NYT: Back to the center, Democrats

[Morphine Prince 110,031]

The path back to power for the Democratic Party today, as it was in the 1990s, is unquestionably to move to the center and reject the siren calls of the left, whose policies and ideas have weakened the party.

In the early 1990s, the Democrats relied on identity politics, promoted equality of outcomes instead of equality of opportunity and looked to find a government solution for every problem. After years of leftward drift by the Democrats culminated in Republican control of the House under Speaker Newt Gingrich, President Bill Clinton moved the party back to the center in 1995 by supporting a balanced budget, welfare reform, a crime bill that called for providing 100,000 new police officers and a step-by-step approach to broadening health care. Mr. Clinton won a resounding re-election victory in 1996 and Democrats were back.

But the last few years of the Obama administration and the 2016 primary season once again created a rush to the left. Identity politics, class warfare and big government all made comebacks. Candidates inspired by Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren and a host of well-funded groups have embraced sharply leftist ideas. But the results at the voting booth have been anything but positive: Democrats lost over 1,000 legislative seats across the country and control of both houses of Congress during the Obama years. And in special elections for Congress this year, they failed to take back any seats held by Republicans.

Central to the Democrats’ diminishment has been their loss of support among working-class voters, who feel abandoned by the party’s shift away from moderate positions on trade and immigration, from backing police and tough anti-crime measures, from trying to restore manufacturing jobs. They saw the party being mired too often in political correctness, transgender bathroom issues and policies offering more help to undocumented immigrants than to the heartland.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2017/07/06/opinion/center-democrats-identity-politics.amp.html

[Morphine Prince 110,031]

This is true but I ****ing hate that the right can move to the extreme right and still win yet liberals have to fall back to the center because of this idiotic populace we have. 

[Supersonic 49,376]

Honestly, the New York Times has been one of the publications that dwelled so heavily on Clinton for her e-mails while ignoring almost everything Trump did, it feels more than cynical for them to write this when they are one of the main media institutions (along with CNN) that are reponsible for generating hysteria against Clinton and hype for Trump.

It's not the "extreme leftist ideas" that led to this, it's "liberal" media trying to pander to a conservative viewership for the money because they are an easily exploitable target group.

[Whispering 18,865]

Told ya.  

[fashion monster 397]

So basically Democrats should be more populist

[MarryTheAngel 551]

This is really cute. Especially when Democrats got themselves in this situation because they moved to the center. 

19 minutes ago, Supersonic said:

Honestly, the New York Times has been one of the publications that dwelled so heavily on Clinton for her e-mails while ignoring almost everything Trump did, it feels more than cynical for them to write this when they are one of the main media institutions (along with CNN) that are reponsible for generating hysteria against Clinton and hype for Trump.

It's not the "extreme leftist ideas" that led to this, it's "liberal" media trying to pander to a conservative viewership for the money because they are an easily exploitable target group.

Scalding tea.

[PaperIz 7,354]

Laughable 

[Morphine Prince 110,031]

5 minutes ago, MarryTheAngel said:

This is really cute. Especially when Democrats got themselves in this situation because they moved to the center. 

Is it though? The Democratic platform this time around was the most left leaning ever. 

[bujibu 463]

35 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

This is true but I ****ing hate that the right can move to the extreme right and still win yet liberals have to fall back to the center because of this idiotic populace we have. 

The thing is I feel Republicans could move to JUST right of center and achieve even greater success. Who else are bigots going to turn to? There's no other bigoted party they can turn to and realistically win. The Republican party is all they have. I think either side of center is a great place you want to be if you want to win votes. Trump is an exception, but he came in as a political outsider, compared to Clinton's legacy status. There's a lot of factors here (including the discrepancy of electoral votes) but the democrats need to move just left of center if we're to win 2020. I feel like we can still have the same values, but unfortunately it has to be publicly "toned down" to avoid threatening right of centers.  

[FATCAT 60,984]

We need signature ideas that can get people excited for the future. I'm sorry, but we can't concede to the right. People can get behind big-picture ideas. That's not the center.

[MarryTheAngel 551]

4 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

Is it though? The Democratic platform this time around was the most left leaning ever. 

I would say that since since the Progressive Era we have been stuck in a paradigm between reactionary and conservative movements. Reactionary, being the Republicans, and conservative, being the Democrats. The former wants a return to the old, and while the latter wants to change some things, it doesn't want a drastic change to the state of the things either. The platform is all fluff. I mean, universal healthcare is in the party's platform, yet they have blocked it in CA - even when they explicitly have the powers to pass it on every part of government. They can say whatever they want to appease the masses. 

[Fusel 1,111]

When the next election comes around, 1990 will be 30 years ago. Why would it be good for the Domacratic party to live in the past and focus on the issues from 3 decades ago? That's what conservatives are doing and they're strong and ignorant enough already. There's no need for an opportunistic swing to the right.

[bujibu 463]

The last few decades of politics have been like a shifting tide, we went from Clinton to W. (who was largely re-elected in '04 to combat terrorism and seek justice for 9/11), then in '08 it shifted to Obama due to recession and people sick or doubting the Iraq war. Obama's likeability and ability to pass things got him through the '12 election, but by '16 identity politics hit a new high, threatening white voters (especially males) who feel the government began to cater more toward minorities (I feel the legalization of gay marriage had a part in this) so they chose someone who didn't mirror the status quo (Clinton) and chose a political outsider with no experience, hoping he could somehow bring something completely different to the table especially for white male voters (Trump, it sounds ludicrous I know, but it also explains Bernie's success). I think now more than ever indicates that America really is just one side of either center. Hardline rights or lefts will always vote their sides, but the people close to centers still dictate the outcomes of elections (depending on the states they live in and their electoral vote counts).

It's more complicated than this I'm sure but this is just something I've picked up on lately. I think most Americans are willing to move forward toward change, but many are worried about their own personal standing in that change and think change is happening too fast. A lot of people who opposed gay marriage it seemed were more concerned with how it was done and Obama's influence on its passage, and not so much that it happened (which sounds trivial but Americans are fickle as hell).

[Redstreak 6,653]

Is that why Sanders is the most popular politician? Because he's so so center? Is that why Mrs. Clinton who's constantly accused of being the left's version of a republican lost to Donald Trump?

[wahkeenasitka 1,995]

Nope. This is the Bullshit Route. Democrats will LOSE BIG in 2018 if they follow the advice of this article. It's clear that this is NOT what Americans want. Or will elect. People are fed up.