I remember back, waaay back -- had to have been, maybe, January of aught-eight, so we're talking 80, maybe even 90 days ago -- participating in online discussions about the Democratic primaries. This will just sound crazy to you young 'uns, but way back then, you could actually do that online without fisticuffs or weird, out-of-nowhere accusations.
I see some of you looking skeptical, but you kids'll just have to take my word for it. It was another time -- another world. I was there. It might have been a very long time ago, but I remember.
People would ask one another which way they were leaning and then they'd just, you know, talk about it. "I like Bill Richardson," they would say, "but I'm leaning toward John Edwards." Or, "I like John Edwards, but I'm leaning toward Chris Dodd." Or even -- and you kids today will just find this impossible to believe, but I swear it's the truth -- "I can't make up my mind between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, I like them both."
And the thing is -- again, I know you won't believe this, but it's true -- the thing is that back then we had conversations like that all the time and I don't remember ever, not even once, hearing any hostility over such expressions of preference or support. If one person liked Candidate A and the other liked Candidate B, this wouldn't be perceived as some kind of attack on Candidate A. If Candidate A gave a good speech you could say, "That was a good speech" without people screaming at you to stop attacking Candidate B.
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http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2008/04/the-good-old-da.html