Dr.Sack Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 (edited) Now that the Democratic Party has been nearly wiped out the question now is do they double down on their neoliberal strategy first adopted in 1984 or develop a new ideology? Basically the path forward for Democrats is to continue their virtually identical Republican Light corporate friendly agenda, AND bend on social issues that serve as the last differentiator of establishment Democrat & Republican orthodoxy, OR move to Progressive economic platform with key acquiesces on nationalist and social issues such as the 2nd amendment, religious freedom, abortion, and cultural identity such as immigration. The problem is the corporate influence over the Democratic Party means that the ideological stagnation keeps the Party from adopting a progressive platform. We can trace the roots of the Democrats embrace of neoliberalism back to 1984 and the formation of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) under Al From. The founding philosophy of the New Democrats included; economic centrism, national security, and entitlement reform. Becoming Republican Light served the Democrats well and helped Bill Clinton win in 1992. By 1996 Clinton had passed legislation that was long the corporate donors dream agenda: NAFTA, welfare to work, and the '94 Crime bill. Clinton even managed to stave off impeachment and passed a sweeping overhaul of the 1930s era Glass-Stegall bank regulations setting the stage for the 2007-2008 Great Financial Crisis. So in essence it took a Democrat to pass what Republicans Bush Sr & Reagan couldn't. In 2009 Barack Obama passed a healthcare reform bill with many policies crafted by the Heritage Foundation & implemented 5 years earlier by Gov Mitt Romney - on a national scale. Under Obama the largest financial institutions weren't prosecuted by Attorney General Eric Holder. They were bigger in 2017 than 2009. In essence the crowning achievement of Obama's legacy is 7 foreign interventions and dropping 26k bombs on Muslim majority countries in 2016. Edited July 9, 2017 by Dr.Sack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 I don't think there's any doubt the Democratic Party is in the process of taking a hard left and leaving the Clinton-era agenda behind. Real progressives were hugely disappointed in Obama and think Hillary is dog sh-- (like everyone else). I think they'll go full lefty nut-job in 2020. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALF Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 They will go with the great orator Andrew Cuomo in 2020 , jobs and healthcare imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 They will go with the great orator Andrew Cuomo in 2020 , jobs and healthcare imo "the great orator" Christ you've been polishing this idiot's knob quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Yeh. He doesn't know he was one of the prime contributors to the financial collapse in 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Franklin Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 The left has already won on economics. Amusing that the right thinks otherwise. Party names mean little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Too early to tell, IMO. If McConnell reaches across the aisle to Dems on healthcare that could have a big impact on the next elections. If Trump screws up healthcare behind the scenes that will cause a real sh it storm and give Dems a big opening. But if all that gets taken care of it's a different story. Climate change will be a huge issue, we are literally burning up the planet while Trump fiddles. Dems will be on a mission to save civilization but will anyone care? Trump might be in jail by 2020 for all we know. But a lot of this is playing out "naturally." One hundred years ago the Progressive era was just finishing up and in November 1918 the Republicans swept the country and stayed in power for 12 years or so. But the Progressive reforms stuck. Then the New Deal, and by 1946 the Republicans were back (in Congress) but the reforms stuck. The next round of reforms were the Great Society which had a huge positive impact on the elderly, blacks, the poor and even immigrants. They stuck. Then 1968 happened but still, even under Nixon the EPA was created. Clinton couldn't get health care in the 90's, it was Obama that did that, and it looks like it's going to stick. The big effort to roll back Medicade seems to have failed. What's the next step forward? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 The left has already won on economics. Amusing that the right thinks otherwise. Party names mean little. What the actual !@#$ are you ranting about this morning? The left WON on economics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary M Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 What the actual !@#$ are you ranting about this morning? The left WON on economics? I think he is talking about Illinois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Franklin Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 What the actual !@#$ are you ranting about this morning? The left WON on economics? You're blind to the fact that the economics of the US is socialist. The debate over health care is a prime example. It's currently focused on just how a new socialistic system will work. Listen to Rand Paul if you want the lesson I'm teaching. He understands. But keep saying the left is losing. It probably makes you feel good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Bill won as a southerner with charm, taking back a good block of the Nixon/Reagan Democrats. Ross Perot also cut heavily into Papa Bush's voting base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALF Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 (edited) Yeh. He doesn't know he was one of the prime contributors to the financial collapse in 2008. Oh I know about HUD and the mortgage debacle. That should have been checked when Clinton left office. I'm still a Kasich supporter , just guessing on the next D running in 2020. I want the next president to be able to work in a bipartisan manner to get something done with Congress. Edited July 10, 2017 by ALF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Nothing to glean from Clinton's charm and Obama's ability to be an acceptable man of colour for future Presidential elections, except to try to repeat these patterns. Gore and Hill couldn't hold any power over from those two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Brown Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 The main problem is going to be that the corporate Democrats in charge now still think last years election was a fluke. Even if they do realize it's not Russia and Comey, the corruption runs so deep that they'd rather lose to a Republican than win with a progressive. Your proof is they wouldn't even fund a progressive (a guy named Thompson) in Kansas's special district who asked for only 20k from the DNC and was denied. He lost by 7 points (Trump won the district by 27 points). Meanwhile, they funded Ossoff (a corporate Democrat) with 20 plus million dollars and he lost. You're probably going to need a populist on the left to beat Trump in 2020 and the DNC (like the RNC did with Trump) will do everything they can to prevent that. My guess is this party is so stupid and corrupt that Republicans will be in power for the next 8 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Doc, are they in shock that could continue for years from this loss? Elections often turn on people fed up with a party and voting for the opposition, no matter whom is in charge. Used to it more in Canada perhaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Doc, are they in shock that could continue for years from this loss? Elections often turn on people fed up with a party and voting for the opposition, no matter whom is in charge. Used to it more in Canada perhaps. How many parties have you got in America's hat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 How many parties have you got in America's hat? You got 2. And Perot and Wallace were able to effect the outcome during my lifetime as a 3rd party candidate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 You got 2. And Perot and Wallace were able to effect the outcome during my lifetime as a 3rd party candidate. Add Nader to the list. And of course evil Vlad if you believe the headlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 You got 2. And Perot and Wallace were able to effect the outcome during my lifetime as a 3rd party candidate. No, I was asking about the great white north Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Bill won as a southerner with charm, taking back a good block of the Nixon/Reagan Democrats. Ross Perot also cut heavily into Papa Bush's voting base. Yes, he got the bubba vote. The demographics are really different now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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