I noticed that MyDD has been getting all excited about General Election polls . . . IN APRIL?!

I understand that it can be entertaining to visit The VoteMaster and 538. I love checking out both websites, but I also understand that this data is pretty much useless until at least a FULL WEEK after the last National Convention.

The polls will start to give the campaigns a general idea of where they should spend their money, but Super-Delegates are smart enough to realize that either DEM will get AT LEAST a 5% jump after Denver.

There should be a few MyDD'ers besides me that remember another Springtime General Election Poll:

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This is the first of a series of diaries I hope to post in the next few weeks.  I have some spare time, a high-speed internet connection, and a lot to say.  I hope to touch on a lot of related issues: How we define ourselves as a party, how we define certain terms (progressive, populist), what the party should ultimately stand for, psychology and what leads people into political activism in the first place.

Out of frustration, I posted this comment last night: "It occurs to me that the Democratic Party would do well to court and otherwise roll out the welcome mat for Naderites, and not just Naderites but also Venturaites, Perotistas, Reagan Democrats, alienated non-voters, Greens, moderate Republicans, and even significant Democratic politicans that the party apparatus seems to have shoved into the memory hole (Richard Lamm and Mike Gravel come to mind).  The key is a big tent Democratic Party where all these people will be welcome and have a voice.  The alternative is a party where anyone whose positions don't exactly mirror Hillary Clinton's gets shown the door before they even set foot in it.  And if that's the party you want, you can have it because it will find itself a permanent minority party unable to muster more than 30% of the vote.  I want a party that represents the American working class in the broadest sense of the term.  This means a welcome mat.  This means welcoming instead of attacking when somebody like Jim Webb joins our side, and welcoming instead of attacking when somebody who worked for Nader and Ventura joins our side."

The context is unimportant; it could have been posted in response to hundreds of comments on this site, unproductive comments that all smack of "so and so is not a real progressive and should get lost".  First, a little backstory.  Let's go back, way back.  The 1980s to be precise.  I was a big fan of Ronald Reagan...

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