Should the Democratic Party move towards the center?

[Lefty48197]

Not according to Mark T. Gaffney, President of the Michigan AFL-CIO.

http://www.detnews.com/2004/editorial/0412/29/A10-44367.htm

"Unfortunately, in response to November 2nd some of our Democratic Party leaders have been tripping over each other in a full panic run to "the middle". On Feb. 12 the members of the Democratic National Committee will vote for a new party chair. The new party chair should never even entertain the idea that Democrats only win when they espouse the mediocre center. "

"In the past four years America has lost over 2.8 million manufacturing jobs. America's trade deficit has ballooned to $500.5 billion for the first 10 months of 2004. Over 45 million Americans lack even basic health care coverage. We are now amassing a record deficit that our children will be paying off for decades, at the expense of their own higher education. Middle income families are losing ground in real dollars. When we told union members these facts in the last election, they got it. Michigan union members voted over 70 percent for the Democratic candidate. By communicating a strong populist economic message to our members, early and consistently, they held with our candidate through the swift boat debacle, through the flip flop accusations and through the National Rifle Association mail and phone calls."

"If recent elections hold any lessons for Democrats, it's to abandon trying to look and sound like Republicans. A voter who is intent on voting Republican will vote for the real thing any day over a Democrat straining for the center. Not too long ago in our political history, voters had a clear idea what the Democrats stood for: We were the party that fought for the "little guy"."

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Sure. A run to the center would, by definition, be a move to the

left. We left the center behind a long time ago in our race to the right.

[hholli1]

5. You got that spot on. nt

[papau]

6. I agree :-)

:-)

[BlueInRed]

10. Exactly

We passed the middle a long long time ago and it's just a tiny speck in the rearview mirror (and I say that as someone who believes in "moderation").

[IndianaGreen]

14. Yep, a move to the center is a move to the Left

I join my fellow DUers in agreement.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

2. May I respectfully disagree with one point....

"If recent elections hold any lessons for Democrats, it's to abandon trying to look and sound like Republicans. A voter who is intent on voting Republican will vote for the real thing any day over a Democrat straining for the center.

I would suggest that Bill Clinton beat Bush41 with a centrist message and it was not just the Perot factor.

The direction of the Democratic party is certainly to be determined by Democrats but remember that there are different species of Republicans who have always been willing to vote across party lines for GOOD candidates. We aren't all Koolaid drinkers who goose-step in time to religious hymnals.
:-)

[eg101]

24. Clinton was a better Republican than Nixon!

Don't offer Clinton as some sort of example of a Democrat. I hear there is such a thing as a Demcrat In Name Only.....

[bloom]

3. The Democratic party should move left

That might be toward the center depending on where you think it is now.

[NMDemDist2]

4. not only NO but HELL F'ING NO!!! I am so sick of this. We are to the

right of Nixon now fer crying out loud

[Gyre]

7. Has anybody noticed

that the vast preponderance of evidence has the dems losing consistantly when they move away from they labor/populist roots? It's been written about forever!

:tinfoilhat: time: Have the Clinton's hijacked the DNC so it's become merely a vehicle for Hillary's run in '08? Nah, can't happen here!

Gyre

[GiovanniC]

8. My Response Toward Being More "Republican"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1465940&mesg_id=1466002

[leesa]

9. Do you mean from the right to the center?? The Democratic Party has

been right wing for decades now. It's why we lose.

[kentuck]

11. Let's not and say we did...

:)

[PassingFair]

12. NO

n/t

[OneBlueSky]

13. the Democrats are already AT the center . . .

and on some issues already to the right of center . . . every time we move right, the whole spectrum shifts in that direction . . . what is center today was far right in years past . . .

there is nothing to be gained by becoming the "Republican Lite" party . . . because given a choice between true Republican and Republican Lite, voters will go with the genuine article every time . . . and Democrats will keep losing . . .

what Democrats need to do is reclaim their heritage as the party of the people . . . we need to champion issues and causes that benefit the working classes, and renounce corporate sponsorships of all kinds . . . because the only real issue facing us, the one that supersedes and encompasses all others, is Ending Corporate Governance . . . until we recognize this as THE paramount issue and engage it in a meaningful way, we will never be anything but Republican Lite . . . which, as been proven conclusively, the voters ain't buyin' . . .

[mandyky]

19. What s/he said!

We've got to stop moving and just stand up for Democratic principles and values.

[Pushed To The Left]

15. We shouldn't move anywhere!

We need to be ourselves and fight for what we believe in. I think framing the debate is a better and more honest approach than artificially "moving" left or right.

[Dr Fate]

16. Moving left or right is not the issue- STANDING UP and FIGHTING is.

Do you really thing the GOP/media would have not reported the Swift-boat lies even if Kerry had been a conservative, southern DEM???

Do we really think the media would have not given Bush a free pass on all his lies if DEMs were "more conservative?"

DEMS are fools- they are debating "left" vs "center" when they really need to be kicking the ass of Bush & his media.

[w4rma]

17. Dems are right smack dab in the middle, now. The problem is we have

a hard time telling most folks about it because of the media filter. Also, there are a few elected Dems (most often from the DLC) who like to backstab, for rare media attention, prominant Dems.

[orleans]

18. we don't need to move toward the center

we just need to have FAIR elections.
we need to undo these liars and thieves
people in this country tend to be liberal in their beliefs
we need to stop pandering to those neocons. they're the freaks
and those evangels are the minority
(even tho they get the most publicity)

even the republicans who have been raised/brainwashed with the notion that "republicans are good--they believe in small government" are puking over this administration

even the republicans are starting to think: social security? what about HOMELAND security

no. we don't need to go anywhere near the center.
we just need to let minorities vote, dump bbv machines, and count the f***ing votes!!!

[robcon]

20. We definitely need to move to the center...

if we want to win. The way we do that is tyo have as much diversity oif opinion as usual within the party, but to nominate centrists for national offices (president, congressional leaders.)

[lojasmo]

21. We need to move FORWARD.

But we need to stand for traditional democratic values.

Open and fair elections
Equal civil rights for all
Freedom of speech, and of (and from) religion
Affordable and safe health care

And yes, a move to the center would be a move back to traditional democratic values. We've given up too much

"Those who give up essential liberty for a little security deserve neither liberty nor security"

or something like that....

Ben Franklin

[GOPBasher]

22. I'm with Gaffney. Economic populism is a winner. If we need to

compromise, I'd say it's on the social issues. I'm not advocating that, just saying that, if anything, those are the issues where we would need to compromise. But an economic populist message works.

[fujiyama]

23. Sure

Even moving to the center would be an improvement after having moved so far to the right.

Ideally though, we could actually move PAST the center and to the left. But the real problem is finding a way to get a strong, principled, consistant message across.

[eg101]

25. and that strong consistent message must center around economics

agree with you on everything else, too.

[Bouncy Ball]

26. THEY ALREADY ARE IN THE MIDDLE!!!

How much more MIDDLE can they get?

Sheesh.

:hi: Hey there! I'm over here on the left!

Nothing can fly with only one wing!

[0007]

27. Why would someone post something like that here?

NO

[LynnTheDem]

28. Of course NOT! Our platform is THE BEST. Period.

But we're NOT getting our MESSAGE OUT coz the damn RWW own the US StenoMedia.

And that, imo, is what we really need to work on coz the VAST MAJORITY of Americans AGREE WITH OUR PLATFORM and they DON'T EVEN KNOW IT!

Lookit the bushsupporters in the PIPA poll; the MAJORITY of them agreed with stances they thought were BUSH'S stances.

OOPS.

They were NOT bush's stances, they were actually in full agreement with KERRY'S positions on SIX out of EIGHT issues!!!

The MAJORITY of RIGHTWINGNUTS are LIBRULS!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!

GAWD that cracks me up! And hey righties...YOU answered the PIPA polls so don't blame us! :D :D :D

[FightinNewDem]

29. Gaffney's message

Gaffney's approach may be feasible in his home state of Michigan. It's still relatively heavily unionized and urbanized.

However, if you tried to sell the old-time religion in New Hampshire, Delaware, Arizona or Colorado, you'd get croaked.

There are too many states that are no longer reliant on smoke-stack economies. There are too many places that benefit from international trade, from a focus on promoting new industries, not trying to salvage fading ones. What plays in a union hall in Flint is going to scare the bejeesus out of the software jockey in Nashua or Phoenix.

[MisterLiberal]

30. WFT?

How can you move TO a place you already are?

We need to throw away the soul searching and visions and just tell people who we are and what we believe!

[TankLV]

31. Of course we should move LEFT!

Thanks for asking.

[greenohio]

32. I don't think the party needs to go anywhere.

I do think we need to lay off our moderate members, particularly those from red states.

[Clarkie1]

33. The democratic party needs to move outside the box the Republicans have

put it in.

And chart its own course.

[elshiva]

34. Go Left

be pro-gay, pro-choice, anti-NAFTA, anti-war. Stand for real values.