Why, why, why, can't the Democrats embrace a LIBERAL agenda?

[Ardent15]

We've been compromising on everything, from health care reform to the military industrial complex to environmental regulation to Wall Street to the stimulus bills, and everything out there and in between.

Is it too much to ask for real LIBERAL leadership in Congress and from the White House? For every Alan Grayson or Anthony Wiener or Bernie Sanders, there are several Max Baucus, Ben Nelsons, Mary Landrieus, etc.

There wouldn't be so much disgust from the Democratic side at their own leaders if we had actual leadership.

[niceypoo]

1. Because they don't get it

They try to be all things to all people and alienate their base in doing so

[villager]

2. The corporate bosses, their courts (ruling on campaign spending), their media -- none will allow it

Dems who run afoul of this agenda seem to encounter either "lone nuts" or malfunctioning private planes...

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DainBramaged]

5. Don't give us that center right bullshit.....

that talking point doesn't fly here.................

[Writer]

7. But it's true...

the country is ideologically mixed. It's not predominantly liberal in the same way that it's not predominantly conservative. It's not a talking point - it's what the stats tell us. That's why our party is so ideologically diverse.

[DainBramaged]

11. It's not Center right, or have you bought into the bullshit too?

The Pukes have been spewing that talking point since Obama was elected, don't push it in my face.

[Writer]

14. I didn't say it was center-right, and you're being belligerent and argumentative.

Look at this poll from June...

http://www.gallup.com/poll/120857/conservatives-single-largest-ideological-group.aspx

And a later poll from October...

http://www.gallup.com/poll/123854/conservatives-maintain-edge-top-ideological-group.aspx

I mean, what do you want to read? This is the reality we have to contend with. What do you want - for culture to adjust overnight so that liberal Democrats win elections all the time? Politics start with the ideological nature of people, not with institutions. We can't pretend that this isn't reality.

[DainBramaged]

16. I can be as belligerent and argumentative as I please when I am angry

This country is neither center-right or Republican. And that's that. And those who land here at DU on the DAY of an important election to rub shit in our faces about what we should believe in need to expect a pizza delivery soon. And as one of the smarter people here, you should have seen his charade.

[Writer]

24. Well then be angry at those who voted for Brown, not at those of us here on DU.

I didn't vote for Brown, and I have no idea what reality you'd like me to shape for you, but the statistics are the statistics. It would be great if we lived in a society where we all held a stronger sense of collectivism, but that would necessitate a rewriting of American history. And that won't happen, and we can't say that people ARE liberal because we believe them to be, for that would be negating how culture and history are shaped through human practice. The reality is that the statistics are the statistics. I can't make them any different; I just accept people for who they are. I don't like it, but I must deal with it. I have to work around it, just as Obama and everyone in government has to in order to try to pass ANYTHING that would benefit the people.

There are negative ways of handling reality and positive ways - I choose the latter.

[DainBramaged]

25. You completely missed the forest for the trees and I can't point it out for you

:eyes:

[Writer]

27. Well then why don't you go into the forest and find someone else to bully, because ...

I have a life to live.

[DainBramaged]

29. We were chasing a troll, and you shouldn't take it personally

sorry you didn't get it. Read the entire thread.

[paulsby]

39. good post

the ignorati don't like it but...

we are all entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts.

the facts speak for themselves. you choose to listen. many don't.

they are pauline kael'esque. they surround themselves with like thinking individuals, publications, etc. then wonder how people could vote as they do.

and so it goes.

[nonsheeple]

8. Why, because the truth is not embraced well here?

[DainBramaged]

9. Freepers aren't embraced here, nor are those from the "Center" Right

[nonsheeple]

10. Still.....

The majority of this country is not liberal. That is a fact. Sorry to rain on your parade.

[DainBramaged]

13. And the majority of this Country is NOT Republican

and I am not sorry to rain on your parade.

[krabigirl]

18. Yes, most people are, they are just brainwashed into thinking liberal is "evil."

[Ardent15]

6. "by far the majority of them are not liberal?"

I disagree.

[laundry_queen]

15. They don't identify as liberals because that has been made

a dirty word by the corporate media.

Quiz any person in America on the issues, and the majority ARE liberal. They just don't know it.

[krabigirl]

17. BS..shoo, troll

[DainBramaged]

21. Been chasing it, it exposed itself pretty early on

[sabrina 1]

19. Wrong, every time people are polled on issues, they poll

overwhelmingly to the left of center. Healthcare, unnecessary war, SS, Medicare, Education etc.

That is a myth. The American people care about their own interests and it is a failure on the part of Dems that they do not fight for those interests and articulate the role of the Dem. Party on social issues at least. Part of the reason why they don't, is because the PARTY has moved far to the right. They no longer actually represent the people, they are as corporate as the Republicans.

[depakid]

22. The data on all the issues says otherwise

Progressive positions on the issues time and again are more popular- often substantially more popular (and populist) than irrational right wing ideological positions.

[DainBramaged]

26. Pizza has been delivered, bye Puke troll

nice try and it was fun. you ALL MAKE IT SO EASY FOR US.

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. Well, isn't it a bit early for the trolls to be out?

Ignore the lable, and talk about issues and the vast majority is liberal and progressive.

Conservatives have better PR, that's all. As the person in the street if they favor equal access to healthcare, they will say yes. If they favor people getting a living wage for the work they do, they say yes. If they favor equal pay for equal work, regardless of gender, they say yes.

In a national poll, just today, 81% favor legalizing medical marijuana.
Polls regularly show 75+% favor keeping abortion legal.
65% favor civil unions for gays, and 50% poll as accepting full marriage equality for gays.

The country is NOT as backward as you believe it is.

[DainBramaged]

31. He got his pizza, but he won't believe anything we say anyway

:hi:

[DeadEyeDyck]

35. I smell pepperroni

[treestar]

4. they know the electorate

the problem with avoiding opinions other than your own, which is understandable - we all need to catch a break from opponents from time to time - is that you get to think your opinions are mainstream.


Repukes are not dead and are still very dangerous.

Dems can't do a liberal agenda because there are very few liberals. That can be cured. But not by calling those you are trying to convince spineless wimps, etc.

[Luminous Animal]

12. Liberals don't finance elections. They're only good for votes based on pretty words.

But, they like the brand. They've been brought up on the brand, they've been wooed by the brand.

If you think that you're immune to propaganda, you are sadly mistaken.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

20. Because the lobbyists won't take them to lunch and pay for their vacations.

[Jakes Progress]

23. Because if they do, we might lose elections like MA....

Never mind.

[Lorien]

28. They are owned by corporate interests, and we don't fight for ELECTION REFORM to change

that fact. The Nation itself is more liberal than most politicians in DC. We've seen that when polls on the issues were taken. Even repugs that I know have admitted that they secretly hoped that Obama would be the "anti-Bush" that got us out of Iraq and killed the Patriot Act. He had his chance, but he opted for more of the same because his owners demand the status quo be maintained at all costs.

[JVS]

32. Because the devil will appear and wither our genitals if we get caught doing that.

[booley]

33. Money?

Yeah I am thinking it's money.

As long as one needs tonnes of cash to even have a chance of winning an election for most politicians, what does and does not get done will always be determined by who profits.

Not to mention, thousands of people suffering and dying? No skin off these guys' collective nose.

[Kalun D]

34. because

BECAUSE THEY ARE OWNED BY THE CORPORATIONS AND THE CORPORATIONS ARE NOT LIBERAL

[begin_within]

36. Because they are too tied to corporate campaign donations.

They are afraid that if they do anything to offend the big-money interests that donate to their campaigns, those monies will dry up and they will lose future elections. They feel they need the big money donations to be competitive in elections. But those same donations also tie their hands. So they end up making a choice: offend the donors or offend the voters. Over and over again they have chosen to offend the voters to please the donors. And usually they get away with it, since most liberals have had "nowhere else to go" other than third-party candidates, and those are commonly considered wasted votes. Most of the time though, the Democratic voters play along with the charade and still vote for the Dems no matter what they do. Ocassionally there is a malfunction of the plan: enough Florida voters chose Nader instead of another candidate to tip the balance away from Gore and make the election disputed. Now we're seeing another anomaly of the plan: a Republican wins Ted Kennedy's former seat. But most of the time the plan works, the voters are placated by tiny victories or endless platitudes, and dutifully vote for the Democratic candidates again and again. The Dems feel they can get away with a lot, even failing to deliver on popular causes such as universal health care, ending wars, etc. As long as they keep those big corporate donors happy, they feel like they have the game locked up.

[salguine]

37. NEWSFLASH! THEY'RE NOT IN IT FOR YOU! They don't embrace a liberal agenda because

they're sucking the same corporate dick the Republicans are. They're not there to make YOUR life better. Everything they could conceivably do for you would somehow not serve their corporate masters and therefore will not be done.

[Luminous Animal]

38. Because we rarely rarely rarely rarely have he opportunity to vote for liberal Dems.

[WeDidIt]

40. Because when they go slightly left, the rightwing wins in liberal stronholds like MA

So they take a turn to the right.

[Vinca]

41. The root of the problem, IMHO, is their abandonment of core

Democratic principles. The parties have melted into each other and they now consider true Democrats as wingnutty as the teabaggers. If the Republicans are going to have a permanent majority, even when they're not in power, we might as well call it a day and get used to the notion of third world life: no jobs, no health care, no education and, of course, no social safety nets.