I fear that in my 47 years as an adult member of the Democratic Party (not counting babysitting so people could get to the polls to vote for McGovern when I was 12), I have never seen "us" get this one right.
Either unity is demanded, and enforced inside the beltway on things that require more internal debate. Or we fall into circular firing squad mode when unity is absolutely called for to oppose a Republican threat.
And in re: 2024. I can't tell you how many arguments I had with my step-father throughout 2022 and into 2023. I was adamant that Biden should absolutely NOT run. He accused me of being ageist and made the case that Biden was our best shot.
When Biden announced his intention to run for a second term I cried. I felt betrayed. He was breaking his promise to be a "bridge" to a new generation of leaders. And we had some fantastic leaders "on the bench." But I pulled myself together and tried to internalize some of those "he's our best shot" arguments from my step-father.
I refrained from posting my fears. I did my best to be upbeat. But the dread never left me. A couple months before the fateful debate, my step-father raised the subject. He said I had been right. He'd been watching Biden on the campaign trail. He said he agreed that Biden shouldn't have run, and he was scared as hell that it was a fatal mistake for the Democratic Party. I did the "brave face" thing and touted all I could find that was going "for us." But I felt the same dread.
I'm not sure where this leaves me. Angry at the party for falling into an "It's his turn, his decision" stance and silencing any critic or challenge? Angry that the party didn't get behind him 100%? I don't know.
But I can't say that I didn't have a hell of a lot of sympathy for people who started calling on him to drop out.
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