Thread by @jasonkravits

My first twitter thread is also my first political tweet. It's not something I normally do, so feel free to skip. But I'm getting tired of seeing what I've been seeing, so I'm joining the conversation to call out some bullshit. And I'm going to talk about one word:
Narrative.

2/ Have you heard/read people say any of these?
-Bernie is the only candidate with integrity that can inspire people to vote across the political spectrum.
- Bernie can't win the midwest, he's too far left for moderates and his followers are horrible revolutionaries.

3/ -Warren is the only one with a message that can unify both progressives and moderates.
-Warren blew it with the health care thing, can't beat Trump.
-Klobuchar is the only one moderate enough to deliver independent voters in the midwest.
-Klobuchar is basically a republican.

4/ -Biden is the only hope, because he's known and black voters love him.
-Biden is naive, senile and Trump will make a meal of him.
-Buttigieg is the only moderate that can win AND was in the army.
-Buttigieg can't win because he's a cheat and America won't vote for a gay man.

5/ -Bloomberg is the only one who can beat Trump at his own game, has the money to do it and has taken the gloves off.
-Bloomberg is another megalomaniacal, self-interested billionaire, basically a republican.

Followed by:

"But I'll vote for whoever gets the nomination."

6/ So before I get to the "n" word (not that n-word), I think we need to admit a few things to ourselves.

#1) We're all terrified of what's happening and want to make damn sure that the pendulum swings back from crazy before things are irreversible for the US and planet.

7/ I'm with you. There is, indeed, a lot at stake, and we want our candidate to be shoe-in for victory, a savior. Not seeing an obvious front runner scares us even more.

#2) We... and this is a tough one to swallow... we have NO IDEA how ANYONE will vote, other than ourselves.

8/ Maybe anecdotally... your moderate mom could never vote for Bernie, your black friend can never vote for Bloomberg... but in general, ya don't know. No one does. 2 weeks ago, everyone had Biden 1 or 2 in both IA and NH. Klobuchar not even discussed. Admit it: You. Don't. Know.

9/ #3) We all THINK we know who'd win in Nov. Based on... something... that video from Vox or that NYT op ed, the guy on CNN, that study of the 2016 or 2008 election, or that Fox News poll. We listen to "conventional wisdom" and we delude ourselves that we are somehow experts.

10/ We start saying things like the above... lines that start with The ONLY; can NEVER; she CAN'T, etc. Our over-saturation of news, pundits and opinion makes us even MORE afraid. And our fear makes us speak in absolutes. And we scream those absolutes at each other over and over.

11/ And that, given the insidiousness of social media, is NOT HARMLESS. It's DANGEROUS. Here's why.

Any one of these dems can win the nom. It's true. And any of them can beat Trump. Or lose to him. Nobody knows who "matches up best" (tho news media would have u believe they do).

12/ It all depends on THE NARRATIVE- the narrative created around the nominee, whomever he/she may be. FDR created a narrative of a shared society. Reagan created a (fictional) one around a common man mythology. Obama on Hope. Trump a (false) one on xenophobia and nationalism.

13/ Now who shapes the narratives? The candidates do, and the parties. The media, most definitely. And... US.
We are doing that right now. And we have to be careful, because every time we say ONLY, CAN'T, or NEVER about any dem, we're not only ASSUREDLY talking out of our asses,

14/ we are setting up a NARRATIVE, one that will stick to that person should they become the nominee. And, as I said, ANY of them can be. And one of them will.

So, no, Bernie folks, it's not helpful in any way to boo Mayor Pete or hate on Warren...

15/ No, Bloomberg absolutists, it's not helpful to decide right now that no one else has the ability to beat Trump.
No, Klobucharians (?), it's not helpful to tell people Bernie can't win the midwest.
In fact it's just the opposite. It is super-duper UN-helpful.

16/ Here's my offer: Like who you like. Take issue with other dems' positions. Converse, convince, cajole away. But if you let fear of losing to DT lead you down a path of absolutes about your pick or any other, you become part of the problem. A gun in the circular firing squad.

17/ One of these people is going to win the nom. And you'll vote for them, so you say. And you're going to try to convince others to do the same. How will you do that? Create the right narrative NOW. Do NOT hurt your own cause by creating or perpetuating bad narratives of others.

18/ Here's the truth: With the right narrative, any of this highly qualified field CAN win. So be careful with your attacks. Be cautious with your language. And please, for gods sake, admit it: You, along with everyone else, don't. know. shit.

That's all. Thanks for reading.