenarios is the case, it will cause an all out war between the National Party, the state party, and of course most importantly the voters of the two states. This internal political civil war will likely lead to losses for the Dems on all fronts in the two states. It goes without saying that this would be a total disaster for the Democrats.

4) The far left blogosphere's war against Hillary Clinton

It is unclear just how much power and influence the blogosphere holds, however it is clear that whatever shortfall that part of the blogosphere has in influence it more than makes up for in venom. Here is Kos proprietor Markos Moulitsas a couple days ago.

That's why she has earned my enmity and that of so many others. That's why she is bleeding super delegates. That's why she's even bleeding her own caucus delegates (remember, she lost a delegate in Iowa on Saturday). That's why Keith Olbermann finally broke his neutrality. That's why Nancy Pelosi essentially cast her lot with Obama. That's why Democrats outside of the Beltway are hoping for the unifying Obama at the top of the ticket, and not a Clinton so divisive, she is actually working to split her own party.

Meanwhile, Clinton and her shrinking band of paranoid holdouts wail and scream about all those evil people who have "turned" on Clinton and are no longer "honest power brokers" or "respectable voices" or whatnot, wearing blinders to reality, talking about silly little "strikes" when in reality, Clinton is planning a far more drastic, destructive and dehabilitating civil war.

People like me have two choices -- look the other way while Clinton attempts to ignite her civil war, or fight back now, before we cross that dangerous line. Honestly, it wasn't a difficult choice. And it's clear, looking at where the super delegates, most bloggers, and people like Olbermann are lining up, that the mainstream of the progressive movement is making the same choice.

It got so bad that Hillary's supporters are boycotting Kos. The left side of the blogosphere has never been much for decorum. It is as yet unclear, again, just how much influence they have beyond their own sphere. Still, what they are able to do is light the perverbial match to an already big flame. Their incendiary language only adds to the bitterness that is damaging enough on its own.

Conclusion: The Democrats are on the brink. The two campaigns are eating each other alive with supporters growing more and more hateful of the other side. The longer it goes the more difficult it will be to put all of this behind them when a candidate is chosen. This is formented by a vicious media and blogosphere and of course complicated by the fight between the national party and the states of Florida and Michigan. If things don't turn around soon, the Democrats will wind up eating their own and cause a total disaster for the party in November.