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In reply to the discussion: Is FDR Dead... In The Current Democratic Party... Because if It Is... [View all]WillyT
(72,631 posts)75. And We Democrats Started Moving Away From FDR Priciples That Served Us Well, And Are Now...
Gettng Our Asses Handed To Us... Fucking Brlliant !!!
<snip>
Webb is one answer to the weaknesses of todays center-left, the so-called upstairs-downstairs coalition described by Joel Kotkin, presidential fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University. Kotkin argues in his recently published book, The New Class Conflict, that the Democratic Party has been taken over by what he calls gentry liberals, an elite that has undermined the historic purpose of the Democratic Party.
Kotkin contends that:
<snip>
And...
<snip>
Lets forget Webb for a moment and take the question a step further. What are the prospects of winning the presidential nomination for a candidate who challenges current Democratic Party strategic orthodoxy? This strategy calls for identity group, rather than class-based, mobilization, on the assumption that turning out single women, the young, and racial and ethnic minorities is more effective than an uphill struggle to revive support in the recalcitrant white middle and working class.
As much as such a shift to a class-based strategy might result in economic policies more beneficial to less affluent Democratic constituencies, and therefore to more votes in the long haul, so far there has been insufficient intraparty pressure to force a change in strategic orientation.
It is not lost on Democratic strategists that President Obama won twice deploying a group-based rather than a class-based strategy. Even if the next Democratic nominee does not inspire the high minority turnout levels of 2008 and 2012, the 2016 electorate will be less Republican than it was in 2012. Every four years, the heavily Republican white share of voters drops by a little over 2 percent, and the disproportionately Democratic minority share grows by the same amount.
There are, however, fundamental problems with the current Democratic strategy, not least of which is that it is a strategy for winning presidential elections but not necessarily for exerting real political control.
The current approach depends on a Republican Party that refuses to adjust to the transforming composition of the electorate. The 2014 elections demonstrated, however, that the Republican Party and its candidates are not immune to feedback and will change if they have to in order to win.
Insofar as the Republican Party tempers its retrograde stance on social-sexual and moral-racial issues, Democratic campaigns stressing alleged threats from conservatives the threat to freedom and privacy posed by the Christian right; the threat to Hispanic family unity posed by anti-immigrant activists; the threat to programs serving the poor posed by deficit hawks will run out of gas.
That moment may be closer than expected. An Oct. 15 Washington Post/ABC poll found that the public held the Democratic Party in worse regard than at any point in the past 30 years. An Oct. 24 Pew Research Center survey found, in turn, that the public favored Republicans over Democrats on such key issues as handling the economy, the budget deficit, immigration and terrorism.
Democrats, according to Pew, retained an advantage on less tangible qualities such as empathy, honesty and a willingness to compromise. As attractive as those characteristics are, they are not top priorities for voters. Both Pew and Gallup have found that, except in times of crisis for example, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks voters top priorities consistently include bread-and-butter issues, jobs and the economy.
<snip>
DULink: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025874837
<snip>
Webb is one answer to the weaknesses of todays center-left, the so-called upstairs-downstairs coalition described by Joel Kotkin, presidential fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University. Kotkin argues in his recently published book, The New Class Conflict, that the Democratic Party has been taken over by what he calls gentry liberals, an elite that has undermined the historic purpose of the Democratic Party.
Kotkin contends that:
The great raison d'être for left-wing politics advocating for the middle- and working classes has been refocused to attend more closely to the policy imperatives and interests of small, highly affluent classes, as well as the powerful public sector.
<snip>
And...
<snip>
Lets forget Webb for a moment and take the question a step further. What are the prospects of winning the presidential nomination for a candidate who challenges current Democratic Party strategic orthodoxy? This strategy calls for identity group, rather than class-based, mobilization, on the assumption that turning out single women, the young, and racial and ethnic minorities is more effective than an uphill struggle to revive support in the recalcitrant white middle and working class.
As much as such a shift to a class-based strategy might result in economic policies more beneficial to less affluent Democratic constituencies, and therefore to more votes in the long haul, so far there has been insufficient intraparty pressure to force a change in strategic orientation.
It is not lost on Democratic strategists that President Obama won twice deploying a group-based rather than a class-based strategy. Even if the next Democratic nominee does not inspire the high minority turnout levels of 2008 and 2012, the 2016 electorate will be less Republican than it was in 2012. Every four years, the heavily Republican white share of voters drops by a little over 2 percent, and the disproportionately Democratic minority share grows by the same amount.
There are, however, fundamental problems with the current Democratic strategy, not least of which is that it is a strategy for winning presidential elections but not necessarily for exerting real political control.
The current approach depends on a Republican Party that refuses to adjust to the transforming composition of the electorate. The 2014 elections demonstrated, however, that the Republican Party and its candidates are not immune to feedback and will change if they have to in order to win.
Insofar as the Republican Party tempers its retrograde stance on social-sexual and moral-racial issues, Democratic campaigns stressing alleged threats from conservatives the threat to freedom and privacy posed by the Christian right; the threat to Hispanic family unity posed by anti-immigrant activists; the threat to programs serving the poor posed by deficit hawks will run out of gas.
That moment may be closer than expected. An Oct. 15 Washington Post/ABC poll found that the public held the Democratic Party in worse regard than at any point in the past 30 years. An Oct. 24 Pew Research Center survey found, in turn, that the public favored Republicans over Democrats on such key issues as handling the economy, the budget deficit, immigration and terrorism.
Democrats, according to Pew, retained an advantage on less tangible qualities such as empathy, honesty and a willingness to compromise. As attractive as those characteristics are, they are not top priorities for voters. Both Pew and Gallup have found that, except in times of crisis for example, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks voters top priorities consistently include bread-and-butter issues, jobs and the economy.
<snip>
DULink: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025874837
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I would love to say no, but the oligarchs have steamrolled over FDR several trillion times.
Dont call me Shirley
Nov 2014
#1
Reagan trickle down has failed miserably and much of what FDR did is still working. But
jwirr
Nov 2014
#35
they got us by the short and curlies. Too bad they've forgotten what they're supposed to do now
librechik
Nov 2014
#25
Strange, I heard "FDR Democrats" separated from "liberal, socialist Democrats"...
moriah
Nov 2014
#70
James Buchanan is too "extreme" for the Dems--because he took positions, and that rankles the
MisterP
Nov 2014
#9
If the FDR coalition is dead, it's because the "progressive" purists killed it.
baldguy
Nov 2014
#11
Really ??? - We Lost The Congress After We Passed The Voting Rights Act ??? - I Don't Think So...
WillyT
Nov 2014
#37
What do you think LBJ meant when he said, "We have lost the South for a generation?"
wyldwolf
Nov 2014
#64
And We Democrats Started Moving Away From FDR Priciples That Served Us Well, And Are Now...
WillyT
Nov 2014
#75
"Racist southern whites were a key part of the FDR coalition." Erm, not quite.
AverageJoe90
Nov 2014
#58
"FDR let the Dixiecrats 'in to an extent.'" No, they played a major role in the New Deal's passage
wyldwolf
Nov 2014
#74
"No, they played a major role in the New Deal's passage", I'm sorry, but that's a myth......
AverageJoe90
Nov 2014
#80
“government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob.” FDR
adirondacker
Nov 2014
#21
You've made your point. One of the greatest Presidents of this country also made
Cleita
Nov 2014
#118
You can sensse his spirit so often in our party. "You have to compromise!" he was fond of saying.
raouldukelives
Nov 2014
#34
I do not think FDR would have been for TPP, the ending of public education or environmental
jwirr
Nov 2014
#43
I have read this post and apparently it is dead. So what the hell do we care what happens to Social
jwirr
Nov 2014
#41
I agree. One of the things I think that could have been done better is talking more about the things
jwirr
Nov 2014
#55
I think it may even be making a difference already. How many of us are spending as much at
jwirr
Nov 2014
#61
Here's a short snip from a great article that explains why we want FDR progressivism to LIVE
RiverLover
Nov 2014
#51
The FDR you're imagining never existed. Just as the Reagan the right imagines never existed
wyldwolf
Nov 2014
#62
Thanks for the links. But NOTHING here negates what he did for us while in office.
RiverLover
Nov 2014
#99
I'm not idolizing him. He came to be a populist slowly. I've read alot. What he DID though in ofc
RiverLover
Nov 2014
#101
Honestly I'd like to see the democratic party go into a more socialist direction. We need to
craigmatic
Nov 2014
#67