Talk:Democratic Party (United States)

Archives

---

1. Archive 1
2. Archive 2
3. Archive 3
4. Archive 4
5. Archive 5
6. Archive 6
7. Archive 7
8. Archive 8
9. Archive 9

Incorrect information regarding Native Americans

"The Democratic Party also has strong support among the Native American population, particularly in Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. Though now a small percentage of the population (virtually non-existent in some regions), most Native American precincts vote Democratic in margins exceeded only by African-Americans."

The preceding comment is incorrect and even the information from Politico that it is attributed to doesn't agree. Please do more research on our voting patterns before posting such nonsense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.209.100.120 (talk) 14:29, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

one of the oldest parties in the world

"one of the oldest parties in the world." Founded 1828 (1828) (modern)[1] 1792 (1792) (historic)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Whig_Party Founded 1678

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Tory_Party 17th centurie —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.5.69.155 (talk) 16:28, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Both of those are defunct. Oldest means the party has existed longer than other current parties. ~DC _{Talk To Me} 16:32, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

I think you'll find the Tory Party is not defunct as I am a Tory Party member, I do wish the Americans would stop trying to pretend that their country and political structure is either A: Based in History or B: Has any history whatsoever, we get it your country is young no need to try and push this oldest political party nonsense on other people, feel free to reply I won't check back here again reading Americans ramble on about complete nonsense drives me insane and makes me glad that there is a huge ocean inbetween the USA and Europe. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.13.74.218 (talk) 14:39, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

You're way out of line. Both the parties you listed are defunct as said above, there are no Tory or Whig parties currently in existence in England. The major parties are the Conservatives (1912), Labor Party (1900), and Liberal Democrats (1988). And for you to come on here and deem all Americans to be stupid is indeed, extremely ignorant. While there are many, many Americans who are ignorant, you'll find we're not much different from any other country. For me to take your comments out of context and apply that all Britons are pompous and arrogant because of your comments would be just as asinine. ReignMan (talk) 06:24, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

he probably refers to the fact that the britisch conservative party is often referred to as 'tory-party' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_(UK) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.127.246.80 (talk) 22:26, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

BTW you didn't have to clarify you're a tory it became apparent when you started rambling off with hateful useless diatribe. 76.103.47.66 (talk) 22:51, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

You seem to lack reading comprehension. It clearly says "ONE of the oldest". Finding two defunct parties that are older doesn't invalidate the claim. 76.30.244.221 (talk) 04:27, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

Founding

am I wrong or is nowhere a Founding-Date of this Party (1828 is a Year, not a date) -- Hartmann Schedel ^cheers 13:53, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

there was no one day that is identified by the RS--the best they give is a year.Rjensen (talk) 06:41, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

I came looking for a history of the Democratic Party. Could one be added? Almost all Wiki articles include a history of the subject at hand. Athana (talk) 12:51, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

The "Democrat Party" as an political epithet needs to be removed

There is a statement on the main article that "In the 20th and 21st centuries, "Democrat Party" is a political epithet that is sometimes used by opponents to refer to the party." In the interest of fairness, it must be removed.

For openers, there is absolutely no evidence to support this claim. Also, many of the things posted on the discussion pages of PRO-party articles refer to them as the Democrat party. One of them appears on this very page.

The party gets referred to as both Democrat and Democratic by supporters, opponents, and the 80% of the US who couldn't care less, so saying that it is a negative reference (i.e. epithet) made by party detractors is just not true. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.166.187.168 (talk) 21:03, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

I hear Rush Limbaugh use it all the time. Historically, it was too. 'Democrat' itself is not an epithet. 'Democrat Party' instead of 'Democratic Party', indeed, is. MAINEiac4434 (talk) 18:56, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

the issue is thoroughly covered at Democrat Party (phrase). In national media, the term "Democrat Party" is primarily used as a slur or epithet by the party's opponents to emphasize that the party is not actually democratic in practice. (However in some local areas such as Indiana it is used by Democrats). The article notes, In 1984, when a delegate of the Republican platform committee asked unanimous consent to change a platform amendment to read the Democrat Party instead of Democratic Party, Representative Jack Kemp objected, saying that would be "an insult to our Democratic friends" and The committee dropped the proposal.(cite) Rjensen (talk) 19:03, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

Socialist faction

I mentioned this a while back: I think that in the ideology section, it should be noted that there are some socialist Democrats. The LA Times points out that the Democratic Socialists of America is overwhealmingly made up of Democrats. Sbrianhicks (talk) 00:53, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

The Democratic Socialists of America has a membership of approximately 6,000, compared with 72,000,000 million registered Democrats. Even if all DSA members were registered Democrats, they would represent 8.3/1,000 of 1% of total registered Democrats, which hardly counts as a "faction". TFD (talk) 01:16, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

You can do math (clap, clap). The definition of "faction": "a group that is a minority within a larger group and has interests or beliefs that are not always in harmony with the larger group." Yes, the DSA would count as a faction by definition as they are an organized group of Democrats who disagree significantly with the party's general platform. Sbrianhicks (talk) 02:55, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

It seems minor to me. TFD (talk) 03:15, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

Libertarian Democrats are a minor faction as well, but they are mentioned. Sbrianhicks (talk) 03:39, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

At least the Democratic Freedom Caucus is part of the party, but probably is too minor to mention as well. TFD (talk) 04:05, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

I think it's not a matter of size but a matter of reference. The "democratic" in democratic socialist is not a reference to the Democratic party. "democratic socialist" is a general term used for a political form, (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_socialism) not a reference to socialists from the Democratic party. It's like saying the US is (small d) democratic or that its government is (small r) republican. Both terms refer to the type of government (a federal republican democracy), not the (Big D and Big R) forms of the words, which refer to specific parties. "Democrats Socialists" are captialized because it's a proper name, but it's an offshoot of democratic socialism, not connected, per se, to the Democratic party. Same word, different references. Jbower47 (talk) 16:39, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Democrats.com versus Democrats.org

These websites have confusingly similar names, but different relations to the Democratic Party. Democrats.org is the official site of the party, i.e. the Democratic National Committee, whereas Democrats.com is a more left-leaning site founded in 2000 by a group of Democrats who describe themselves as "Aggressive Progressives". I added Democrats.com to the list of Democratic organizations with a note to help disambiguate it from Democrats.org.CharlesHBennett (talk) 04:48, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Blue is not the official color

Yes, they have a blue logo. Yes, their websites are mainly blue. Yes, Democrats identify themselves as blue. But the Democratic Party has, by no means, adopted the color blue as an official color. So, please, remove it from the official color section of the infobox. MAINEiac4434 (talk) 18:59, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

"Center-left"

That the Democratic Party is "center-left" is terms of membership cannot be argued, but can't we also note that there are a lot of "center" people in it as well? Sugar-Baby-Love (talk) 20:29, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

The labeling of the party is not the labeling of the party members.. There are also some old-fashioned conservatives, and some much more left than center. The party, however, is center-left. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 02:12, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

This is a global project, not an American project. The Democratic Party barely qualifies as centrist on a planetary standard. --Orange Mike | Talk 02:53, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

I do not see how a party that has almost the same policies as the "center-right" Republican Party is center-left. TFD (talk) 03:18, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

I was agreeing with you, Deuces; "center-right" is closer to the truth than "center-left"! --Orange Mike | Talk 15:16, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

they do often agree (the "center" part is overlap) but the right and left fight furiously over major policies like taxes for the rich and health insurance.Rjensen (talk) 03:42, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Yah. Main difference: the Democrats are "tax-and-spend"; the Republicans are "don't tax but spend anyway." --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 04:07, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Correct, I suppose. But then that is still an important political difference, no? Sugar-Baby-Love (talk) 21:05, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

The Democratic Party barely qualifies as centrist on a planetary standard

You seem to be forgetting that since Pluto elected the radical militaristic Flergon party (And Mars ain't the kind of place you raise your kids! What with its lack of universal health care either...), it could be clearly argued that both Dems and Reps are pretty center-left on that planetary scale. And don't you try to give that 'Pluto =/= Planet' BS... Sugar-Baby-Love (talk) 06:54, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Of course my point with the sarcasm is that I see no evidence from factual reliable sources about the Democratic Party being "right wing" or "center right". Sugar-Baby-Love (talk) 21:01, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

I would, naturally, greatly welcome any such sources if they were provided here. Sugar-Baby-Love (talk) 21:05, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

It seems pretty clearly stated that center-right and center-left refer to relative positions in the American political spectrum. In that sense, that is precisely how the Republican and Democratic parties, even given fluctuations in the extent of their leanings over time, should be described. As there is no such thing as "left" and "right" in absolute terms, this is all given in relative context.Jbower47 (talk) 16:43, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Slight Redundancy in lede

Normally I would just correct this (boldly!) as a minor grammar issue, but given the sensitive nature of political articles, I thought I'd put this out for discussion first. In the lede, there is a sentence that states:

"As of the 112th Congress following the 2010 elections, the Democratic Party currently holds a minority of seats in the House of Representatives, but holds a narrow majority of seats in the Senate at the beginning of the 112th Congress."

If you note the first five and last 7 words, you'll see the redudancy I am referring to. I would recommend it be edited to:

"As of the 112th Congress following the 2010 elections, the Democratic Party currently holds a minority of seats in the House of Representatives, but holds a narrow majority of seats in the Senate."

I do not believe this is a substantive change, just the elimination of something that is double-stated. (I might also question whether "narrow" is necessary, as it seems to smack of POV, but doesn't seem too much of an issue). Jbower47 (talk) 16:32, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 76.108.97.245, 17 January 2011

-> there is no official registered DEMOCRATIC party. The correct name is DEMOCRAT party. Your claim to fame is accuracy! Please make it accurate!

76.108.97.245 (talk) 15:03, 17 January 2011 (UTC)