2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumNow that the GOP is defunct, does the Democratic Party want to become the new Republican Party?
GOP Lite?
That is the choice before us.
peacebird
(14,195 posts)Trust Buster
(7,299 posts)"Compromise" as a dirty word. I think the only way our Party suffers a similar fate is if the far Left behaves in the same manner.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)It already has.
firebrand80
(2,760 posts)Let the GOP have their ideological purity, we see how far that got them
casperthegm
(643 posts)Last edited Wed Mar 16, 2016, 10:08 AM - Edit history (1)
Well, let's ask the dems on the DU and see if everyone is good with the following;
Are you ok with Citizens United/Super pacs continuing?
Are you ok with politicians giving speeches to Wall Street for hundreds of thousands of dollars per speech? And if so, not sharing the transcripts?
Ok you ok with not bringing back Glass Steagall?
Are you ok with millions of people remaining uninsured?
Are you ok with invading other countries like Iraq and setting up no fly zones in places like Syria?
Are you ok with fracking?
Are you ok with candidates who smear their opponents (auto bailout lie, Koch brother smear, one issue candidate smear)
Based on the support for Hillary's nomination to this point it appears that the answers to these questions is yes. Previously, I'd thought these were GOP issues but apparently the Democrats have embraced them as well.
randome
(34,845 posts)I doubt anything will ever overturn Citizens United since Democrats depend on money as much as Republicans.
Speeches don't bother me. Lady Gaga and Jerry Seinfeld gave similar speeches for the same amount of money to GS.
Glass Steagall is dead but something new needs to replace it.
Health care for all is something to strive for.
Fracking should be stopped and a greater (mammoth) push for green energy made.
In the heat of a contested primary, both sides behaved less than perfectly. Big deal.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font][hr]
casperthegm
(643 posts)And both show extremely poor judgement. Experience means nothing if it's a legacy of deadly decisions.
Speeches by Lady Gaga and Jerry Seinfeld can speak to GS all day long and I don't care. Because they aren't running for President.
Hillary is. But that doesn't seem to bother the majority of Democrats.
Glad you feel that way about Glass Steagall. Wish Hillary felt the same way, though she did once tell the banks to "cut it out."
Hillary disagrees with you regarding health care for all.
Hillary disagrees with you regarding fracking.
Bottom line is all of the things in my post are Republican talking points, not Democrat. Or at least the weren't in the past. What in the world has happened to this party?
pangaia
(24,324 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)It's a Catch-22 situation. Do nothing and thousands of people will die horribly. Try to help and...people will still die.
For the rest, we need to make our voices known and keep Clinton moving further to the left. She's now the 'Big Dog' (or soon will be) and that's where we need to put our energy. (Actually, more in changing Congress but that's another topic.) But we need to do this in other ways than communicating to one another on an Internet forum.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]
kristopher
(29,798 posts)The Democratic Agenda according to FDR. I'd say this excerpt from his 1944 State of the Union helps define the Democratic party.
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.
One of the great American industrialists of our daya man who has rendered yeoman service to his country in this crisis-recently emphasized the grave dangers of "rightist reaction" in this Nation. All clear-thinking businessmen share his concern. Indeed, if such reaction should developif history were to repeat itself and we were to return to the so-called "normalcy" of the 1920'sthen it is certain that even though we shall have conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to the spirit of Fascism here at home.
I ask the Congress to explore the means for implementing this economic bill of rights- for it is definitely the responsibility of the Congress so to do. Many of these problems are already before committees of the Congress in the form of proposed legislation. I shall from time to time communicate with the Congress with respect to these and further proposals. In the event that no adequate program of progress is evolved, I am certain that the Nation will be conscious of the fact.
Our fighting men abroad- and their families at home- expect such a program and have the right to insist upon it. It is to their demands that this Government should pay heed rather than to the whining demands of selfish pressure groups who seek to feather their nests while young Americans are dying.
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/address_text.html
pangaia
(24,324 posts)Keep posting this....
My mother knew ER. I post THAT ever so often also. :> )))
Hillary Clinton IS NO ER !!!
Shadowflash
(1,536 posts)nt
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)In other words, perfectly positioned in the right-skewed American political spectrum, given the GOP's radicalization. "Democratic Party" just a brand, not a political ideology...and like any brand, changes its marketing as needed.
But it can do it without me...