Why are you a democrat?

[Mattforclark]

I know that for most people there isn't just one reason, so pick the one that is the biggest reason.

[IrateCitizen]

1. Because there isn't yet a viable socialist movement...

So I follow the lead of Democratic Socialists of America and remain in the Democratic Party, working to encourage social reform at the same time.

[BlueEyedSon]

Other: Republicans suck.

:bounce:

[CPschem]

2. all of the above...

mainly peace, prosperity, and equal rights for all.

[buddy22600]

3. Woot

this place is quite beautiful

[freetobegay]

4. Going by the poll question

Civil rights.

[KAZ]

5. 12/19/98, 12/12/00 and JC's "We're Right, They're Wrong". n/t

n/t

[Walt Starr]

6. although I am registered as a Democrat,...

I consider myself more of an Anti-Republican than anything else.

[jobycom]

7. You left off Human Rights.

That covers all of your topics and more.

[Turbineguy]

8. Other, I like to live

in a proper civilized society.

[puerco-bellies]

9. All but one of the above

[Feanorcurufinwe]

10. All of that but really the reason is

because in 26 years of voting, the Democrat has been the better choice every single time.

[ObaMania]

11. All of the above.

[slackmaster]

12. The late President Richard Milhouse Nixon

n/t

[damnraddem]

13. No answer category there for me.

I'm a Dem because it's the best I can do right now. I don't trust the Party, and certainly not Kerry, one little bit; but they're sure better than the viable alternatives.

[Ganja Ninja]

14. Because sadly we don't have a real left wing party.

So I'll have to be a Democrat until some viable alternative comes along. Oh and by the way, I hate Republicans and other Nazi types.

[Laughing Mirror]

15. Family tradition

We never had the Washington Post in the house when I was a kid (pre-Watergate DC). My mother said it was a Republican paper. We only read the Daily News and the Star.

[Claire Beth]

16. all of the above...

the Republicans do not have a clue about middle class working people. Republicans only care about the wealthy.

[starroute]

17. I was born a Democrat

In my family, it was understood that you might vote for a Republican now and then (at least back when there still were some good ones), but that to actually become a Republican represented either class treason or evidence of a deep-seated psychological disorder.

When I was little, my mother used to tell me bedtime stories about Eleanor Roosevelt. On summer evenings, my father would take me over to the local Reform Democratic headquarters to get me out of my mother's hair, and he had me handing out fliers in the park by the time I was twelve. When I was thirteen, I spent a very cold election day standing on a street corner a couple of blocks from the polls handing out John Kennedy fliers.

How could I not be a Democrat?

[sangh0]

18. For the same reason I'm alive

It sure beats the alternative(s)

[Misunderestimator]

19. Can't answer this poll...

Where's the "All of the above" choice? None of those outweigh any other. In fact, if you take one of them away and give it to the Republicans, even if it is my number one issue, I would not then vote for a Republican. This is simply because all the remaining attributes would outweigh the one.

Anyway... Count me in as "All"... I can't just pick the biggest.

[Selwynn]

20. Social Justice - which includes equality, civil liberty and...

social services (i.e. universal health care, guaranteed standards of public education, living wages) and more equitable wealth distribution.

I believe in rightness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and think that our country should believe in its rightness to and act accordingly. Of the two major parties, BOTH FAIL. But Democrats fail slightly less.

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6.

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8.

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10.

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11.

(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14.

(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15.

(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16.

(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17.

(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21.

(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22.

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23.

(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24.

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26.

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27.

(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28.

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.

(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

[AlienGirl]

21. Because I believe in America

I believe that people should be free and secure in their bodies and homes. I believe it is no business of the government what people believe or whom they love. I believe America can be a society that guarantees this freedom.

I believe in a just society where nobody will be forced to starve on the street. I believe in a rich society, a society with abundance enough that nobody goes without the basic necessities of life. I believe America can be that society of abundance and wealth.

I believe America can be a society that values the individual enough to allow him or her to be free; and that values our collective well-being enough to take care of ourselves.

And that's why I'm a Democrat.

Tucker

[Skittles]

22. because I care about something other than myself

nt

[HawkerTyphoon]

23. Most of the above...

But probably because I was raised in a union shop; my dad was an organizer in the '30s. He told me that the repubs were the party of the robber barons. He was right.

Most recently I've had to add because I am really strong on separation of church and state, and the xtian wrong has taken over the republican party.

[HawkerHurricane]

24. Because the Republicans have shown me

that they cannot be trusted with power.

That they will lie, cheat and steal to get and hold power, and they will use that power for corrupt and evil reasons.

A Democrat may not be able to solve this nation's problems, but at least he will TRY.
A Republican will try to make them worse, so he won't have to pay to fix them, even if he caused them.

[Bride of Cthulhu]

25. all of the above.

[Itchinjim]

26. FDR

Plain and simple. My maternal grandfather was an Iowa farmer during the Depression. My paternal grandfather was a railroad worker. My grandpas LOVED FDR. Because of FDR my mother and father did not starve to death and I was able to be born. I owe my very existance to the Democratic Party. God bless FDR, HST, JFK, (kinda bless LBJ) JEC, WJC, and God grant us JFK II!

[LSdemocrat]

27. Other: Government needs to have a positive role in people's lives