Eating Your Own? Shoring Up Sides In The Primaries

With a large slate of contenders on both the Republican and Democratic sides, the primary picture is shaping up. And with polling data and debates in full swing, the candidates have begun the tried and true tactic of eating their own. Destroying an opponent's facts, character, and bad hairpiece has always been a tactic in Presidential races. And when candidates aren't doing it, their supporters are. But is it a good thing?

With no clear frontrunner among Republicans, each candidate on the GOP side has decided to come out swinging. Mitt Romney has changed positions more times than a utility infielder, and even went so far as to attempt using a gun. (Someone has to hunt those varmints - ed.) Rudy Giuliani has decided that he personally stopped 9/11 terrorists from attacking the United States again. Ron Paul has decided to try and become the voice of reason. And John McCain is doing his best Dick Cheney impersonation, F-bombs and all. The only thing any of these candidates can agree on is that Ronald Reagan was the messiah. Watching them all slug it out is actually somewhat refreshing. I do not ever recall seeing a Republican primary laced with such differing viewpoints, and yet such mediocre and unexciting people.

On the blue side, we have the superstars. Just about every candidate is qualified and ready to become President. We have yet to see any serious cat-fighting among them. Hillary Clinton has taken the lead in the polls, but Barack Obama and John Edwards have done little to attack her character or any of her positions. Among all of the candidates, Dennis Kucinich seems to be the only oddball. Normally these races break down into bouts of "I know you are, but what am I?" but I haven't seen that happen yet. The only bickering has been over who hates the Iraq War more than the other.

Most of my colleagues and friends seem to have already made up their minds about who they will vote for. I have to admit that I have my choice made as well. I have been convinced lately, however, that helping more than one candidate, especially in fundraising, is a good thing to do in the case of Democrats. No matter who we end up with in 2008, they will be a good choice. So why not spread the support and wealth in the early going so we can have multiple strong candidates who continue to put the GOP to shame every day? I have already contributed to John Edwards and Bill Richardson, and have begun work on Hillary Clinton. Every one of those people deserve Democratic support.

But convincing other Democrats that we need to help everyone never works. It only seems to work among those on the GOP side. Once they're done destroying one another, they shore up and become one. The Dem side has yet to figure that out. Is it because of our independent nature? Is it because of stubbornness? Like the old saying goes, I am not a member of an organized party. I am a Democrat. I do not believe we will all ever move in lock step like a well oiled machine, but maybe we should at least make the attempt in 2008. This may be our last chance for a while. We should make it a good one.