Matthew Dowd Cannot Pronounce The Word "Republican"

The people who try to force everything into a false binary choice is one reason why our democracy is in peril and we can’t get to the common good. A person can be both for life and for choice, for the 2nd amendment and for gun reform, for justice and against capital punishment.

— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) March 22, 2018

This pathological Beltway ritual of avoiding saying the word "Republican" out loud when faced with yet another Republican atrocity persists, like some ludicrous, political version of the "Candyman" urban myth:  a primal fear that if you stand in front of a camera and say the words "It's not Both Sides -- it's just the fucking Republicans" the ghost of Eugene Debs will manifest itself and smite your lucrative career with a lethal blast of socialist stank.

So who exactly are these "people" who want to ruin our nice little democracy by  "[forcing] everything into a false binary choice".  Well, skipping right on past the fact that the very elections on which our democracy is founded are literally binary (or, in some cases, ternary or quaternion, but mostly binary) choices, I can tell you who Mr. Dowd damn well isn't referring to. 

He damn well isn't referring to Democrats. 

And the reason I know this is that I can read.

From Mr. Dowd:

 A person can be both...for the 2nd amendment and for gun reform

From the 2016 Democratic Party platform:

With 33,000 Americans dying every year, Democrats believe that we must finally take sensible action to address gun violence. While responsible gun ownership is part of the fabric of many communities, too many families in America have suffered from gun violence. We can respect the rights of responsible gun owners while keeping our communities safe.

From Mr. Dowd:

A person can be both...for justice and against capital punishment.

From the 2016 Democratic Party platform:

We will abolish the death penalty, which has proven to be a cruel and unusual form of punishment. It has no place in the United States of America. The application of the death penalty is arbitrary and unjust. The cost to taxpayers far exceeds those of life imprisonment. It does not deter crime. And, exonerations show a dangerous lack of reliability for what is an irreversible punishment.

From Mr. Dowd:

A person can be both for life and for choice.

The 2016 Democratic Party platform has twelve separate planks under the heading "ENSURE THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF ALL AMERICANS" including this one -- "Securing Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice" -- which says both this (emphasis added) --

Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice. We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured. We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing...

-- and this:

And we strongly and unequivocally support a woman’s decision to have a child, including by ensuring a safe and healthy pregnancy and childbirth, and by providing services during pregnancy and after the birth of a child, including adoption and social support services, as well as protections for women against pregnancy discrimination. We are committed to creating a society where children are safe and can thrive physically, emotionally, educationally, and spiritually. We recognize and support the importance of civil structures that are essential to creating this for every child.

The "people" Mr. Dowd is referring to are a threat to our democracy are called "Republicans".

And Mr. Dowd damn well knows it.

Or as Duncan Black put it:

Matthew Dowd Is A Fraud

This man is paid a lot by ABC News to pretend to know nothing about politics.

Behold, a Tip Jar!