The Democratic Party closely mirrors the chaos of the democrats themselves. Like the Republicans, Democrats are a centrist party going after the middle class vote, and the two parties seldom seem that much different. At least in the ads. Over time, you have to wonder what Republicans are conserving and what Democrats are liberating.
There are more Democrats than Republicans, but the Democrats are a coalition of strange bedfellows: minorities, gays, Jews, eggheads, skinheads, progressives, etc. Democrats dominate in urban areas, with young people, and with the college educated. Democrats have a lot of visible spokespeople, but contrary to the propaganda they are not well organized and do not have much influence in the media. The Democratic party is quite poor at marketing — even their best ideas don’t get through clearly. The Republicans run circles around them.
Economically, the party focuses on programs and tax incentives that strengthen the middle class and the poor at the expense of the rich and corporations. This is where they are most clearly opposed to the Republicans, who promote big tax cuts for the wealthy over all else. Recently, the Democrats have made lots of noise about government spending and the national debt. But WiseUP: this fiscal prudence is a recent accident, and what the party proposes in social and jobs programs will be quite costly indeed. Pay attention to the economic results of Great Society programs, not the utopian rhetoric.
Socially, the party advocates individual freedoms and diversity that mirrors their membership. They make a lot of noise in the press about gay marriage, abortion rights, fairly free immigration, and freedom from government intrusion. But WiseUP: the Democratic party has a much more mainstream tendency than you’d think.
In foreign policy and national security, the party is completely split. The votes in Congress show support for the war in Iraq, but the Democratic voters are all over the map. They have some positive ideas about improving port security and stemming the root causes of terrorism, but they have been unable to get popular energy focused enough to push any of the good ones through.
Find out more…
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Democrats: What they say about themselves
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Republicans: What the opposition says
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MoveOn.org: An effective internet group of Democrats
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Thom Paine Common Sense: A leftward leaning news summary
