What kind of Democrat are you?

[TN al]

As a Democrat I have ideals for which I strive but also I feel that one of the things that makes being a Democrat better than being a Republican is that we are just better people than they are. As my wife is fond to point out I often do not act in accordance with the ideals that I champion.

In the American Prospect, Robert Reich describes the kind of Democrat I would like to be:

"The real problem is that liberals refrain from demogoguery because we don't believe in it. Liberalism is the opposite of fanaticism. We cherish tolerance. We value deliberation. We respect rational arguement. We oppose all forms of tyranny. We have faith-and it is nothing but faith-that, in the end, they won't be able to drown us out, because common sense and common decency are on our side."

I come from a family that is conservative in nature and when I first became a voter I thought I was a conservative. I soon saw the light but perhaps me early flirtation with conservatism has caused me to be a Democrat that will not only not back down from political confrontation but at times even seek it like a demogogueing Republican. A fair picture would be the movie Witness, where Harrison Ford is hiding with the Amish and a group he is with is being teased. They start to tease Ford and he warns them through gritted teeth, "Don't do this, I'm not like them." before he proceeds to kick some serious butt. I would like, in every political confrontation to take the high road that is nearly always ceded to us by the Republicans. Instead I often feel like Ford, uttering to a Republican, "Don't do this, I'm not like them." I would like to be a better Democrat but maybe the Dems need a few people like me so that their message can be guarantted to be heard. So what kind of Democrat are you?

[Walt Starr]

1. I'm more of an Anti-Republican than a Democrat

for the most part, if the Republicans thought of it, it can't be good. Since the only way to get rid of Repulicans is to vote Democratic, is't pretty easy to see why I'm a Democrat.

[AmyStrange]

2. I'm the same party as that guy...

who first fell off the turnip truck,


...that must have been one HELL of a party!!!





I don't know what I'm talking about,

d

(EDITED: it was a HELL of a PARTY!!!)

[Hubert Flottz]

3. A VERY pissed off one!

It all started back on 12/12/2000!

[schultzee]

4. I am a very liberal populist democrat. And I hate everything that the

republican party has done since Reagan.

[Cheswick2.0]

6. I am pissed too but it started during the impeachment

!

[Hubert Flottz]

8. Well I guess my being really pissed was when Nixon drafted me

The impeachment was hard for me to stomach too! Reagan was about as bad as Bush but at least the idiots in this country did elect him!

[Blue Wally]

12. Nixon Drafted You??

That particular draft system dated back to the Truman era. Nixon was the one who actually ended the draft. I almost went to Cuba under JFK and went to Vietnam twice, once for LBJ and once for Tricky Dick, but I don't blame any of them. it was part of the price we had to pay.

[Hubert Flottz]

13. The first year of Nixon's draft lotto 1970 I was #136 I went in Feb.

It Sucked!

[gator_in_Ontario]

5. Yellow dog

'nuff said.

[Cheswick2.0]

7. Liberal Populist

But I care more about honesty and conviction than I do that a candidate meet all my issues perfectly.

[leyton]

9. I'm the kind who disagrees with your first paragraph...

"I feel that one of the things that makes being a Democrat better than being a Republican is that we are just better people than they are"

I've met too many people from both parties to actually think that. Our policies are less self-serving, but when it comes to actual people, non-politicians especially, Democrats are hardly better than Republicans.

I'm also pretty moderate, not particularly partisan except in the face of incredible partisanship from the other side. Idealistically a fiscal conservative, but I'd rather see high taxes than an unbalanced budget. Socially liberal governmentwise, but probably more conservative than many DUers when it comes to nonlegal matters.

[Gildor Inglorion]

10. A by-god Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson,

FDR, HST, JFK, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry Democrat. I hate to say it *not really!* but the worst Democrat is better than the best Republican.

[Cleita]

11. I'm not so much a Democrat as I have certain principles I

believe in and that I think work best for society and government. The Democratic Party has pretty much been the party that is closest to how I think, however, the DLC intrusion toward conservatism has me a little upset these days. I hope it doesn't last or I'll be looking around for another home.

[name not needed]

14. Rage Filled Liberal Democrat

[Sporadicus]

15. I Lean Toward the Social Democrat Model

especially with regard to labor laws and unionization (hence my moniker). I wear the title 'liberal' proudly, and FDR is my personal hero. I support a progressive tax on income - as long as those revenues are used to benefit citizens and not for empire-building. I agree with Abraham Lincoln that taxes allow us to do collectively what we can't do as individuals.

I don't favor nationalizing strategic industries, but I advocate a national industrial policy, as in Japan.

http://www.cjmag.co.jp/magazine/issues/1997/mar97/hightech.html

An example referring to Japan's tech manufacturing.(may be boring if you're not an economics geek like me)

I believe that liberal principles are the foundations of our freedoms and democratic government and ensure that every citizen has a high standard of living.

[TreasonousBastard]

16. I'm a rogue...

Democrat.

I grew up in NYC with Tammany Hall, and now live in county where Democrats rule with an iron, and very corrupt money-grubbing, fist. I have no illusions about any "Democratic ideals" where I come from, and quite frankly, I find the Republicans to often be the more decent and honest people to be around.

I'd rather be a Green or a Socialist, but there isn't any "there" there. I like much of their messages and views, but they just haven't been able to get into the currents of power.

The Democrats are the only viable party, although the local ones can go suck on a rock. Republicans have become the party of privilege and arrogance. They always were since TR bolted the party, but it has gotten completely out of hand since Reagan.

I would love to see a vigorous, and significantly less corrupt, Democratic party that I could get enthusiatic about around here, but right now it's the default party, since there's nothing else.

[Blue Wally]

20. Local Party Hacks

Are pretty much the same in both parties. The main function they provide is to keep the local and regional party machinery functioning between elections when the "true believers" flock in to do their thing and then disappear till the next election. That was the lesson of 1972. The McGovernites wanted nothing todo with the local party hacks and the campaign fell apart in disorganization. Fortunately, the senators and congressmen used their local guys andwe lost very few seats despite McGovern's overwhelming loss to Tricky Dick.

[Only Me]

17. This is the kind of Democrat I am....

I believe in many of the things you do, as well as...

1. Too live in peace and let live in peace.
2. Champion the causes for those that cannot speak/help themselves.
3. Take care of the people first and the people with take care of all the rest.
4. United as a people we prosper, divided as a people and we have poverty.
5. I would like to see more people caring about one another and our situations in this life. Realizing that we are all in it together
and that we truly need each other to have stability and peace.
6. I deplore selfishness, arrogance, tyranny,deception, cold heartedness, abuse of power or standing, abuse of weaker persons/things and abuse of the environment.
7. Respect. Accept that we may disagree in a respectful way, and hopefully look to things that can be agreed upon.
8. Open mindedness. Realize we don't have the monopoly on all the answers and that someone else's point of view may be a better one.
9. I also believe in 'checks and balances'. I believe that we need
people, government or other, making sure the scales of justice stay in balance for all concerned, not just a few.
10. Many other things...


I,like you, would like to be a better human being. But I do
believe that anything worth believing in, is worth our speaking up for.
I am not always as mild mannered as I would like to be, but I do not necessarily always think that is a bad thing. We are, after all, only human.

[Senior citizen]

18. I'm not a Democrat.

I'm a Green. I am not for Nader, I am for the Green Party Platform. I registered Democrat for this election only, to help Kerry win, but as soon as the election is over I'm switching back to Green. And if Kerry gets in and doesn't make some BIG changes, I'll die in a concentration camp before I ever vote Democratic again. Enough is enough. The 2-party system SUCKS. I don't like living in a fascist country, and I don't like voting for any party beholden to big business. And that's both of 'em.

[kwolf68]

19. I'm a "????" kind of Democrat

Highly Liberal on issues such as death penalty, environment, war/peace, 1st amendment, government regulation of the market economy.

Fairly Liberal on guns, art funding, fairness doctrine.

Moderate on school choice (within public schools, not for money to religious quackery schools), abortion, and the concept of "family values" and "religion"--i dont subscribe to the way the Repukes promote it, but we must find a real platform that addresses middle class and middle America families other than tax cuts.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. A reluctant Democrat

I've been a registered Democrat since 1965. Most of the time I vote Democrat. But, when the candidate strays too far to the right, I'll vote for whatever leftist is available or (once) sit on my hands.

This time I'll be voting Democrat for my anti-war senator and rep. I'll be voting Green or write in for Prez.

[LWolf]

22. Independent democrat?

I don't really know. I've voted mostly for democrats my whole life without ever registering as a member of any party. I registered as a democrat 18 months ago to be able to participate in my first primary.

Democrats get my votes because they are almost always better than republicans. They have historically supported many things I believe in. I don't have any sense of loyalty or sense of belonging to a political party. It isn't sacred to me. Just the pragmatic way to hold back the conservative tide.

[hyphenate]

23. I don't actually know

how to classify myself. I was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, so I guess I follow our forefathers with the idea that dissent and liberty go hand in hand. I admire John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Frankin, Tom Paine and everyone else who lived on the edge with the main goal being freedom and self-government.

As a woman, and one who lived through the 60s (despite being very young through most of it), I am a firm advocate for all women's rights, including those in career roles and reproductive rights.

As someone who is currently at poverty level, I think that our tax system needs vast improvement, and think that those who are rich are not paying their share of the tax burden in the country. Too many of those with gads of money find loopholes to pay less than their share.

On the other hand, I think there is a tremendous amount of fraud and misuse of social programs, having seen it myself--people on welfare who shouldn't be, and who take that support and abuse it.

I think the government should stay the hell out of personal and private business, such as who they decide to marry, join in civil union, have sex with, etc. These are things that should be left to individuals, and not "regulated" by the government.

I think big business needs far more restraints and regulations on them, however, and should not be allowed to get away with the shit they get away with. I also believe that those companies who move their base offshore should be penalized to the same level that they should be paying taxes if they had remained in the U.S., even more. To try and escape their taxes is just so nasty.

The environment is not ours to destroy, like so many cocky and arrogant people think. The choices we make daily are the ones that affect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the ground in which we plant crops. We need to be better informed about the many areas of science in which we are blissfully unaware or are completely ignorant about, because if the world is to survive our time, some tough decisions need to be made.

In that respect, continuing to rely on fossil fuel is not the answer. Those who control the oil would love to keep their empires alive, and as rich men, they have been able to do so for a long time. They have been able to monopolize industries and make the search for alternative energy sources face many roadblocks. It is up to the private citizens in the world to make that goal a tenable one and defeat these control freaks at their own game.

I guess I could go on and on, but there are so few things with which I could ever agree with the right about, that just taking their issues one by one, I could argue all day about any of them.

[ShaneGR]

24. Social Liberal, Fiscal Moderate-Conservative

I've never voted for anything but a Democrat.