As a casual observer of U.S. political debates and mudslinging, I’ve come to enjoy the pong-style insults the two parties toss at each other.
Unfortunately due to poor deductions skills, i still can’t pick out a republican or a democrat in discussion if somebody doesn’t point it out with a big blinking sign above their heads.
my take.
republican = right = conservatism
democrat = not-so-right = liberalism
now that’s not saying much because i don’t know much else to say.
if it can be boiled down to one short, descriptive sentence, what is a republican, be it joe citizen to senator, in support of? same for democrat.
for instance,
who would be more in favour of:
labour unions
abortion
expansionism
gay marriages
white collar corporate leaders
blue collar assembly line workers
I’m Canadian. The main political parties are not nearly as well dilineated as the two parties in the U.S… I’ve always found it interesting that you can speak to most average Americans and they can give you an answer, as sure as their name, “I am a Republican. Or I am a democrat.”
Try that in Canada and you’ll get “I’m not sure. I haven’t voted in the last five years.”
abortion – I don’t think anyone favors abortions. More Democrats tend to support a woman’s right to choose
expansionism – That depends on what you mean by the term. Republicans generally support the status quo but Democrats don’t strike me as being as interested in exerting power over other countries.
gay marriages – Democrats
white collar corporate leaders – Republicans
blue collar assembly line workers – it varies unless they are union members
There are so many exceptions in each category and from both parties that it is unfair to assume that because someone is a Democrat or a Republican, she or he supports any one position.
Also, there are many other political parties within the U.S. They just aren’t as powerful.
Also, this may be more of a matter of opinion than an easily answerable question.
but when someone calls himself a republican, what is defining himself as, as opposed to being democrat? and vice-versa.
if lines are not so well dilineated, how are people so sure they can identify with party as opposed to the other.
in canada, people tend to choose the leader, not the party. it seems that the people in the U.S. vote along party lines. i.e. people will vote republican even if they don’t necessarily like the person who may take the helm.
This used to be how it was done, especially in large cities. In the south, until Eisenhower came along, everyone was Democrat. Republicans didn’t get on the ballot. Now, many people consider themselves “Independants” and even those that indentify with the two parties do split their vote. I consider myself to be an independant, but I’m registered as a Democrat. The reason is that it allows me to vote in their primaries. Democrats generally have much more interesting primaries than the Republicans (note there are 10 Democrats fighting for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004). [sup]I might vote for Al[/sup]
Peppy don’t be so sure…the most coveted voters in any US election are the “swing voters”.
They have helped Bill Clinton get elected (a self-proclaimed “New Democrat”) by having middle-of-the-road voters vote Democrat. They also helped Ronald Reagan win (the “Blue Dog Democrats”), with registered Democrats voting Republican.
As for voting for the party candidate even if you don’t like him, that strikes me more as a “lesser of two evils” issue. Yeah, my guy sucks, but at least he’s better than the OTHER guy!
As for your classification of parties:
Labor Unions: Democrat
Abortion: Democrat (some dissension among Republicans, but all Democrats are or will be pro-abortion before they reach the national stage)
Expansionism: Ummm, no one really. There are arguments about defense, but no one is running around saying “Annex Mexico!”
Gay Marraiges: Again, no one really. The farther left Democrats have publicly supported this, but Democrats in “conservative” states (Louisiana, Texas) can’t support this and survive politically. Likwise, Republicans in “liberal” states (Vermont, California) have to be careful about what they say. This is more of a regional issue than a party issue.
White coller corporate leaders: What exactly is the question here? Do Democrats despise all CEOs? Do Republicans love them all? SOMEONE has to run the companies! I’d say this is a wash: for every Dick Cheney you have a Ted Turner. Every time Rupert Murdoch donates money George Soros gives some more to the other side.
Blue collar assembly line workers: Since the vast majority of them are unionized, refer to question 1.
The majority of people, if asked their political affiliation, will tell you Republican or Democrat, but that doesn’t mean they support 100% of the party line. Probably more-so the Democrats, because they seem to be a loose affiliation of a whole group of different interests; a coalition. Regardless of what I am doesn’t mean I want to conquer the world nor hug a rough-ass tree and get all dirty. But I strongly identify with the ideals of a single party whether or not I agree 100% with what they actually do.
At the risk of answering the questions and confusing it all at once, here are the platforms for the Republican Party and the Democratic Party .
They are difficult to read (ie, boring), but give a general sense of what the parties are about. Keep in mind that parties in the US do not have very much discipline, and as a result there are a fair number of more conservative Democrats and a fewer number of more liberal Republicans who oppose parts of the “official” party positions.
You’re confused because American politics doesn’t break evenly along “liberal vs. conservative” but rather along four different sets of issues.
Social issues – abortion rights, gay marriage, sex education in the schools, etc.
Economic issues – high tax/many services vs. low tax, few services, unions vs. right to work, etc.
Foreign piolicy – “the world’s policeman” vs. internationalist, activist vs. isolationist
Role of government – protector of individual rights, protector of public morals, protector of national security, and other debates.
It’s entirely possible to be a pro-life (Republican) labor union (Democrat) member, or civil libertarian (Democrat) who favored the war in Iraq (Republican)
There are political movements, including the Libertarians and Greens, who are trying to make their positions clear on all four points of the spectrum, but so far they don’t exert anywhere near the influence of the Dems. or Reps. on a national level.
One thing to keep in mind in trying to draw a line between Democrats and Republican is that they are both centrist. Neither is very far left or right compared to how those terms are used in other places in the world. Basically, both major US parties are moderates who disagree about details rather than extremists pushing more radical change. I know it may be simplistic to refer to things like the pro-life/pro-choice debate as “details”, but the fact is that Democrats and Republicans have to struggle to find things to disagree about and often steal policy and platform ideas from one another. Even the extremists in the US are moderates by the standards of some places in the world (though we have our share of world-class wackos).
Also, regarding the last bit of the OP, I don’t know anyone who votes straight-party tickets. I know a lot of people who strongly identify themselves as Democrat or Republican, but I have yet to find one in my crowd who doesn’t scrutinize each candidate/issue and make individual decisions. Maybe I just hang out with a better class of people, but I don’t think the fact that many people self-identify as a member of a party necessarily means they support that party exclusively.
BTW, just wanted to mention that I originally opened this thread hoping for a lion vs. tiger, shark vs. crocodile debate. All this politics is so disappointing.
[sup]I might vote for Al[/sup]