What issues would make you leave the Democratic Party

[davidinalameda]

if the party backtracks anymore on gay rights and a woman's right to choose, get me a new voter registration form

we cannot be the Republican Lite party-it doesn't work folks

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. If the party doesn't uphold the Constitutional

seperation of church and state, I would move on to another party.

[blurp]

29. Agreed. Any attempt to bring in religion means I'm not voting Dem.

There is a real temptation after the last election to do this but I think it would hit the core of the party hard.

[BamaLefty]

2. Tort Reform

If Dems ever try to cap damages, I will vote Green.

[Ken Burch]

3. A full return to the Clinton policies.

A Democratic president should govern on DEMOCRATIC policies, damn it.

Also, a decision to embrace the Iraq war fully after all.

[brainshrub]

4. Great question:

1) Backing off of gay rights.
2) Backing off of support of a womans right to choose.

I'm staying with the party right now, but I have to say I'm not motivated to stay right now. Dean has kept me in the party.

[Upfront]

5. Dean

I will do as Dean says. I think he has the correct plan for the Democrats. He leaves, I leave. Read his book.

[Joy Anne]

7. Me, too

Dean took me to this party, and I'm leaving with him.

[Zinfandel]

19. Dean is a moderate, by no means a liberal. This is how far the Democratic

Party has slipped to right of center by the moderates (as we continue to lose and lose and lose) so that Dean actually seems like a liberal progressive, he's not...

The republican owned corporate media have done an excellent job conning us into believing Dean is something more than a middle of the road moderate.

Dean is absolutely better than most in the Democratic party, (that's not saying much for the spineless democrats) but hardly a FDR democrat.

As you are well aware of, there was only ONE social liberal democrat running for president and it wasn't Dean.

I would of voted for Dean just as I voted for Kerry and a democrat ever since I turned eighteen, even as I have to gag to keep from throwing up at these moderates who keep losing and will continue to lose until we come back to the Democratic ideology and agenda that made this country great, (and just a shadow of what it was with these fascist now in power).

[InvisibleBallots]

25. It's not Dean's centrism, nor his record that is the issue really

It's the fact that Dean had a real-life grassroots effort behind him. It's not the man, it's the movement. I never liked Dean personally, but the grassroots movement behind him is what I support.

[serryjw]

44. Sorry, But I think the DLC leadership

think that Dean 'crashed' the party. I will will hold judgement until the DNC chair decision. This is the perfect job for Dean ( was a DK delegate) and if the party rejects him for Tim Roemer than we should get the message.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. An accumulation of issues.

Abortion rights
Gun control
Affirmative Action
The environment
Universal Health Care (Socialized Medicine)
Gay rights
"Defense" spending
The occupation of Iraq
Freedom from religion
etc, etc.

Oh, wait! They've already "compromised" on all those issues.

That's why I'm leaving the Democratic Party and switching to Green.

[InvisibleBallots]

8. any sort of privatization of public assets, especially Social Security

If the Democrats party goes along with privatization of Social Security, I will never vote Democratic again.

[txaslftist]

9. Roe v. Wade

[AliciaKeyedUp]

33. Well said

I agree.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. I already left

over the lack of concern about the stolen election.

That was enough for me.

[Walt Starr]

11. I'm to a point where any one of a number of issues and I'm gone

Choice - No wiggle room whatsoever. No quarter on this issue.
Seperation of church and state - One more millimeter to the right on this one, I'm gone.
Tort Reform - This is a misnomer, should be "letting big corporations kill people without any accountability reform". One more millimeter in favor of corporations, I'm gone.

There are more.

[Az]

12. Abandonment of Church/State Seperation

This issue is at the very heart of our freedoms. Everything after freedom of the mind is icing.

[Zinfandel]

13. The bullshit corporate sponsored, FUCKING spineless moderate

Democratic Party left me a long time ago!!!

I'm far too liberal & progressive to watch as the Democrats continue to lose by being moderate and moving to the center and leaning right...

The Democratic party has no backbone and has complete left the liberal ways of the days of union strong, concern for the poor, FDR Democratic party.

We sit back and watch Bush as he plans to dismantle Social Security and the rest of the New Deal to a shell of what it was and make social programs completely ineffective to the people it was meant to help...the poor, the old and the working class.

Tens of millions of vote were recorded by electronic voting machines with no paper trail this past election...no way to verify the votes...and these wimpy, spineless, moderate Democrats believe what Rove and the republicans & corporate media tells them, that the country wants to move to the right, never considering for a moment that maybe the electronic voting was complete bullshit with no way to expose it.

What in the fuck is wrong with these moderate "Democrats" who change party and vote against Bush, but for a Republican Senator or Congressman in their state. Does this make any sense to you?

These fuckers in the Democratic party know what's right and wrong, yet they want to believe the media when it pounds it in, that the democratic party is too liberal, liberal to whom...to stopping the corporations from exploiting and stealing our tax dollars, to the military machine, that keeps growing and growing and killing innocent people for corporate interest with our tax dollars.

And now they want to eliminate public schools, social programs and environmental protections and these fucking democratic moderates still think we should move more to the center and to the right???

Fuck them! I couldn't live with myself...the Democratic party has left me and millions like me!!!

[Ladyhawk]

39. You know, this may be the second time in three years...

...I realized a political party has left me. The Republican Party left me a long time ago, but I didn't figure it out until 2002...pretty sad, huh? Now that I've become involved, I'm realizing that the Dems mostly pander to the Republicans.

Maybe the Greens are my home?

Maybe my home isn't even here?

[serryjw]

45. Ladyhawk........

they pander to their own self interests. It's a share conspiracy. When I was fundraising for the DNC and we lost in 2002 my general manager said that it's easier to raise money when we lose than when we win! It's all a game. Win or lose they will get elected(98% re-election to the Congress!).
I made the move yesterday. I listened to (c-span)'s 2004 third party debates last night. I had never heard Cobb speak. They represent everything I care about. I joined the Denver Green party last night!
I'm gone! Everything, including election fraud, has motivated me to make the move. Democrats ideals(FDR) is gone and so am I.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

14. Failure to fight the privatization of Social Security.

If the party fails the working class on this vital issue it then fails the test as a functional national party.

[Johonny]

15. On the federal level

nothing. There simply is no alternative. On the local level it's another story.

[txaslftist]

17. Nice Reality Check

You are right. Where else is there to go?

It's our party, we gotta take it back.

[Walt Starr]

20. I'm taking eactly the opposite approach

I'll take my queue from the national level. If Roemer becomes the DNC chair, I'll leave the party and vote against Dick Durbin in '06.

[davidinalameda]

21. disagree

there is always some place to go

the Greens are the best alternative if the Democratic Party moves anymore to the right

[Johonny]

24. Hmm...

Wow I'm impressed with the Green party at the federal level. They're so close to the senate and wow look at all the seats in the house, but sure they did great in that last presidental election, ok they didn't but look at all our green judges on the bench... The green party does not exist at the federal level.

Start from the ground up, then maybe you'll have a choice.



On a side note I always love that Coservatives can pretend to be moderate to attract votes, yet they're base understands that it's an act. If a liberal moves to the middle the base panics.

[InvisibleBallots]

32. good point, interesting

In general, I agree - it's pointless to run Green party candidates for national office, until they get some significant support in the local governments.

"On a side note I always love that Coservatives can pretend to be moderate to attract votes, yet they're base understands that it's an act. If a liberal moves to the middle the base panics."

This is an interesting perspective, and I would agree, except ... Republicans who pretend to be moderate act like cons when they get into office. Democrats who are supposedly liberal, but act moderate to get elected - usually govern like cons as well.

Look no further than, say, Hillary Clinton - who voted for the war, for the Patriot Act, and innumerable other atrocities.

[Ken Burch]

43. That's because

we never have Democratic officials who only tack to the right for the election. They stay to the right AFTER the election and silence all dissent. As it was under Clinton, so shall it always be, in this respect.

[Ken Burch]

36. So on the federal level

you'd settle for power in name only, which was what Clinton
gave us?

[serryjw]

46. I supported ABB for the last time

50% non voters and 20% liberal dems..WE ARE THE MAJORITY> I will not throw away my vote another time. I heard the same Bushit about Kucinich. If everyone whom beleived what he says voted for him......He would be the next President.

[Ken Burch]

47. Yeah

And, of course, if everyone whose car had a bumpersticker in 1974 that said "don't blame me, I voted for McGovern" had been telling the truth,
MCGOVERN WOULD HAVE BEEN ELECTED!
(sigh....)

[troubleinwinter]

16. At minimum, not supporting any of the following adamantly:

Women's right to choice
Gay rights
Separation of Church & State

[LWolf]

18. Any one of these:

participation in the privatization of america
infringing on the separation of church & state
participation in the corporatization of america
participation in the orwellian restructuring of america
turning a blind eye to any of the above


oh. uh-oh.

[More Than A Feeling]

22. If the party became anti-gay, that would drive me out.

I am not talking about "we aren't going to bring it up", but actually vocally opposing gay rights. Otherwise, even if I disagreed on a lot of other things, I would stay and fight for my point of view within the party. But basic equality before the law is non-negotiable.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

23. when they completely abandon the poor/working class

[caligirl]

26. agreed

[shadowknows69]

27. this site should be called democracy underground

party shouldn't matter in these times. we need to fix both of them, and create a strong third choice.

[Liberty Belle]

28. good suggestion.

[Liberty Belle]

30. If they don't challenge the Ohio electors.

If the DLC and DNC stay under control of corporations.
If the party doesn't start putting people's interest above corporate interests.
If the Democratic party abandons a woman's right to choose and protection of our environment.
If Bush's Social Security destruction plan goes through without a strong challenge by Dems.

I don't like the recent votes and inaction on key issues by my Senators, and would likely jump ship to a third party if it had a leader with a reasonable shot at victory. I'm a lifelong Democrat who has crossed party lines only once many years ago, but if Howard Dean started a third party tomorrow, I'd join.

Even the so-called leaders of our party are rolling over on way too many key issues, notably the budget bill and intelligence measures just passed, which had so many bad things in them I've lost count.

[bettyellen]

31. Lack of support for Reproductive Freedom, Gay Rights, Social Security ....

[KissMeKate]

34. what would bring me back ?

What would bring me back to the democratic party? Thats the pertinent question in my mind.

I will come back when the party is controlled by people who are proud to be liberals, people who stand up for what they believe in, unequivically, without apology.

Why stay and keep the democratic party strong when the DLC wing is the only group that profits from my labor? Let the "moderates" reap what they sow.

I can make a difference in america with my activism in other organisations.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. If they don't fight for Social Security

and if they don't start penalizing Dems who side with the enemy on these bread and butter issues. I know they probably can't win, but I want them to present a united front and stand up for what's right in the same way that the Republicanites unite and stand up for what's wrong.

[Lorien]

37. If they continue on the same rightward path

We're already the "GOP light", if I don't see an about face by the next election, then I'll never trouble myself with them again. Mostly because it would be a losing effort; more of the same will lead to...more of the same.

[American Tragedy]

38. CIVIL LIBERTIES AND SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

If the Democratic party does not fight government intrusion in the homes, bodies, and minds of individuals, I will find a party that does.

[0007]

40. Big Brother and Civil Liberties

[fishingriver]

41. Absence of Conviction

The truth is that unless the democrat party stands up now and fights for middle America it is already dead. The issue is not so much what would cause me to leave as it is what will save them from the ruin they have already fostered through the absence of conviction.
During one of the debates when John Kerry was asked about outsourcing, he remarked that he was going to "do a study" on its impact. In the next breath he said that he realized that it could not be stopped. I heard this and thought he was being honest. But I believe that America heard this and the unspoken and perhaps unconscious message he carried was that he wasn't going to fight for us. He wanted to appeal to both business and labor and in a way it is typical of the lack of resolve that democrats have for any issue. I am not talking about the people on this board. No shortage of zeal or conviction here, but a serious lack of zeal among our leaders.
Democrats in Congress and Senate need to stand up for our issues and fight like the republicans intended on skewering and roasting the middle class. They need to shout in every session, and use the opportunities presented by the media to warn America in harsh and certain terms about what lay ahead for them and their families and what the democrat party intends to do about it. They need to forget about avoiding the label "Obstructionist" and stand in bold opposition to every republican/Bush initiative that in any way affects the middle class.
They need to do this as a collective orchestrated mission and they have to do this right now. The media will label them as over zealous, but when the warnings they gave hit home in Americans lives they will remember who championed their cause. It will be remembered because they weren't afraid to declare it in sharp and fearless terms.
They need to pool their money and liberal think tank resources to develop the same kind of one line spin bytes the republicans have used so effectively.
The GOP doesn't mince words when it comes to their platform. An example is Roe vs Wade. The GOP has been saying for years that they want it overturned. They didn't ask for consideration, half measures or compromise. They asked for it all and never apologized for their position. It is working for them.
We need to recognize that because of the way the GOP has successfully manipulated the tragedy of 911 to their advantage (regardless of its validity) it has reshaped the nations mindset in what is expected from our leaders. America wants strength at a time when they feel threatened. They also want wisdom in this, but given a choice between strength without wisdom or wisdom without strength, they will default to the strength side every time. They did. We are losing it. We can argue about what we need to change in platform but it isn't the package that people are not responding to so much as it is the perception of our candidates resolve. It is the delivery and a perception that democrats lack courage because of compromise.
If they don't do this it won't matter whether they move to the left or the right because one thing that Americans of all persuasions will not tolerate is the absence of conviction.

[OnionPatch]

42. Human Rights and Environmental Protection

are first on my list. These issues, (which include gay rights, worker's rights, consumer protections, protection of democratic processes, etc.) I will never compromise on.

However, I am a very practical person and I will probably almost always end up voting strategically no matter how I'm registered. My main political efforts are always aimed against the destrutctive neo-con agenda and I will vote against that strategically, which means I will probably continue to vote Democratic much of the time.

Sigh. We need Instant Runoff Voting!

[proudbluestater]

48. Gay rights and women's rights are enough to make me leave n/t

[dryan]

49. Left Dems once....

never again! In 1999-early 2000 I left the Democratic Party not because of anything on a national level but the local institutional party (the Orange County (Fla.) DEC) was so ineffectual. I could never be a Republican so I joined the Reform Party. What a bunch of screwballs! By March I was back with the Democrats although doing my own thing with the AFL-CIO.

[leftofthedial]

50. it is not as much about issues for me

as it is about pragmatism

I suppose there is some combination of abandoning workers and the environment and embracing corporate fascism and theocracy that would drive me away

but the slam dunk "i'm-outta-here" is the availabilty of a legitimate alternative.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

51. A continued rightward drift of the party...

on a national level on all issues, including civil rights, the environment, and New Deal programs.

I understand that there (too) often needs to be DEM individuals who are more centrist or even conservative -- for my tastes and the party's platform -- depending on what region they are in.

BUT, to take that to the national level and to change the party to reflect that is a deal buster for me.

Harold Ford Jr. may be right for his region, but I damn well don't want him running that party's agenda nationally. Same with Evan Bayh.

How the party deals with Bush & his agenda -- especially SS and any potential widening of the war -- for the next few years will determine how I vote in 2008. In the past, I have voted DEM out of longtime loyalty and sometimes even fear. But now they will have to earn my vote. If I don't see them fighting 100% on a national level against Bush & Co., they will be forcing me to cast a third party protest vote in 2008, something I have never done in my 26 years of voting.