Pardon my naivete - What is the majority in our Party?

[kid a]

I consider myself a very progressive, liberal Democrat. I volunteer for local (D) candidates, go to monthly Democrat suppers, spent weeks calling to get out the Dem vote last Oct and Nov. But lately I have felt betrayed and have been sucked into lurking among the so-called "splintering" threads. But i honestly don't know where the majority of our party stands now. What is the majority? Liberal, progressives or centrist democrats? How many loyal Democrat volunteers, donors, and hard core loyalists like me are wondering the same? I want more than anything for us (the true, loyal, blue, progressive Democrats) to hold on to the party. This may sound naive, but aren't we the majority?

[John Q. Citizen]

1. Yeah, we are. Look at the cloture vote. The majority of Dems

voted progressive

[leftstreet]

2. majority = progressive

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

:toast:

[kid a]

4. Cheers to that!

[satya]

3. Liberals -- according to the Pew Center.

Pew Research Center -- Beyond Red vs. Blue

http://people-press.org.nyud.net:8090/reports/images/242-4.gif

At the other end of the political spectrum, Liberals have swelled to become the largest voting bloc in the typology. Liberals are opponents of an assertive foreign policy, strong supporters of environmental protection, and solid backers of government assistance to the poor.

This affluent, well-educated, highly secular group is consistently liberal on social issues, ranging from freedom of expression to abortion. In contrast, Conservative Democrats are quite religious, socially conservative and take more moderate positions on several key foreign policy questions. The group is older, and includes many blacks and Hispanics; of all the core Democratic groups, it has strongest sense of personal empowerment.

[Radical Activist]

5. Party members are more liberal.

Party leaders, even at the local level, or usually moderate. That's partly due to the fact that half the progressive movement doesn't like to get involved in electoral or party politics.

[bvar22]

6. HERE is the MAJORITY!

In recent polls by the Pew Research Group, the Opinion Research Corporation, the Wall Street Journal, and CBS News, the American majority has made clear how it feels. Look at how the majority feels about some of the issues that you'd think would be gospel to a real Democratic party:

1. 65 percent say the government should guarantee health insurance for everyone -- even if it means raising taxes.

2. 86 percent favor raising the minimum wage (including 79 percent of selfdescribed "social conservatives").

3. 60 percent favor repealing either all of Bush's tax cuts or at least those cuts that went to the rich.

4. 66 percent would reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

5. 77 percent believe the country should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment.

6. 87 percent think big oil corporations are gouging consumers, and 80 percent (including 76 percent of Republicans) would support a windfall profits tax on the oil giants if the revenues went for more research on alternative fuels.

7. 69 percent agree that corporate offshoring of jobs is bad for the U.S. economy (78 percent of "disaffected" voters think this), and only 22% believe offshoring is good because "it keeps costs down."

8. 69 percent believe America is on the wrong track, with only 26 percent saying it's headed in the right direction…


The MAJORITY of AMERICANS (not just Democrats) support THESE positions!
The DLC and Corpomedia are trying to brand these positions as "fringe Left". They are NOT. THIS IS THE CENTER.
Anything to the RIGHT of these positions are CONSERVATIVE, or in the case of the DLC, FRINGE RIGHT EXTREME!

Where do YOU stand ON THE ISSUES. Don't let the CorpoMedia or the Corporate Financed DLC decide which LABEL fits you!.
Don't let the DLC or the CorpoMedia or the rich beltway elite Democrats tell YOU where the center is!

If YOUR favorite Democrat is NOT standing behind ALL of these positions, YOU should be DEMANDING that they do, or finding out WHY NOT!.

The above issues are a blueprint for landslide WINS in 2006 and 2008.
WHERE IS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?
Where are THE CENTRISTS?

Does ANYONE here still believe that Free Trade is a Centrist position?




"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans,
family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."--- Senator Paul Wellstone

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[McCamy Taylor]

7. Majority vs. Voting Majority vs. Vocal Majority vs. Monied Majority

Labor unions sure know how to get out the vote. Trial lawyers know how to raise money. Race and women's issues are loud and get covered. Everyone wants health care.

Dems are the majority if ALL americans turn out to vote. This is why RNC strategy includes voter apathy, general voter suppression, the myth that all candidates are the same, that the two parties are identical, that nothing ever changes, that your vote doesnt count etc. Whenever you hear any of these, even on this board, you are hearing a GOP talking point, though the person parroting it may be an innocent dupe.