The "Yawn" crowd

[BzaDem]

Whenever there is a post bringing up information that could hurt Obama in the GE, the most popular response seems to be "yawn." Somewhat less popular (but still used) is calling the poster a fear-monger, or a right-winger, spouting the drivel of the right-wing attack machine.

Why is everyone so hostile to these types of posts bringing out negative information, about Obama or Clinton? After the politics of swift-boating and personal destruction have succeeded time and time again against Democrats, shouldn't we be trying to figure out which candidate will be least affected by swift-boating, and which candidate can best respond to it? It's not like posters who post negative background information on the candidates are trying to spread fear. People on this board know better, and they aren't going to believe the right-wing lies. That's not the point. The point is that right-wing lies ARE used against Democrats in elections, and in the past, they have been effective.

Why should we ignore this history, that has replicated itself over and over again? Dukakis ahead by 12-18 points in the Feb-Mar 1988 polls. As soon as he clinches the nomination (and not before), the Republicans (independent 527 groups at first) go after him with the Willie Horton attacks. He loses in November.

Kerry ahead by 10 points in the Feb-Mar 2004 polls. Then 527-group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth launches a massive attack on Kerry's military service. Kerry loses in November.

Max Cleland lost to Saxby Chambliss in 2002 after he was in the same ad as pictures of Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.



And yet now, whenever a poster wants to bring up this type of information for analysis before the nomination is clinched, they are accused of republican-fear-mongering-hatred? Is the solution to this big problem in American politics to simply pretend it doesn't exist? That 527-groups that have NO spending limits won't once again have a huge influence on our presidential election? That swift-boating won't happen in the GE, or that it magically won't be effective in the GE this time?

I would love to hear rational arguments as to why it won't be effective. Seriously, maybe it won't be for some reason. Maybe this election will be different. I certainly hope so; we can't afford 20 years of an arch-conservative Supreme Court. But whenever I see "Yawn" or "You are a Republican fear monger" as the only responses to these types of posts, I worry that we are doomed to repeat history again and again and again, by ignoring all this information (with regards to electability) when deciding to back a candidate.