What’s interesting when talking to Democrats is that you find out how out of touch much of the blogsphere is from the reality of the Democratic Party.
Many Democrats I know support torture, or are against gay marriage, think we should bomb Iran, that universal health care is bad, that labor unions are bad, etc.
As much as the blogs attack the Blue Dogs, the one thing we keep forgetting is that the Blue Dogs are a major part of the party’s voting base…the Democratic party is far more conservative than the Republicans are liberal.
Case in point this recent post from a supposed “centrist Democrat” on MyDD;
I can’t speak for Buckeye, but I suspect he joins me in supporting a pragmatic (i.e., successful) Democratic Party. Three of Bill Clinton’s signature achievements would be a good place to start:
1) Free Trade: trade is the stimulus that doesn’t cost a dime. Approve the Colombia FTA, and let companies like Caterpillar ship its big earth-movers to one of the most explosive economies in the world. Obama will need to tell the unions to screw off. Clinton did it with NAFTA; Obama needs to follow-through.
Cut taxes, including the Capital Gains Tax. Clinton cut it from 28% to 20%, unleashing new investment that helped drive the economy of the roaring 90’s.
Welfare Reform: another from the Clinton hit parade—moving people from the Welfare Rolls to work. Obama began to undo this, with a stimulus plan that extended tax relief to people who don’t pay taxes.
My point is that folks like yourself assail centrists like me—and I suspect Buckeye—of not being “pure enough” for the Democratic Party. In truth, I aspire to a party built on policies that made us successful: just look at the 90’s. The Repubs are going to steal these issues from us; it’s already happening.
Other issues where we run the risk of drifting off into the radical left world:
Energy independence: drill, drill, drill. Countries from Norway to China to Brazil drill offshore for oil; are we too pure to aggressively drill for oil? Wind and solar are great, but they can’t fuel transportation. For God’s sake, this is just common sense. Let’s produce our own oil instead of importing from countries that want to do us harm.
Support for Israel. Islamic Fsscism is the greatest danger in the world today, and it’s a threat to Israel as well. Let’s get back to supporting our friends…e.g., Uribe in Colombia instead of Chavez in Venezuela. In short, a strong and muscular foreign policy.
ECONOMIC GROWTH! Growth is a good thing, and the demonizing of the private sector has to stop. There were a few bad actors on Wall Street, but overall, businesses create jobs. A centrist-led Democratic party will realize that you can’t say you love jobs, and yet hate the job creators.
And above all, my Democratic party believes that this is the greatest country that God ever gave to men. Apologizing for it should not be something our leaders routinely engage in. From the Berlin Airlift, to Truman’s Marshall Plan, to Reagan winning the Cold War, this is one great country. I just want it to be led by a great Democratic Party.
Or this from the other one;
Yes because liberalosm, has done so much for the country and the party…..not
I think it might be safe the say the problem with our party…it’s TOO diverse in opinion, it’s TOO broad…it’s all over the place.
Although it’s a reasonable assumption that one of those two people is just one of MyDD’s famous bitter PUMAs.
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