Obamacare and you

[Razgovory]

Democrats are a centrist party? 

What in your opinion does a centrist party look like?

One that's not decisively on the right or left.

What exactly do you consider "left"?

[Admiral Yi]

A centrist party to me suggests one that overlaps the center on both sides.  To me that does not describe the Democratic Party.  They are center-left, with a left wing that makes noise and must be appeased, usually through rhetoric rather than policy.

[Berkut]

Democrats are a centrist party? 

Compared to the Republicans? Of course they are.

So says the admitted socialist.

I am about as socialist as you are.

[Berkut]

A centrist party to me suggests one that overlaps the center on both sides.  To me that does not describe the Democratic Party.  They are center-left, with a left wing that makes noise and must be appeased, usually through rhetoric rather than policy.

But the context of this discussion is how the parties appeal to centrists, and on that scale, the Dems right now are solid centrist while the Republicans are out in right field crazy land somewhere.

[Razgovory]

A centrist party to me suggests one that overlaps the center on both sides.  To me that does not describe the Democratic Party.  They are center-left, with a left wing that makes noise and must be appeased, usually through rhetoric rather than policy.

I seem to recall quite a few conservative Dems.

[Berkut]

Didn't DGuller and Friends have all the Blue Dogs put down?

[Admiral Yi]

I seem to recall quite a few conservative Dems.

All the Blue Dogs got pushed to the curb in the first midterm.

[Razgovory]

I seem to recall quite a few conservative Dems.

All the Blue Dogs got pushed to the curb in the first midterm.

All?

[DGuller]

Didn't DGuller and Friends have all the Blue Dogs put down?

Back to that bullshit?  In any case, the Blue Dogs weren't primaried, they just lost to Republicans.

[Admiral Yi]

All?

You win Raz.

[derspiess]

Democrats are a centrist party? 

Compared to the Republicans? Of course they are.

So says the admitted socialist.

I am about as socialist as you are.

[Razgovory]

All?

You win Raz.

You shouldn't overreach.

To demonstrate my point (about Democratic centrism not Yi), take Barack Obama's health care bill.  He modeled it on Mitt Romney's Healthcare law, Romney and many of the Republicans had to repudiate the ideas they had supported only a few years previous.  Part of the problem is that Republican seen Democrats as intrinsically liberal and leftist.  So if Dems take a position it automatically becomes suspect and Republicans have to distance themselves.  Republicans often put as much distance between themselves and Democrats simply to show how radical the dems are.

[crazy canuck]

One that's not decisively on the right or left.

Then I am not sure what your complaint is.  The US has no parties that are "decisively" on the left.  All of your parties are on the right of the spectrum compared to the politics of other countries.  The Democrats are just less right than the Republicans and therefore by definition the more centrist of the two parties.

[DGuller]

  I think we need to ban derspiess from using the " " smiley.  They're so obnoxious when abused so frequently in such a way.

[Razgovory]

I think we need to ban derspiess from using the " " smiley.  They're so obnoxious when abused so frequently in such a way.

Hans would do the same thing except he used the  one.

I do hope Hans some more on politics, I saved a few of his predictions and have been waiting for the right time to use them.