# Is the Democratic Party no more than just a collection of special interests? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 20, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919 "2007-04-20T12:09:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/41 "2007-04-21T01:01:48Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] And yet you think that happened to the Democrats. A few years of losing elections could easily do that to the Republicans, too. [/quote] No matter how many years of elections the GOP loses, they will still be the preferred instrument of the corporatists and the religious wingnuts. It’s their party; they own it. Although the corporatists will also try to buy the Dems. (_Will_ try? They’re already trying. There’s always some that can be bought.) Lord knows they’ve succeeded before. > [@](#): > > It’s easy to stand for limited government when the other party is in power. The hard part is holding onto that belief once you get the power. Yeah, it took just a few months for the Bushies to turn their backs on that belief. But I’m sure it was a tooth-and-nail fight for the soul of the party. > [@](#): > > Just like the Democrats will, almost certainly, fade from their moment of communal goodheartedness once they get the taste themselves-- especially if they win the WH in '08. Democrats and Republicans are both members of the species _H. sapiens_, aka _H. polticanus_ It’s in our very nature to strive for power and to abuse it once we have it. We haven’t entered the Age of Aquarius quite yet, bro. 😉 I know we haven’t. But the thread title says, “Is.” I don’t think we have to argue over what the meaning of ‘is’ is. 😃 We’re talking about the present, because the claim the OP rebuts was made about the present. The Dems won’t always be this relatively free of special interests mucking things up. But are they free from that now? Much more so than either party has typically been, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/42 "2007-04-21T01:32:24Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] Me either. I can understand why you may have thought that fifteen years ago, but why would you think it now? I think the key phrase in there is the parenthetical. [/QUOTE] Oh yes, I freely admit that the example of my friend was a long time ago; that’s why I wanted to point out it was before Clinton. I’ve been over here a LONG time, so possibly it’s changed, but I don’t have that impression, and I do try to keep up. Sure, there are issues that cross the boundaries, such as minimum wage and voting rights etc. Before, it was the Vietnam War instead of the Iraqi War. But from what I can tell, you’ve still got your labor interests and your NAACP and the Hispanic bloc in the Southwest and your environmentalists and abortion rights and women’s rights etc, each following a separate agenda in addition to the unifiers. I still get that from what I read, and from what I see when I do travel to the US (not too often these days admittedly, only once this millinnium so far) and from American Dems who show up here in Thailand and fall ito my sphere. I admit I could be completely wrong, but it’s still the impression I have, and it looks like there are others here with it, too. I haven’t seen anything to convince me that Bush or the new Vietnam War or anything else has done anything to transform the Dems overnight from what they were like for decades. And although I’m an Independent and always have been, I do vote Democrat, I’m not bashing them. That’s just the way they happen to be, from what I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/43 "2007-04-21T01:50:14Z")
Of course its a diverse collection of interests, its a diverse collection of people. _Tres duh_! Spinning the term as “special interests” is pure Bushwah. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/44 "2007-04-21T07:31:30Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] I’ve been over here a LONG time, so possibly it’s changed, but I don’t have that impression, and I do try to keep up. [/quote] Never had to knock on wood… > [@](#): > > I still get that from what I read, and from what I see when I do travel to the US (not too often these days admittedly, only once this millinnium so far) and from American Dems who show up here in Thailand and fall ito my sphere. And I’m glad I haven’t yet… > [@](#): > > I admit I could be completely wrong, but it’s still the impression I have, and it looks like there are others here with it, too. I haven’t seen anything to convince me that Bush or the new Vietnam War or anything else has done anything to transform the Dems overnight from what they were like for decades. Because I’m sure it isn’t good… > [@](#): > > And although I’m an Independent and always have been, I do vote Democrat, I’m not bashing them. That’s just the way they happen to be, from what I can tell. …That’s the impression that I get. No offense, **Sam** , but this **is** GD, and a series of impressions just isn’t good enough here. That’s one thing a good attack machine can do, is give you impressions about the other side without really giving you reasons for them. A few years ago, a genuine war hero ran for President, and by the time the Swifties were through, you’d have thought he made it all up, even if you weren’t quite sure why. It’s always good to think, “IF I feel this way about this person or group from the news coverage, why is it that I feel that way? What did they actually say, and did it really make sense?” All your impressions likely add up to is that the right-wing noise machine has been doing their usual fine job of putting out discrediting spin in the MSM, where it often lies unchallenged. > [@](#): > > . But from what I can tell, you’ve still got your labor interests and your NAACP and the Hispanic bloc in the Southwest and your environmentalists and abortion rights and women’s rights etc, each following a separate agenda in addition to the unifiers. What **'luc** said. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/45 "2007-04-22T02:53:41Z")
My apologies for wasting your time then. But you sure haven’t said anything that convinces me otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/46 "2007-04-22T03:06:15Z")
Never mind. Misunderstood the post. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/47 "2007-04-22T03:21:24Z")
A collection of special interests compared to whom? Isn’t that how the 2-party system _works_? By building coalitions until reaching a majority? If 150 million people not sharing a coherent, single-sentence-stateable political ideology \*worries \* you, then maybe democracy just isn’t for you, ya know? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/48 "2007-04-22T11:34:30Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Never mind. Misunderstood the post. ☹ [/QUOTE] No prob. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/49 "2007-04-22T15:14:20Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Of course its a diverse collection of interests, its a diverse collection of people. _Tres duh_! Spinning the term as “special interests” is pure Bushwah. [/QUOTE] Look at it this way: The Libertarian Party is a diverse collection of people, but **not** a collection of special interests; it has a solid ideological mainstream. Can that be said for either of the two major parties? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/50 "2007-04-22T15:20:58Z")
[QUOTE=LonesomePolecat] Most Americans don’t want marriage radically redefined to include same sex couples, but the Dems are obviously pushing for this (and it hurt them badly in the last presidential election). [/QUOTE] I’m thinking it will help them in future elections – not because most Americans are comfortable with gay marriage or even “civil unions,” but because most Americans are by now sick to death of the religious right and anything that smells of it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/51 "2007-04-22T15:25:54Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Look at it this way: The Libertarian Party is a diverse collection of people, but **not** a collection of special interests; it has a solid ideological mainstream. Can that be said for either of the two major parties? [/QUOTE] It is also of no significant size or influence. Can \*that \* be said of either major party? Hint: There’s a \*reason \* they’re major. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/52 "2007-04-22T18:31:32Z")
Your party is a collection of special interests; mine is diverse. Your party is a bunch of mindless lockstep sheep; mine has a deep commitment to principle. Your party is in the pocket of the fatcat capitalists; mine wants to grow the economy. Etc. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919/53 "2007-04-22T18:35:44Z")
Well, you’re about half right. Step in the right direction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-democratic-party-no-more-than-just-a-collection-of-special-interests/400919.md?page=2)