Serious Question: What is a "conservative democrat"?

[Darkhawk32]

I've had someone I know refer to himself as a "conservative democrat". I've racked my brain and frankly couldn't come up with a way one could be "conservative" and a Democrat. Can someone please help?

[porphyrian]

1. Anyone registered as a Democrat who could easily be republican. -n/t

[C_U_L8R]

2. A republican

who wised up to the reich wing's bullshit ??


(and welcome to the Democratic Party !!!! )

[helderheid]

27. ditto! :)

[Nickster]

3. Fiscal conservative and Social liberal. That's my take on it.

[sui generis]

10. in practice a social liberal who doesn't support

civil marriage for all.

social programs for married heterosexuals only.

[Nickster]

20. Probably true.

[xultar]

4. A conservative Democrat is probably more fiscally conservative and

socially liberal.

[iconoclastNYC]

12. name me a democrat

who is not fiscally conservative, we are the deficit hawks now.

[xultar]

17. That is true.

[Coexist]

16. I don't know - many that I know that call themselves that

are anti-abortion and gay marriage.

[mmonk]

5. any democrat that runs away from the mere mention

of "left" or "liberal" or votes against democratic principles.

[iconoclastNYC]

6. Usually someone who has internalized the LIBERAL = BAD meme

[Nikki Stone 1]

7. He has some ideals but doesn't want to pay for them

nt

[jrw14125]

8. They hate black people?

[bryant69]

9. Parties used to be more about coalitions

than ideology. They still are more about that on the Democratic Side (not so much on the Republican side, which is dominated by Ideology).

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. A "not as bad as the Republicans" DLC'er.

[MercutioATC]

13. Everything's relative.

I consider myself a "centrist Democrat" because while I believe in fundamental Democratic ideals reproductive choice, equal rights for ALL people and universal health care I also believe in things like the right of citizens to own guns and stopping illegal immigration (and deporting current illegal immigrants). My views on personal responsibility also seem, at least to me, to be more conservative than most Democrat's views.

It's a big tent and terms like "centrist" or "conservative" depend mostly on your own personal views.

[queenbdem87]

14. Conservative Democrats

are people who feel the moral imperative to oppose the repug party but still don't quite get it in terms of good policy.

[rucky]

15. An ex-Republican sickened by his party & hesitant to call himself a Dem nt

[iconoclastNYC]

19. Doesn't this point out the downside to all these labels?

If you are anti-choice but pro-labor are you a conservative democrat?

If you are pro-choice but anti-marriage equality..... still conservative?

If you are for an increase in minium wage but pro-NAFTA..... conservative?

LABELS are meaningless. Most of us would support a candidate that disagrees with us on one or more of the issues.

[rucky]

23. You're one of those "Anti-Label Dems," aren't you.

I happen to be an "Anti Anti-Label Dems Dem."

;)

[On Par]

18. A Conservative Democrat Would be A Reagan Democrat

That would be about as close as you could get to definition.

[Nickster]

21. I'm racking my brain, but I remember awhile back, I think Skinner wrote

up an essay about the different types of Democrats and basic ideas within each group. It was a pretty good breakdown.

[Rowdyboy]

22. Think Mississippi Rep Gene Taylor.....

Fiscally conservative, socially moderate-conservative, supportive of labor and a strong voice for his constituents who are mostly Katrina victims. Taylor is probably the most conservative Democrat in the house and the only Democrat imaginable who who could win in southern Mississippi.

He has a history of not voting for the party leadership, including Gephart and Pelosi. Instead, he usually gives his vote for party leader to John Murtha (who isn't running). Its Taylor's personal protest against a leadership he doesn't care for.

Do I wish he was more centrist? Certainly. Would I prefer a liberal Republican in his seat? Hell, no. He represents his district, which is very conservative. He does the best he can from the perspective of a moderate-conservative/populist.

[Warpy]

24. Eisenhower Repugs who were disgusted by Nixon

and started to join the Democrats, promising to counter the Nixonian southern strategy that played on bigotry in the south and swept him into power for 2 terms. They favor corporations over labor, favor the upper middle class over the working class, despise unions, think corporations should enjoy no restrictions on trade and low taxes, are for low taxes on the rich, are weak on civil rights, and generally vote pubbie in Congress.

Their complete abandonment of the party's traditional working class base has led to the loss of all 3 branches of government as the number of working Democrats who get out and vote declines every year. You can't abandon your party's base and expect to win, something the party they left knows only too well.

Conservatives are the problem. They are never the solution.

[Coastie for Truth]

25. Dems like My Dad - a generational thing

The Dems Tom Brokaw wrote about in "The Greatest Generation" -- Truman/Humphrey Dems

Liberal on Social Issues
Fiscally "Cautious" (They went thru the Depression and WW2)
Big Spenders on "Safety Net" - Infrastructure - Education
As Big Ed Schultz would say "Church goin' as a social and community thing"
Didn't cross picket lines
Very "community based" - PTA, Scouts, Church, etc.

[Czolgosz]

26. You are a conservative Democrat when you argue against wrecking society's

institutions. You, and me, and many people here at DU advocate conservative ideas when we rail against (1) privatizing social security, (2) undermining medicaid, (3) provoking wars for the sake of regime change, (4) bankrupting the government with unprecedented tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and international corporations, (5) destabilizing our time-honored Constitutional protections, (6) spoiling pristine environments, (7) overhauling the public education system to replace teacher-directed learning with test-oriented nonsense and quasi-religious pseudoscience, (8) opening the floodgates to monopolistic corporate and media ownership by fewer and fewer conglomerates, (9) replacing our civil justice system with corporate license for unchecked irresponsibility, and (10) undermining our system of elections.

These are all conservative positions. If you don't think so, you need to look up the word "conservative," which is neither a curse word nor a synonym for douche-bag. In a society progressing toward greater freedom and equality (like the US during most of its history), conservatives are the footdraggers who resist change toward a better tomorrow. In the current reactionary political climate, where our society is moving toward abridged freedoms and inequality, the conservative impulse to resist chance is not pejorative. I'm proud to resist the changes that BushInc would thrust upon us, and in that very sense, I'm proud to be a conservative Democrat.

[Odin2005]

28. The socially conservative left-wingers the purists scare away.

[TahitiNut]

29. Someone who still hates Lincoln for the Civil War who votes with the GOP .

... but is registered as a Democrat. These people are vestigial organs in our body politic - holdovers from Nixon's "Southern Strategy" which finally rid the Democratic Party of its worst segregationists and people formerly known as "Dixiecrats."

[Orsino]

30. The Democratic Party is profoundly conservative these days...

...just not as hard-right as the GOP. "Conservative Democrat," then could just mean blindly following the party leadership.