The Democratic Party Has Moved Left
And so has the U.S.
This newsletter led me down several rabbit holes. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. If you are in the mood for a philosophical journey, this is a good topic.
Lane Kenworthy from the Washington Post says The Democratic Party has moved left, but Democratic voters are hardly outliers. On cultural issues and social programs, the United States as a whole has been moving left for decades. His first premise: Viewpoints on race, gender roles, families, careers, and more have shifted overall. I do have to agree with that. And I generally agree that it’s a positive thing because acceptance and support should be how the world works. Whether because you’re a person of faith, or a person with good values, or generous, or compassionate... I can’t support punishing or ostracizing on those viewpoints. (Crime/harm is another story.) Also, supposedly, as societies get richer, people tend to become more accepting of non-traditional behaviors. I don’t necessarily agree that’s true for the society as a whole, but I present it for your consideration. The next premise: Well-off countries tend to offer more public benefits. That holds true in our case; absolutely, as America has boomed with capitalism, government programs have grown. Another premise of the article is that the American public dislikes ‘big government’ but likes social programs. I’m not so sure about that either. I think it’s partly because once they’re in place, no way is anyone going to give up the money/freebies.
The point is that, even though I don’t agree with some of the reasoning, it’s completely obvious that American society, in general, is more liberal that it was 50 years ago. The first three things that come to my mind are clothing changes, babies out of wedlock, and divorce rates.
Left, Right, Center. How far is too far? 64 Percent of Democrats Want Biden Replaced in 2024. You’ve probably seen or heard variations on this theme. Pew Research is good if you really like complex data.
I consider myself a Conservative, but definitely not far right. I’ve even been called Libertarian. When people ask me what my politics are, what is important to me, I say, ‘Let’s start with the Constitution’. If we can’t agree on that, I’m kind of at a loss. So, I find this article ironic. The author and I are both all about the Constitution, but our perspectives are almost polar opposite.
The following quote is from this website, but I found no author’s name.
America’s center of gravity is the United States Constitution. Efforts to destroy our country will fail unless they focus on undermining that most essential governing document. Our Constitution lays the framework for America’s exceptionalism. Without it there’s no freedom of religion, guarantee of life, liberty, property or protection from an all-intrusive government. Progressives know all too well how important the U.S. Constitution is to America’s sovereignty and our peaceful way of life.
This explains why they go so far out of their way to attack, undermine, and redefine it both legislatively and through judicial fiat. If we are to remain a free people we must elevate the U.S. Constitution back to the lofty position that our framers intended it to hold.
Another example of the shift -
My Fellow Americans,
I imagine, for many of us, those words are familiar and immediately bring John F. Kennedy to mind. It’s a sign of how far left both the Republican and Democrat parties have moved that the following 1961 quote from a Democratic president would today be considered right-wing extremism by a noticeable percentage of Democrats.
Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of America, cannot succeed with any lesser effort.
From President Kennedy’s Commemorative Message on Roosevelt Day, January 29, 1961
And this video, JFK: Democrat or Republican?
Now, here’s a piece titled ‘A polarized America: How the partisan divide grew over decades, and why liberals and conservatives just can’t get along‘ that seems to get it right. It was published in August 2020 and only seems more true today. Here’s what it says that I agree with in a few sentences.
They also tend to nominate candidates who are fervent in supporting the values that most appeal to the base rather than candidates who show a willingness to compromise.
Political messaging has permeated nearly every aspect of our lives, even if we don’t recognize it.
We just do not encounter people from the opposite side of the aisle very often. And if you don’t encounter them, you’re not likely to be exposed to any information that could change or moderate your position.
Most people would prefer it if we could all just get along.
The most significant impact of all this visibility is on moderates.
Sadly, I have seen the results of that. Many middle-of-the-road people have given up completely on what was their party.
And this from CNN’s Chris Cillizza almost 3 years ago, Half of Americans think the Democratic Party has Moved Too Far Left, shows he was really prescient. He talks about how the Democratic nominee, undetermined at that time, would really need to campaign as a moderate. He specifically names these four things as turn-offs for the majority of the population.
* Eliminating all private health insurance in favor of a single, government-run system
* The “Green New Deal,” a massive (and massively expensive) overhaul of the way in which we consume and think about energy in this country
* Mandatory buybacks of AR-15s and AK-47s
* Decriminalization of illegal immigration
Action Item:
Check out the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act -
https://amacaction.org/article/?a=amac-supports-the-pharmacy-benefit-manager-transparency-act
https://thecannononline.com/pulling-back-the-curtain-on-pharmacy-benefit-managers/
After you read/learn, please tell your Senator to support S. 4293 to help bring competition and fairness to the outpatient prescription drug supply chain.
One last thing. How many of the goals do you think have been met in this?
Sources: https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/64-percent-of-democrats-want-biden-replaced-in-2024/, https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/defending-the-constitution-against-all-enemies-foreign-and-domestic/, https://www.conservativegovernment.net/americas-center-gravity/, https://www.conservativegovernment.net/, https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/category/us-politics/, https://www.armwoodopinion.com/2020/01/why-democrats-still-have-to-appeal-to.html, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/07/dems-can-abandon-the-center-because-the-center-doesnt-exist.html, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/28/democratic-party-has-moved-left-so-has-us-this-explains-how-why/, https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/pew-research-center-study-shows-that-democrats-have-shifted-to-the-extreme-left/, https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/08/a-polarized-america-how-the-partisan-divide-grew-over-decades-and-why-liberals-and-conservatives-just-cant-get-along.html, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-the-democrats-have-shifted-left-over-the-last-30-years/, https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/24/politics/democratic-party-left-liberal-q-poll/index.html, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton/2020/10/27/this-is-the-reason-american-politics-are-so-polarized-infographic/?sh=142e464a187b, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/10/the-polarization-in-todays-congress-has-roots-that-go-back-decades/, https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/07/radicalization-on-the-left-democrats-have-moved-left-far-more-than-republicans-have-moved-right/, https://www.conservativegovernment.net/category/conservative-strategies/, https://www.conservativegovernment.net/category/progressive-strategies/
Until next time…
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