Campaigns are an act of celebration

Outside the rough-and-tumble of DU, and the discussions of what's an attack and what's not, who's a secret freeper, how many threads are appropriate, yada yada, I came across this quote from a relative of Bob Graham:

"Bob has always noted that campaigns should be fun and are, in themselves, an act of celebrating our great Republic."

That sort of made me teary-eyed, ya know? Because while I'm not a very aggressive person myself, and I'm often taken aback by the tone of things around here, it kinda helps keep it in perspective to think of it as not only "fun" but something that's a celebration of ourselves. That was quite a new concept for me.

Campaigning has been a part of our country since before its birth. There were plenty of underhanded, below-the-belt, rude and inaccurate flings of mud back in George Washington's day (heck, they brought out the pistols then), and we came through it all right.

Graham's people have asked his active supporters not to attack the other candidates, but to bring out his positive points instead. That fits my personal style, but even the attacks are part of the celebration in a way.

I like Graham more every day.