How important are Party labels in today's political environment?

[kentuck]

Although Donald Trump supports whatever he perceives is in his political interests, it is hard to believe that he has any ideological core. He is not a "Republican".

Mike Bloomberg is garnering a lot of support from Democrats across the nation but, most of his life, he has labeled himself a "Republican". At different times, he has been an Independent, a Democrat, and a Republican.

Bernie Sanders, for his entire political career, has called himself an independent "Democratic Socialist" but has almost always voted with the Democrats in the US House and Senate.

We have life-long conservatives that cannot compete with Donald Trump on the Republican stage. We have life-long "moderate" Democrats that are having difficulty competing on the Democratic stage.

One must ask, just how important are these Party labels? Are voters adapting to the different political realities?

Do they have any deep ideological convictions or do they simply wish to be in power?

What does it mean to be a Republican or a Democrat today?

[thesquanderer]

1. Actions/positions matter more than labels. But...

...if you're on a site called "Democratic Underground," it may not be surprising to find a decent number of people a little more concerned with labels.

Personally, I'd prefer an independent whose positions have been primarily Dem-consistent over a Dem who has as often behaved like a Republican. YMMV...

[Ron Green]

2. In my neck of the woods, "Democrat" is not a good brand.

There is a very active and growing roster of really good local party people, mostly recruited in 2016 with Bernie’s run, who are moving the needle in a positive direction. But when I ran for office in 2012, I saw how the party’s image had suffered throughout the Spotted Owl era and the growth of the Democratic administrative environment from Eugene to Portland.
I believe that in my state, the partisan dimension of political awareness is being mostly intentionally avoided.