What exactly does the Democratic Party stand for?

A few days ago Bernie Sanders called out the Democratic Party.

"The evidence is pretty clear," Sanders continued, "that when you lose the White House in a campaign against a gentleman, who, I believe, will enter the White House as the least popular candidate in the history of this country, when you lose the Senate, when you lose the House, when you lose two-thirds of state governor's chairs, when you've lost some 900 seats of legislatures around the country in the last eight year, I think it is time for the Democratic Party to reassess what it stands for and where it wants to go."
Sanders said that amounted to a choice for Democrats to decide whether they're standing with "corporate America" and Wall Street or with a declining middle class

So what do the Dems stand for?
From the 1930's to the 1960's the Dems stood primarily for economic progress and equality for the working class, and it was a winning strategy. Some will claim the Dems still stand for that, but the working class increasingly does not believe it.

Part of what drove the Trump takeover of 2016 was the fact that liberal culture is obsessed with identity politics based on race and sex, having all but forgotten anyone who isn’t a racial, ethnic, or sexual minority — and the bread-and-butter issues that exist outside of those categories. Classism is a very real thing too — and this year, the white working class of America stood up and said very loudly: You’ve forgotten about us.

Anyone that has spent any time on liberal blogs has notice the priority of social issues over economic ones, even to the point of accusations that prioritizing the economy is a symptom of white privilege.
The problem with de-emphasizing the economy is that the Dems aren't speaking to the concerns of the voters.

A majority (52 percent) of voters said the economy was the most important issue facing the country. (Voters were given a choice of four issues; “terrorism” was the second most commonly named “important” issue, with 18 percent choosing it.)

Social Justice Warriors will most likely view the exit polls as evidence of the pervasive white privilege in American society. But the reality is that the exit polls show the opposite.

Overall, 46% of Hispanics cited the economy as the most important issue facing the country, followed by terrorism (20%), immigration (19%) and foreign policy (11%).

Unless liberals are going to start accusing Hispanics of White Privilege, the obvious conclusion is that liberals aren't just out of touch with the white working class, liberals are out of touch with minority working class as well.

When you think about it, this shouldn't be a big surprise. People of all races are pretty much alike, and have similar concerns. The trap of identity politics leads liberals to forget that basic fact.

Besides being for the working class, liberals used to be noted for being against unnecessary war.
After 15 years of expensive, inconclusive, non-stop war, the American public is war weary.
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Yet, where is the anti-war left?

Just days after Donald Trump’s upset victory in the 2016 presidential election, Sanders published a high-profile article in the New York Times outlining the policy agenda for progressives going forward.  The piece contained the usual laundry list of identity politics and spending proposals that left-wing types have been pushing for decades.  What was striking, though, is that the article contained not a single word—not a single word—about foreign policy.  The United States is mired in the longest war in its history in Afghanistan, it has returned to the scene of its last major interventionist disaster in Iraq, and it is already entangled to a dangerous degree in Syria.

If Bernie can't be bothered with a destructive failure of a generation-long war, what does that say about liberals in general?

“What anti-war movement?” former Congressman Dennis Kucinich asked when called for comment last week. Medea Benjamin of the radical group Code Pink agreed: “the antiwar movement is a shadow of its former self under the Bush years.” Cindy Sheehan quipped that “The ‘anti-war left’ was used by the Democratic Party. I like to call it the ‘anti-Republican War’ movement.”

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The demise of the anti-war left isn't something new - it started declining in 2003 - but the total abandonment of the issue by liberals, like the de-emphasizing of economic issues, leaves Democrats will precious few ways to connect with a majority of voters.
It also leaves the Dems with the fundamental problem of describing what the party actually stands for, outside of identity politics.

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Chet was bad, but he wasn't all bad. ( imo)

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

They only grovel.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

reflectionsv37's picture

They have 90% of the worlds dry powder stored in warehouses.

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“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
George W. Bush

SnappleBC's picture

from the water protests, I think I can safely say who they DON'T stand for... or stand with... or care about one bit.

It blows my mind that Obama could stop that in a split-second and yet he does not.

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A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard

Steven D's picture

Its an undeclared war on the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies, and he could end it with one executive order, but chooses to allow this war to continue.

Some fucking legacy.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Not sure if you saw this. But Clinton supporters are saying that economics was not a factor as they claimed that average Trump supporters were doing okay fianancially. But 538 looked into more deeply.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trump-was-stronger-where-the-economy...

Trump Was Stronger Where The Economy Is Weaker

Donald Trump performed best on Tuesday in places where the economy is in worse shape, and especially in places where jobs are most at risk in the future.
...
Trump, who in his campaign pledged to be a voice for “forgotten Americans,” beat Hillary Clinton in counties with slower job growth and lower wages. And he far outperformed her in counties where more jobs are threatened by automation or offshoring, a sign that he found support not just among workers who are struggling now but among those concerned for their economic future.

Still, it is clear that the places that voted for Trump are under greater economic stress, and the places that swung most toward Trump are those where jobs are most under threat. Importantly, Trump’s appeal was strongest in places where people are most concerned about what the future will mean for their jobs, even if those aren’t the places where economic conditions are worst today.

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k9disc's picture

I suggested that the hot economies like Atlanta, cities in California, Dallas, NY, etc. were much more likely to break neoliberal and support Hillary, but in the struggling economies like MI, OH and throughout the south, that the voters would not break neoliberal, because neoliberal has already broken them.

It was just a guess, but an educated one. You can take the boy out of Utica, but you can't take the Utica out of the boy. I wasn't buying that shit, my peeps that I grew up with back in the day were not buying that shit. It seemed, to me, pretty obvious that Bernie was over-performing in places where the economy had already tanked, and that pattern would hold up through the primary and the general.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Which the DNC and the Clinton campaign never bothered to know. They neither bothered to listen to democratic party organizers on the ground even about low black turnout in key areas. From what I can tell, Michael Moore was the only well known media figure to go and find out what was happening. Moore made the point that Trump got huge support when he threatened Ford with a 35% tariff on cars made in plants transferred from the US--he initially was laughed at.. I did a simple google search and without exception big media condemned Trump over it--you name the outlet, they attacked it. While as you say, those in touch knew better.

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On the altar of political expediency a long time ago. You can't be called the Left if you don't deal with economic concerns of the working class or the distribution of wealth and power in society. At best a Party that is "socially liberal," and "fiscally conservative," is a soft Objectivist Libertarian Party. The Democratic Party has been the victim of internal rot for at least thirty years, it's just the outer shell that is collapsing now. The country doesn't need another party of capital, we already have a Republican Party for that role, which is why the career Democrats are trying anything they can but class appeals to hold onto their positions, no donoors, no party... The people need a new party with a new voice.

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In short, what does the democratic party stand for? Take the gop position and make it "lite" in most cases. The gop was to gut social security; democrats want to cut it. The gop wanted to gut food stamps; the democrats again just cut it (when democrats last controlled the Senate, they sent the House a bill which cut food stamps by $4 billion). On some issues, worse to equal as on war and foreign policy. The gop favors the drug war; the democrats must just make punishments milder. Of course, on some issues very different. The gop hates black people; the democrats don't hate them, just use them.

Just a telling insight on this election. Wikileaks sent out a twitter with the most talked about subjects during the debates. Putin/Russia were number one exceeding even domestic issues. That was on Hillary. Doesn't jive with the polls you wrote about the most important issues. (From what I can tell, the democratic party and activists will not let go of the issue--Putin/Russia is their version of Benghazi. )

https://sputniknews.com/us/201610221046608106-putin-russia-mentioned-wik...

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k9disc's picture

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Tonight, however, I wish not to speak with Hanoi and the NLF [National Liberation Front] but rather to my fellow Americans, who, with me, bear the greatest responsibility in ending a conflict that has exacted a heavy price on both continents.... There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.

King was not "just" a civil rights leader but was both anti-war and anti-poverty. He saw the fight from the genuine Left as a struggle against the establishment that brought us war and enslaves workers of all colors. Contrast that to the modern Democrat party candidate.

Gjohnsit is exactly right, that the Democrat Party has become the party of identity politics. It is pathetic that Donald Trump could appeal to the workers of America with a message that was significantly more attractive than the Democrat candidate.

I think MLK described where a modern Left US party should be. And now we have to include fighting Climate Crisis as a clear policy. Is it at all conceivable that the current Democrat Party could get there?

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Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

for this perfect piece, part of a great discussion started by gjohnsit, whose work is priceless.

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conservadems?

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Azazello's picture

Today's edition of Identity Politics Absurdity at Daily Kos, at least it's getting some push-back.
Another reason to oppose Racist Jeff Sessions ...

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

I have no doubt the rank-and-file want to improve the human condition, not just in our nation but beyond. There are many wonderful souls here with many good ideas. Many wonderful souls abroad as well. When we hear about what they've accomplished, we are often amazed and left asking why isn't this done everywhere. That's learning about our values.

I think the problem is we're clueless as how to do it. We're missing a framework to put thought into action and consequence is distorted (to exploit identity politics). So we rely upon our "leaders" to show us the way who have no other interest except enriching themselves. There are exceptions but they are far and few between to make a difference.

The Democrat Party is a fraud. That doesn't mean Repugs are better. It just means we're being played. The leadership is not synchronized with the values of the rank-and-file, and personally, I side with the rank-and-file.

It's time we stop expecting a fundamentally flawed institution to be a means to correct or correct itself. We need a third party and one that doesn't have baggage like the Greens. We need a party that places people first over automation and AI, that recognizes life is not about how much labor value can be extracted.

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