About the New Deal (Edited: Found & added something like what I remembered) [View all]

[vintx]

Last edited Thu Mar 24, 2016, 07:16 AM - Edit history (1)

I have been told that the Democratic party only adopted the planks which were the foundation of the New Deal after losing a lot of votes to the Populist party.

I have not been able to find any background on this recently, though I am pretty sure I had found something on it before. I was curious if anyone here is familiar with the evolution of the New Deal. Any information would be appreciated.



UPDATE:

Found it!

"Many of liberalism's most important ideas were lifted from these movements. Indeed, Milton Friedman has been heard to describe Thomas's Socialist Party as having been "the most influential party in the history of this country," as every one of its 1928 platform planks had later been enacted." (Friedman was referring to the fact that the New Deal Democrats had borrowed rather liberally from Thomas, just as Woodrow Wilson had borrowed from borrowed from Eugene Debs's Socialists, and Democrats under Williams Jennings Bryan had taken ideas from the Populist Party.)

from Why We're Liberals: A Handbook for Restoring America's Most Important Ideals - Eric Alterman