You Can't Break Even, You Can't Even Quit the Game

I didn't watch the debate tonight, and I can't really comment on Obama's latest tactics. I am, however, distressed about what I see as a series of attacks designed to knock him out of the race. Before I get into that, though, a quick note on the fact that leading GOP candidates are attacking Clinton. First of all, a lot of this simply reflects the animus of the GOP base toward the Clintons. It's an easy way to get applause lines. More importantly, though, Democrats need to be careful about two things. First, a lot of these attacks are unfair, and we have a natural inclination to defend her. Fair enough, but don't let that emotion carry over into the intra-party conflict. The mere fact that Republicans hate her doesn't mean she will be a good candidate. By that standard Ted Kennedy would be a great candidate.

The other big problem is that by rallying around Clinton we are essentially ratifying the choice of the Republicans. The correct response to these attacks is to glean whatever information about Republican tactics you can and ignore the rest. If you let the attacks affect your choice of candidate, you effectively give the Republicans a way to pick the candidate they want to face.

Now, the attacks on Obama. See Krugman and Savage. On some level these attacks are justified on the merits, but everyone should recognize how minor these incidents are. Obama isn't selling out social security and he doesn't hate gays. These attacks are a massive overreaction and are grossly unfair. If Democrats let themselves get distracted by this stuff, they will regret it. There's a natural temptation to emulate the rabid right wing of the GOP. I sense that a lot of what's going on is intra-group loyalty-signaling, along the lines of Sunstein's group polarization. A little of that stuff is inevitable and probably helpful, but remember the attendant pathologies. We will have a better candidate and a better president if we're honest and rational.