Do you think the Dems party needs to move more left or moderate?

[BigmanPigman]

I had this discussion with my sister today. She though that they should be more moderate. I said that we have become too moderate as the Repubs with the Tea Party/Freedom Caucus moved the right even further right. I think we should go further left. Then we discussed a real/serious third party, maybe one that is just moderate. I would like to hear your opinions.

[Doug the Dem]

1. The Answer is Yes

No doubt about it!

[BigmanPigman]

2. Which one, more left, more moderate, or third party?

[JI7]

3. i don't remember the party being more left .

the party is what the voters vote for it are.

when the voters are mostly minorites and women the candidates elected are more liberal. when there are more white male voters the candidates tend to be more conservative.

[pnwmom]

4. I think it was positioned well in 2016. Offering a public option is something most of the country

could get behind; and also a higher minimum wage and free college for lower and middle incomes.

Hillary's policies were not why she lost. She lost because of voter suppression, Comey, and Putin.

There are no magic policies that would win no matter how many votes were suppressed or how much Russia meddled.

[JHB]

5. I think you need to define what counts as "left" and "moderate"...

...to answer that question.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Honestly? We need to recognize that Americans respect individual liberty and be consistent on it.

Regardless of how I personally feel about guns, it's probably time to acknowledge that gun control is a loser at the Federal Level. Our losses in red states, to some degree, attest to that.

More and more Americans support legal cannabis and widely recognize the drug war has failed.

Similarly, most Americans are pro-choice. Even many anti-choicers change their minds when confronted with the reality of outlawing things like abortion and birth control.

Americans don't want government policing what they do with their own bodies, what they read or watch or say, or if they choose to exit this world in a pain-free, dignified manner when terminally ill.

We should adopt a solid, consistent, pro-personal freedom agenda and messaging. In many ways, we already have and do, at least in some states- but we ought to put it under one broad philosophical umbrella.


On the side of economics, I think Americans want a good, solid safety net. They want good roads, good schools, social security and medicare/medicaid, they want a public option, they want universal health coverage. They want a livable minimum wage. They want clean water and clean air.



Freedom and Community are not incompatible. We can- and should- be the party of both.

[JI7]

7. democrats have won in Virginia being pro gun control . the gun control issue is important for

many.

also many who are against gun control usually are opposed to abortion rights and gay rights.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. I think it costs us, nationally. That's my analysis, after watching politics for many decades.

Like I said, I think consistent pro-freedom messaging could go a long way towards winning over voters in places where we currently can't compete.

I know, the bargle about "they're coming to take mah guns" is ridiculous, I mean every time a Democrat gets in the WH it's great for gun manufactures and their business.

But I do think it's worth pointing out the hypocrisy of "freedom" right-wingers who are bent out of shape at nonexistent threats to their right to fill the basement with AR-15s, but think people should go to prison for smoking a joint and want to censor the naked nipples on Game of Thrones.

[Amishman]

30. I agree, overall it costs us, and in the places we can't afford to lose votes

Gun politics definitely hurt us in PA, and I'd hazard a guess it didn't help in MI either.

And the current party position is complicated. When we keep saying ' we support gun rights, but that right doesn't cover A, B, C D, E, F, G,...' it is really easy for opponents to distort the issue and use it against us.

[Amishman]

28. Very well said! A simple pro freedom and pro economic security would be a winner

And it's interesting to note that with the current positions, this is a move to both the center and left.

[Rhiannon12866]

9. I agree with you - on both counts.

I think we've been too "moderate" for years - and it hasn't worked out all that well for us.

[get the red out]

10. Just elect Democrats

This country isn't monolithic, this party should have a big tent embracing regional differences. I want it pretty far left, but will I am a Kentucky yellow dog who will vote for a blue dog against an R in a heartbeat. My purity test is Democrat.

[BamaRefugee]

11. If we can move way over leftwards...

...we'll arrive at about the same position as a moderate Republican in 1980.

[yardwork]

13. When Reagan was elected? No.

[BamaRefugee]

21. Reagan was FAR from being a moderate Republican

[yardwork]

22. I'm well aware. The Republicans who voted him in weren't moderate either.

[BamaRefugee]

25. Not sure if you lived through that era

I'm 65 so my first election experience was Eisenhower, wow! I survived Richard Nixon too

To me, Obama acted pretty much as a moderate Republican from back then. Even Obamacare was basically a riff on Republican/Romney concepts.Thank God we had him for 8 years though.

All of American politics has shifted so far right that what is considered "extreme" today would have been plain vanilla Democratic party positions in that era.

I say let's get back to some seismic shifts in our programs

[democratisphere]

12. More realistic.

[Cobalt Violet]

14. left.

But even "more moderate" would require moving to the left as we are way to the right of moderate now.

[Expecting Rain]

23. Why troll the Democratic Party on a website for Democrats?

[moda253]

35. How so?

Which progressive policies weren't addressed in the 2016 DNC platform?

And I mean specifically.

or are you going on a feeling that you have?

[Cobalt Violet]

36. single payer

[Funtatlaguy]

15. 218....do whatever it takes to get us to 218

Members of the House....to have the majority.

[MrsCoffee]

16. Some of the comments in this thread are ridiculous.

Has anyone actually been paying attention to what the fuck is going on? The Democratic Party doesn't come close to anything like those fucking assholes on the right.

This shit is just a distraction in hopes of keeping us divided.

[Warren DeMontague]

18. "Has anyone been paying attention to what the fuck is going on?"

...Good question.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/11/14/1598918/-Republicans-now-dominate-state-government-with-32-legislatures-and-33-governors

?1486423946

[Trumpocalypse]

17. Depends on where

All politics are local. In more conservative parts of the country we need more moderate candidates. In more liberal parts, we need more liberal candidates.

[marlakay]

37. I agree all states are different

people from the states in the middle and south are way different than east and west coast and we have to allow for that or we will lose again.

Being from the west coast I would love a whole country of progressives but I am sure other states don't feel that way.

[treestar]

19. Depends on the state/district

Even for the Presidency, it would depend on the state.

[samnsara]

20. compared to the GOP we are waaaaaay far left already

[WiffenPoof]

24. When You Observe The Size Of The....

...crowds that Bernie Sanders was able to attract, I would have to vote for the Party moving Left.

-P

[lapucelle]

26. Crowds don't always convert into votes.

[WiffenPoof]

27. I Agree...

However, you have to admit that it was pretty impressive.

[bearsfootball516]

29. That's true, but

I would argue that someone who goes to a rally for a candidate is more likely to vote for that specific candidate than someone who didn't go to the rally.

[HeartachesNhangovers]

31. I don't think Dems have moved left or Republicans have

moved right. I think that the extremists in both parties are more visible, although I'm not sure they represent a growing fraction. The Democratic party should strive for the greatest good, which to me means remaining moderate.

[Orsino]

32. Leftward is better.

If ours is going to be the party of living in the real world, we need to offer solutions and engagement. That means leftward.

[honeylady]

33. Move more to the left n/t

[pansypoo53219]

34. we NEEd to go on the offense. fight fire w/ fire. stop being abused by the gnewz or the rite.

call bullshit on the rite.