Reply #105: because Obama and the Dem leadership essentially agree with the Republicans on economics [View All]

[Douglas Carpenter]

and have for the past thirty years or more. Just as New Labour in Britain have essentially followed Tory/Thatcherite economics for the past several years. Granted, in both cases they are less ideological and somewhat more moderate about it than the self-declared right-wing parties. But the basic ideology of "market-based solutions" with less government intervention and more room for the profit motive to tackle social problems has long been the orthodoxy while the social democracy, the New Deal and the Great Society have faded into mere distant memory.

The leading political strategist of the Democratic Party recognize that it is a lot easier the party to raise the kind of massive campaign war chest needed to conduct a modern campaign when you have a much more Wall Street friendly party. The leading strategist also recognize that today's Republican Party have alienated traditional Republicans with the Religious Right over social issues. Therefore they see the Democratic Party's path to victory is by taking up the political demographic space once held by more moderate Republicans. Since liberals, labor, progressives and low income voters have no where else to go, they are confident that they can hold onto these constituencies by default.