Triage

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Triage is necessary in any situation where there are not the resources available to possibly do the best thing for everyone.

The name means the division of something into three groups. In wartime medicine or following a disaster the wounded are divided into three classes.

1) People who are going to die no matter what, or whose injuries are such that trying to save that person will consume resources that will leave many other people to die.

2) People who are in no immediate danger... who can survive without immediate treatment.

3) People who are dying, but can probably be saved with immediate treatment. For instance, someone pumping out a lot of blood will die without immediate care but stopping the bleeding has a high likelihood of saving the patient.

Medical resources are devoted to the third group first. If there are more resources then they are allocated to the other two groups.

In politics money is always a limited resource. As it gets up to election day a national party wants to pump money into races where that money might decide the race.

Right now the Democratic Party is writing off some hopeless candidates, steering money into races where it has the highest chance of holding a seat.

Some of the candidates being cut off are progressives. Some of the candidates being aided are conservadems.

Triage is necessary. The only question is, is the triage being done correctly and impartially?

If the Party is favoring conservadems over progressives in otherwise identical circumstances then it would be a terrible thing.

If, however, the Party is making pragmatic triage decisions dispassionately calculated to maximize the number of House seats we hold after the election then there is no story there.

[MadHound]

1. That's the problem,

Dems don't do triage based on electability, or loyalty. They do it in order to keep moving evermore to the right. This has been going on since at least 1972 and has continued ever since.

This is how solid progressives and liberals are culled from the Democratic herd. They refuse to fund liberal candidates despite the fact that they're electable.

It's not pragmatism, it's politics, and frankly it's disgusting as hell.

It is what has gotten us to the point where we have two parties that are both to the right of Ike, that have less than a dime's worth of difference between them.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. If what you say is correct then I agree it is scandalous and wicked

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

3. ...