Democrat Party- More evidence of leftward drift
 

Say what you want about DiFi, but she was the occasional voice of reason in the Dem party. But...

In a sharp rebuke to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democratic Party has declined to endorse the state’s own senior senator in her bid for reelection.

Riven by conflict between progressive and more moderate forces at the state party’s annual convention here, delegates favored Feinstein’s progressive rival, state Senate leader Kevin de León, over Feinstein by a vote of 54 percent to 37 percent, according to results announced Sunday.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...in-leon-423452

No one should be a Senate lifer, IMHO. But the way that this one played out for Feinstein is, IMHO, more evidence that the Dem party is swinging more left, and has been for years.

Now, anticipating some responses that a post like this will get, is the Repub party swinging further right? Well, a study published a couple years ago - and I think I posted it here back then - does indicate that while both parties are experiencing polarization, the Dems are moving to further to the left than the Repubs are moving to the right.

I'd also suggest that Trump befuddles the Repub base. He's non-ideological, and while he appears to have "conservative instincts" on economic issues, he also appears more liberal on social issues. Also, since he's non-ideological, his positions on issues are harder to nail down. That may blunt any significant ideological shifts in the party's politics during the remainder of Trump's tenure.

The real question is: where are the voters. Are more voters conservative or liberal in their views? And what about the views of younger Americans?

Some of the answer depends on who you ask. Interestingly, Politico ran this piece in 2015, a little more than a year before election, finding that Americans are not moving to the left as some folks believed. While holding some positions that might have been identified as "liberal", surveys found that:

The real defect in the theory that America is moving left is that the polling evidence does not back it up. The country might not like the GOP, but it is generally not abandoning conservative views.

Also, this:

But on many other issues, even as the country’s demographics are changing, our core beliefs are not. It’s instructive to compare today’s polls on a range of other issues with those from 1999-2000, the last time we were nearing the end of a two-term Democratic presidency. Look at issues through a conventional left-right prism, and you see a public that has either not changed its views or has even shifted in a more conservative direction.

CNN also ran this piece on Millennials just before the election. While some assumed that millennials were more liberal, that piece's author didn't find supporting evidence of that in his studies. In fact, the study suggested a trend toward individuals identifying as "independent" rather than Democrat or Republican. However, younger voters tended to lean more to the right than the previous generations of voters.

On a final note - I happened to watch ABC's This Week show yesterday. Kasich and Hickenlooper were being interviewed together and were apparently trying to present themselves as alternatives to the polarized Dem and Repub parties. "Two moderates that were willing to work together to get things done", I guess, was their message. Ultimately, I thought they both ended up looking like idiots. However, Kasich did say one thing that I agreed with: I have no idea what the Democrat party stands for." I've asked the question here here on this forum any number of times. I've never gotten a sincere response to the question, so I've assumed that none of you are clear on what the party stands for either. According to a recent WaPo poll, a majority think that the only thing that the party stands for is being against Trump. WaPo, in their usual feckless style, seems to suggest that this is a good thing for Dems, suggesting that the Dems "don't need to be anything more than the anti-Trump party right now".... Well, maybe that was true a year ago, but we're now only months away from casting ballots in the 2018 mid-terms, and its still the case that the Dems have no unifying message other than "Trump sucks". Voters tend to want to vote "for" something rather than "against" something, so I suspect "Trump sucks" might resonate with the base, but it will also likely repel moderates.

Yawn, looks like something the cat puked up from Drudge or the Daily Caller.

Trumps sucks repel moderates??

Moderates will definitely endorse the idea that Trump sucks and Trump is doing everything daily to reinforce it.

Compared to the face of the GOP put forth at CPAC, all three of the above people look like consummate statesmen and patriots. As for Kasich and Hickenlooper, they represent what America desperately needs - pragmatic, non-ideological leaders as opposed to people who want to introduce Le Pen's European fascism to America.

BTW, you seem to have already forgotten that your party supported an obvious racist and child molester in the recent Alabama Senate election and has become a party of wacky conspiracy theorists. I'll take Kasich or Hickenlooper over Roy Moore any day of the week.

"Trump sucks", because of the public evidence of his history of his deplorable behavior. But too many folks choose to disregard hard evidence.

If Trump didn't repel moderates he would've won the popular vote too.

The idiots that voted for Trump still have not figured that they've been had with the tax cuts not to mention the government going broke.
Trump appointees are dropping off like flies.
The unified message is that the GOP/Trump cabal cannot govern.

Then if all else fails, there is the New MAGA going drip, drip drip.
Flynn, Gates, Manafort. Could Kushner be next?

How is that for repulsion? :rolleyes:

Voters may tend to vote for something rather than against something in most cases but that might not be true in the last election.
Most Trump voters I know were not big Trump fans... but they were Hilary haters. They voted against Hilary when they cast their vote for Trump.

The Democratic Party theme song for 2018, "DACA will keep us together". :D
SCOTUS says, not so fast. So DACA is back to Ryan & McConnell.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.bc8a9893d0cb

I'd suggest that they didn't vote against Hillary as much as they voted for the ideas of a tax cut, reduction in the size and scope of gov't, and getting immigration back under control.

Except that the supporting links were from Politico, CNN and WaPo. But thanks for confirming that you didn't even bother to give the post more than a cursory glance before you posted your smarmy and useless comment. Typical. :rolleyes:

Yup, I think so. I don't think Trump's presidency is as repulsive to the masses as it is to the folks in the media, and most in this forum. Also, I think there are folks who look past the packaging and support the stated agenda.

Women not part of the masses?

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/s...czJH6&usqp=CAc

whell actually just admitted that he thinks Trump's presidency is repulsive to the masses. Just not as repulsive as WaPo, NYT, CNN, chicks, finnbow ... and you would have us all believe. :D

It's a game and posting on the internet has it's own hidden benefits. Ask whell. :)

If you don't find his presidency repulsive, it says a lot about your values (i.e., you have none).

Chances are DiFi will continue as the senior senator from the Great State of California due to the moronic jungle primary system foisted on us by idiot conservatives. As such, the race will probably end up being between de Leon and Feinstein with Feinstein clobbering de Leon like a red headed step-child.

Now, seeing you whinging about someone else being smarmy on this board was good for my first chuckle of the day. :D

You've got the market cornered on smarmy and useless, Mike. :rolleyes:

The position of the modern post-Dixiecrat Democratic party shifted little from it's pro-labor pro-underdog status compared to the Rightward shift of the country after the campaigned defeat of the "fairness doctrine" permitted the Limbotomization of the country thru saturation political disinformation propaganda.

Party wanted Hillary, people did not and she lost.
Party does not want Dianne but she is going to win hands down.
Once again the Duopoly rears it's ugly head. Or is it the Zombie look?
Dianne should have a heart to heart to Hatch.

Poll: Dems lead by 16 points on generic ballot

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/37...generic-ballot

In another good sign for Democrats hoping to regain the House in this fall's midterm elections, the CNN poll finds that a majority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting.

Trump has also hit his previous low point in approval ratings. The two seem to go hand in hand.

Fascinating how quickly you folks changed the subject of this thread from the current fortunes of the Dem party to a discussion of Trump and me. I guess you really don't want to discuss the leftward drift of the Dem party....:rolleyes:

Fascinated or frustrated?
BTW, how about Trump’s claim that he would have charged into the Parkland high school unarmed?:rolleyes:

A CA Democratic party vote that fell short of an endorsement for either candidate is hardly indicative of a broad shift to the left of the Dems. DiFi will win easily.

A poll released this month by the Public Policy Institute of California found 45 percent of the more than 1,000 likely voters surveyed had never heard of de León. Two-thirds of Democratic likely voters backed Feinstein, while 19 percent supported León in the PPIC survey. Thirteen percent were undecided.

https://www.rollcall.com/news/politi...ate-party-snub

The most recent winners of major elections across the country were moderate Democrats (Senate in AL and the Governor in VA) and the Democrat looking to upset a Trumpkin near Pittsburgh is a moderate as well. So much for your extrapolation of a broader trend from one data point. That seems to be your MO.

I look forward to whell's reply. Maybe he'll find another anecdotal data point.

Sometimes I think he comes here for a regular beat down. Seems a bit masochistic to me.;)

I responded directly to your posting and relativity. The Dem's have stayed pretty much in their own wheelhouse. The Pub' wingnuts have pulled the center hard right.

Oh gawd, you conserv-o-twits are such delicate hothouse flowers. :p

LOL. One again your posts stoop to their usual lack of consequence.

You apparently didn't read the article that I posted, or its another example of your typical lack of comprehension. Good for you. :rolleyes:

Moderate candidates are still bubbling up, but the PARTY is moving left. DiFi is outpolling rivals with likely CA voters, but the PARTY and its DELEGATES will dictate the future. And in fact, DiFi had to remind those delegates that they needed to stay united - and not give in to their desire to move the party to the left at a more aggressive pace:

Addressing the convention Saturday, Feinstein reminded delegates of her experience and what she portrayed as a lifetime of service in the cause of Democratic values. She focused heavily on her advocacy of gun control measures, and she urged Democrats to resist splintering in the face of a Republican-controlled Washington.

California Democrats, she said, have “the largest delegation in the House. You’ve got Kamala Harris and me in the Senate.” She said Democrats can more effectively advance their principles “if we have unified support.”

And I guess when DiFi offers up Kamala Harris as an example of a "moderate", things are definitely looking left for the Dems.

English please.:p

Actually it was likely Hillary's loss of independent (moderate) voters that put Trump over the top in "battleground" states like here in MI.

https://ivn.us/2016/11/09/independen...lection-trump/

You say Kasich and Hickenlooper looked foolish on This Week, iirc.
As respective moderates, how so? They would seem reasonable alternates to the extremists and nut jobs like Trump and Roy Moore.

Only in Whell's and his ilk's fevered noggins is someone like former Ca. AG Harris a far lefty. Poor kid.:rolleyes:

In his mind, anybody to the right of (or more intelligent than) Louie Gohmert is a far lefty.

They were completely unprepared for obvious questions. Given that they were there to project the ability to get along, they had to know that the interviewer would be intent on finding any daylight that might be between the two of them. As it turned out, that daylight was most of the interview, and the two Governors ended up looking rather uncomfortable sitting there together on the set. Game, set, match for the interviewer.

Sure she is. Not as far left as Bernie, but certainly to the left of Bill Clinton. Never could really figure out what Hillary stood for, so I can't comment on that.

WTF??? :eek:
Really??? :)

You two should get a room. You're both easily duped by Putin. ;)

Useless idiots. :rolleyes:

Speaking of getting duped, "What Happened?". :rolleyes: