Grapes of Wrath indeed

First, apologies to "reasonably honest" for ripping off his/her title idea.

Must be that time of the election season. People are getting antsy about the possible outcomes for candidates who were expected to have easy wins.
The GOP is understandably concerned about Dole's race (as a recent post over at Talking About Politics" reflects) and the Democrats are understandably concerned about Perdue's.

Personally, I think Perdue will win because of the coat-tails of the man she has kept at more than arm's length throughout the campaign. Kind of ironic, but it's probably going to work for her.

Just as people within the Republican Party are trying to figure out where the blame lies for Dole's numbers in the polls, there is lots of finger-pointing going on among Democrats over Perdue. Here at BLUENC, there's a long thread following the post entitled "Those are some mighty sour grapes," by one of our blog hosts, James Protzman.

The point of the post, I think, is to chastise Richard Moore for not doing more to support Perdue. This effort to scold has triggered a still ongoing (though soon to be euthanized, I am guessing) thread with me on one side and several on another about the ethics of choosing NOT to support Perdue in this election.

In other words, for the presumed purpose of advocating for party unity, James started a conversation that has dredged up a lot of mud – and mudslinging – that on one hand I think Perdue's campaign would deem unhelpful to party unity and on the other is probably inspiring giggles from any blog lurkers who work for McCrory.

I don’t think it’s funny when Democrats attack one another. With the primary over, I figured that was over and that's why I haven’t said much about the gubernatorial race since the primary. I have also hoped to become convinced to feel better about our candidate. I have hoped that the race she ran against McCrory would inspire me to become a true supporter. Though that hasn't happened, I've still refrained from renewing or repeating my primary campaign objections. But I’m not known for pulling my punches when someone takes a swing, and am certainly not going to roll over for the suggestion that I don’t care about what happens in this state.

Again, I'm not sure what the swipe at Moore was meant to accomplish. It's late in the race, so I don't think it was contemplated that the scolding would produce sudden supportive zeal from Moore. Maybe it was posted just for the sake of venting the anxiety that so many of us are feeling. I think the stress is showing on most of us in recent posts.

But whatever the purpose, I took it amiss, and still think it was disrespectful not just to Moore but to a lot of other folks in the party who have been longtime activists, longtime loyalists, and are yet uncomfortable speaking supportively on behalf of Perdue. The assumption that the only possible explanation for this reticence is 'sour grapes' is unfair and, as it happens, untrue.

Sometimes scolding people for not speaking up is not a good strategy. It might inspire those who do speak up to say things you don't want to hear.