| Revision as of 22:11, 12 April 2007 view sourceSettler (talk | contribs)3,740 edits revert← Previous edit | Revision as of 22:45, 12 April 2007 view source Settler (talk | contribs)3,740 edits →HistoryNext edit → | ||
| Line 131: | Line 131: | ||
| ==History== | ==History== | ||
| {{Mergeto|History of the United States Democratic Party|Talk:Democratic Party (United States)|date=April 2007}} | |||
| {{main|History of the United States Democratic Party}} | {{main|History of the United States Democratic Party}} | ||
| <!-- This is a summary. For extensive, detailed edits, edit main history article. Simple polish edits of the summary are welcome. --> | |||
| ===Origins: 1792-1828=== | |||
| ] as the founder of the party.]] | |||
| The Democratic Party evolved from the ] factions that opposed the ] of ] in the early 1790s. ] and ] organized the ] and the party's key issues included support of states' rights, strict construction of the Constitution, opposition to a national bank, and opposition to elites and aristocrats (and distrustful of moneyed interests), known as ]. It won an ascendancy to power in the election of 1800. After the ], the party was divided on the issues that once contrasted it from its then-moribund rival, the ]. The party faction that supported many of the old Jeffersonian principles was later led by ] and ], and became the Democratic Party with the political philosophy known as ]. The Democratic Party competed with its main rival, the ], from the 1830s until the 1850s. The issues in this time period were territorial expansion, government patronage jobs, and modernizing programs. As the Democrats became increasingly associated with ], and the Whigs splintered over the issue of slavery and faded away, the ] emerged in the 1850s in opposition to the expansion of slavery and in support of modernization. | |||
| The Democrats trace their roots to the ], established by ] and ] in the 1790s. The party arose from opposition to the policies of the ruling ], dominated by ], that advocated a strong central government, a loose interpretation of the Constitution, and a republic governed by well-educated elites. The Jeffersonians (before 1801) favored France in the wars between Britain and France, and opposed the ] (which restored peace with Britain) because, they believed, it might help monarchist elements inside the United States. Democratic-Republicans idealized the independent ("yeoman") farmer as the exemplar of virtue, and distrusted cities, banks, and other monied interests. Jefferson and his close collaborator Madison made ] a keystone of the party in ]. The party was strongest in the south and west, and weakest in New England. | |||
| The Republican Party gained an ascendancy in the election of 1860. As the ] broke out, the Democrats were divided among those in support of the war and those opposed to it. Most ] rallied to President ] and the Republicans' ]. The Democrats benefited from white Southerners' resentment of ] after the war and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. After ] ended Reconstruction in the 1870s, and the disenfranchisement of African Americans took place in the 1890s, the South, voting Democratic, became known as the "]." Though Republicans continued to control the White House until 1884, the Democrats remained competitive. The party was dominated by pro-business ] led by ] and ], who represented mercantile, banking and railroad interests, opposed imperialism and overseas expansion, fought for the gold standard, opposed bimetallism, and crusaded against corruption, high taxes, and tariffs. Cleveland was elected to non-consecutive presidential terms in 1884 and 1892. | |||
| The party won control of the Presidency and Congress in ], and later elected ] as the powerful ] in the 1810s. The Federalists collapsed as serious rivals to the Democratic-Republicans by the end of the ]. After the war and the decline of the Federalists, little held Democratic-Republicans together and the party split into factions. War hero General ] of Tennessee emerged as the leader of the faction that, after he was elected president in ], became the Democratic Party. | |||
| Agrarian Democrats demanding free silver overthrew the Bourbon Democrats in 1896 and nominated ] for the presidency (a nomination repeated by Democrats in 1900 and 1908). Bryan waged a vigorous campaign attacking Eastern moneyed interests, but he lost to Republican ]. The Democrats took control of the House in 1910 and elected ] as president in 1912 and 1916. Wilson led Congress to, in effect, put to rest the issues of tariffs, money, and antitrust that had dominated politics for 40 years with new progressive laws. The ] in 1929 that occurred under Republican President ] and the Republican Congress set the stage for a more liberal government; the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives nearly uninterrupted from 1931 until 1995 and won most presidential elections until 1968. ], elected to presidency in 1932, came forth with a mass of programs called the ]. New Deal liberalism meant the promotion of social welfare, labor unions, civil rights, and regulation of business. The opponents, who stressed long-term growth, support for business, and low taxes, started calling themselves "conservatives." | |||
| ===Jacksonian democracy: 1828-1854=== | |||
| ] (1829-1837)]] | |||
| With the decline of the Federalists, the ] became the Democrats' main opponents. The Democrats continued winning national elections by building a nationwide coalition that was strongest in ], ], ], and the frontier; it was weakest in ]. Like the Democratic-Republican Party from which it developed, the Democrats voiced strong anti-elite opposition to "aristocracy" and banks, and put their faith in "the people." By the 1820s ] with no property restrictions was the norm for nearly all white men in the U.S. | |||
| Issues facing parties and the United States after the ] included the ] and the ]. Republicans peeled off conservatives and white Southerners from the Democratic coalition with their resistance to New Deal and ] liberalism and the Republicans' use of the ]. African Americans traditionally supported the Republican Party and began supporting Democrats following the ascent of the Franklin Roosevelt administration, the New Deal, and the Civil Rights movement. The Democratic Party's main base of support shifted to the Northeast, marking a dramatic reversal of history. Democrat ] was elected to the presidency in 1992 and 1996 and governed as a ] while the Democratic Party lost control of Congress in the election of 1994 to the Republican Party; the Democratic Party regained majority control of Congress in 2006. Some of the party's key issues in the early 21st century have included the methods of how to combat terrorism, homeland security, labor rights, environmentalism, and the preservation of liberal government programs. | |||
| The Democratic Party was a complex coalition that included farmers from all parts of the country and working-men's groups in the cities. The key issues in the 1830s were: use of patronage to build a strong party machine, opposition to state and national banks, and opposition to modernizing programs that would build up industry at the expense of the taxpayer. The Democrats strongly favored expansion to new farm lands, as typified by their expulsion of eastern ] and acquisition of vast amounts of new land in the West after 1846. | |||
| ] won the presidency in ], but the ] caused his defeat in the ]. ] won in the ], directed the ] (in which he acquired modern-day ], ] and the ]), lowered tariffs, set up a sub-treasury system, and then retired. In the ], the new ], which opposed slavery expansion, split the Democratic Party. Democrats in Congress passed the ]. As the Whigs splintered over slavery and ], the Democrats easily elected ] in ] and ] in ]. | |||
| ===Civil War and Reconstruction: 1854-1877=== | |||
| The main Democratic leader in the Senate, ] of ], pushed through the pro-slavery ] in 1854 despite strong protest. Driven by the increasingly contentious issue of slavery, a major realignment took place among voters and politicians, with new issues, new parties, and new rules. The Whig Party dissolved entirely. While the Democrats survived, many northern Democrats (especially ] from 1848) joined the newly established ]. Buchanan split the party on the issue of slavery in Kansas; most Democrats in the North rallied to ]. | |||
| In 1860, Douglas was unable to gain the two-thirds vote needed for the party's nomination. The party nominated Douglas in the North, and ] in the South. The Republicans famously nominated ] from Illinois. | |||
| During the ], no party politics were allowed in the ], but ] flourished in the North. After the attack on Ft. Sumter, Douglas rallied northern Democrats behind the Union. But Douglas died and the party lacked an outstanding national figure. There was a deep split between the anti-war ] and the ]. The party did well in the 1862 congressional elections, but in ] it nominated General ], a War Democrat, on a peace platform, and lost badly as many War Democrats bolted to support ] candidate ]. In the ], the ] won two-thirds majorities in Congress and took control of national affairs. ] led the Republicans to landslides in ] and ]. | |||
| The ] allowed the Democrats to retake control of the House in the ]. The Democrats benefited from white Southerners' resentment of ] and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. After ] ended Reconstruction, and the ] of African Americans took place in the 1890s, the South, voting Democratic, became known as the "]." In most of the South, there was effectively only one party, and victory in the Democratic primary was tantamount to election. | |||
| ] (1885-1889 and 1893-1897), the only Democrat elected president between 1860 and 1912]] | |||
| ===The Gilded Age: 1877-1896=== | |||
| {{Further|]}} | |||
| The national vote was very evenly balanced in the 1880s. Though Republicans continued to control the White House until 1884, the Democrats remained competitive. Dominated by conservative pro-business ] led by ] and ], they had a solid base in the South and great strength in the rural lower ], and in ethnic ] and ] enclaves in large cities, mill towns and mining camps. They controlled the House of Representatives for most of that period. In the ], ], the reforming Democratic Governor of New York, won the Presidency. He was defeated in the ] but was re-elected in ]. Cleveland was the leader of the conservative ] who represented mercantile, banking and railroad interests, opposed imperialism and overseas expansion, fought for the gold standard, opposed ], and crusaded against corruption and high taxes and tariffs. The Bourbon Democrats were overthrown by ] in 1896. | |||
| ===Bryan, Wilson, and the Progressive Era: 1896-1932=== | |||
| In the presidential election of ], widely regarded as a political ], agrarian Democrats demanding ] defeated the Bourbons and nominated ] (the ] then followed suit). Bryan, having gained the nomination after his stirring "]" speech delivered at the ], waged a vigorous campaign attacking Eastern moneyed interests, but he lost to Republican ] in an election which was to prove decisive, and marks the beginning of the ]. | |||
| The Republicans controlled the presidency for 28 of the following 36 years, dominating most of the ], the ], and half of the ]. Bryan, with a base in the ] and the ], was strong enough to get the nomination in the elections of ], again losing to McKinley, and ], losing to ]. Bourbon conservatives controlled the convention in ], but they faced a ] landslide. By 1908, Bryan had dropped his free silver and ] rhetoric and supported mainstream ] issues, especially "]" or opposition to the big trusts. | |||
| ] (1913-1921), the only Democrat elected president between 1896 and 1932]] | |||
| Taking advantage of a deep split in the GOP, the Democrats took control of the House in 1910 and elected intellectual reformer ] in ] and ]. Wilson successfully led Congress to a series of progressive laws, including the ] that reduced tariffs; the ] that systematized the ] system; the income tax on individuals; new programs for farmers; and the 8-hour day for railroad workers. His most important innovation was the ] that created a strong central bank. A law to outlaw child labor was reversed by the Supreme Court. Wilson ordered the segregation of the federal ]. The ] establishing ] and the ] establishing ] were passed in Wilson's second term, but they were bipartisan efforts. In effect, Wilson laid to rest the issues of tariffs, money and antitrust that had dominated politics for 40 years. | |||
| Wilson led the U.S. to victory in ] and helped write the ], which included his goal of a ]. But in 1919 Wilson's political skills faltered, as did his health; suddenly everything turned sour. The Senate rejected the Versailles Treaty and the League, and a nationwide wave of strikes and violence caused unrest. Prohibition opened a bitter split in the party between the Catholic and ethnic Northern "wets" and the Southern "dries." The deeply divided party was hit by Republican landslides in the presidential elections of ], ], and ]. However, ] helped build a strong Catholic base in the big Eastern cities in 1928, and ]'s election as governor of New York that year brought a new leader to center stage. | |||
| ===The New Deal and World War II: 1933-1945=== | |||
| ] (1933-1945), the only person elected four times to the presidency.]] | |||
| The ] set the stage for a more liberal government, and ] won a landslide victory in the ], campaigning on a vague platform that promised repeal of ] and criticizing ]'s presidential failures. Within 100 days of taking office on March 4, 1933, Roosevelt came forth with a massive array of programs, the ]. These focused on Relief, Recovery, and Reform; that is, relief of unemployment and rural distress, recovery of the economy back to normal, and long-term structural reforms to prevent a repetition of the Depression. | |||
| The 1932 election brought Democrats large majorities in both houses of Congress, and among state governors; the 1934 election increased those margins. The 1933 programs, called "the First New Deal" by historians, represented a broad consensus; Roosevelt tried to reach out to business and labor, farmers and consumers, cities and countryside. By 1934, however, he was moving toward a more confrontational policy. Roosevelt sought to move the party away from its business base toward a new base of farmers and workers. The New Deal was a program of economic regulation and insurance against hardship. Two old words took new meanings. "Liberal" now meant a supporter of the New Deal; "conservative" meant an opponent. Conservative Democrats were outraged; led by ], they formed the ] in 1934 and counterattacked, but were ineffective. | |||
| ] of Texas was the longest-serving (non-consecutive) ] (1940-1947, 1949-1953, 1955-1961).]] | |||
| After making gains in Congress in 1934 Roosevelt embarked on an ambitious legislative program that came to be called "The Second New Deal." It was characterized by building up labor unions, nationalizing welfare by the ], setting up ], imposing more regulations on business (especially transportation and communications), and raising taxes on business profits. He built a new, diverse majority coalition called the ], which included labor unions, minorities (most significantly, ], ], southern whites, and for the first time, ]). The New Deal coalition won all but two presidential elections (1952 and 1956) until it came apart in 1968. | |||
| After a triumphant landslide reelection in ], Roosevelt announced plans to enlarge the Supreme Court, which tended to oppose his New Deal. A firestorm of opposition erupted, led by his own vice president, ]. Roosevelt was defeated by an alliance of Republicans and conservative Democrats, who formed a new ] that managed to block nearly all liberal legislation and dominate Congress for the remainder of FDR's presidency. Threatened by the conservative wing of his party, Roosevelt made an attempt to purge it; in 1938, he actively campaigned against five conservative Democratic senators. They denounced national interference in state affairs, and all five senators won re-election. | |||
| New Deal liberalism meant the promotion of ], ], ], and regulation of business. The opponents, who stressed long-term growth and support for entrepreneurship and low taxes, now started calling themselves "conservatives." | |||
| ===Truman to Kennedy: 1945-1963=== | |||
| ] (1945-1953)]] | |||
| Roosevelt died in office on April 12, 1945, and ] took over. The rifts inside the party that FDR had papered over began to emerge. Former Vice President ] denounced Truman as a war-monger for his anti-Soviet programs, the ], the ], and ]. However the Wallace supporters and far left were pushed out of the party and the ] in 1946-48 by young anti-Communists like ], ], and ]. On the right the Republicans blasted Truman’s domestic policies. "Had Enough?" and "To err is Truman" were winning slogans for Republicans, who recaptured Congress in 1946 for the first time since 1928. | |||
| Many party leaders were ready to dump Truman, but they lacked an alternative. Truman counterattacked, pushing out ] and his ] and, as an audacious and inspired strategic move, calling the GOP-controlled Congress into special session in July, sending them legislation he knew was anathema to the congressional Republicans, and then, upon the end of the predictably deadlocked and unproductive session, blasting them as the "Do-Nothing" 80th Congress in a relentless whistle-stopping campaign across the country. In perhaps the most stunning presidential election result of the 20th century, Truman won re-election over Thomas Dewey in ], and the Democrats regained control of Congress. However, Truman’s ] proposals, such as universal health care, were defeated by the ] in Congress. | |||
| In 1952, ] recaptured the White House for the Republicans, defeating Illinois governor ]. Four years later, Eisenhower repeated his success against Stevenson. In Congress the powerful Texas duo of House Speaker ] and Senate Majority Leader ] held the party together in the shadow of the war hero, often by compromising with Eisenhower. In 1958, thanks largely to organized labor, the party made dramatic gains in the off-year congressional elections. | |||
| ] (1961-1963)]] | |||
| Senator ] won the ], defeating then-] ]. Though Kennedy's term in office lasted only about a thousand days, he tried to hold back Communist gains after the failed ] in Cuba and the construction of the ], and sent 16,000 soldiers to Vietnam to advise the hard-pressed South Vietnamese army. He challenged America in the ] to land an American man on the moon by 1969. After the ] he moved to de-escalate tensions with the ]. Kennedy also pushed for ] and ], one example being Kennedy assigning federal marshals to protect the ] in the south. President Kennedy was assassinated on ], ] in ]. Soon after then-Vice President ] was sworn in as the new ]. Johnson, heir to the ] broke the ] in Congress and passed a remarkable number of liberal laws, known as the ]. Johnson succeeded in passing major ] laws that started the racial integration in the south. At the same time, Johnson escalated the ], leading to an inner conflict inside the Democratic Party that shattered the party in the elections of 1968. | |||
| ===The Civil Rights Movement: 1963-1968=== | |||
| ] signed the ].]] | |||
| ], who had traditionally given strong support to the Republican Party since the ], shifted to the Democratic Party in the 1930s, largely due to New Deal relief programs, patronage offers, and the advocacy of civil rights by First Lady ]. In many cities, such as Chicago, entire ward-based Republican apparatuses in black neighborhoods switched parties virtually overnight. However, in the late 1960s, the ] began to fracture, as more Democratic leaders voiced support for ], upsetting the party's traditional base of conservative ] and ethnic Catholics in ] cities. After Harry Truman's platform showed support for civil rights and ] laws during the ], some Southern Democrats, called "]," temporarily abandoned the national party and voted for South Carolina governor ]. They voted for his electors on the regular state Democratic ticket. Although Republican ] carried half the South in 1952 and 1956, and Senator ] also carried five Southern states in 1964, Democrat ] carried all of the South except Virginia, and there was no long-term realignment until ]'s sweeping victories in the South in 1980 and 1984. | |||
| The national party's dramatic reversal on civil rights issues culminated when Johnson signed into law the ]. On doing so he commented, "We have lost the South for a generation." Meanwhile, the Republicans, led again by Richard Nixon, were beginning to implement their ], which aimed to resist federal encroachment on the states, while appealing to conservative and moderate white Southerners in the rapidly growing cities and suburbs of the South. | |||
| The year 1968 was a trying one for the party as well as the United States. In January, even though it was a military defeat for the ], the ] began to turn American public opinion against the Vietnam War. Senator ] rallied anti-war forces on college campuses and won the ]. In a stunning move, Johnson withdrew from the election on March 31, and shortly afterward, Senator ], brother of the former president, entered the race. He won the California primary on June 4 and seemed well on his way to capturing the nomination, but he was assassinated in Los Angeles. During the ], while Chicago police violently confronted anti-war protesters outside the convention hall, the Democrats nominated Vice President ], a stalwart New Dealer from Minnesota. Meanwhile Alabama's Democratic governor ] launched a third-party campaign and at one point was running second to the Republican candidate ]. Nixon barely won, with the Democrats retaining control of Congress. | |||
| The degree to which white and black Southerners had reversed their historic parties became evident in the ], when every Southern state except Texas deserted Humphrey and voted for either Republican Nixon or former Democrat Wallace. The party's main electoral base thus shifted to the ], marking a dramatic reversal from tradition. | |||
| ===Transformation years: 1969-1992=== | |||
| ] (1977-1981)]] | |||
| In the ], the Democrats nominated South Dakota Senator ] with his anti-war slogan "Come Home, America!" McGovern's platform advocated immediate withdrawal from Vietnam and a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans. McGovern tried to crusade against the policies of Nixon, but when news surfaced that his running-mate ] had undergone ], the focus of the campaign swung to McGovern. Eagleton stepped down, and ], an ally of Daley's, accepted the vice presidential candidacy. The general election was a landslide for Nixon, as McGovern carried only ]. However, Democrats retained their large majorities in Congress and most state houses. | |||
| The sordid ] scandal soon destroyed the Nixon presidency, giving the Democrats a flicker of hope. With ]'s pardon of Nixon soon after his resignation in 1974, the Democrats used the "corruption" issue to make major gains in the off-year elections. In the ], the surprise winner was Georgia governor ], a little-known outsider who promised honesty in Washington. | |||
| Some of President Carter's major accomplishments consisted of the creation of a national energy policy and the consolidation of governmental agencies, resulting in two new cabinet departments, the ] and the ]. Carter led the bipartisan effort to deregulate the trucking, airline, rail, finance, communications, and oil industries, thus eliminating the ] approach to regulation of the economy. He bolstered the ] system, and appointed record numbers of women and minorities to significant government and judicial posts. He helped enact strong legislation on environmental protection, through the expansion of the ] in ], creating 103 million new acres of federally administered land. In foreign affairs, Carter's accomplishments consisted of the ], the ], the creation of full diplomatic relations with the ], and the negotiation of the ] Treaty with the Soviet Union. In addition, he championed ] throughout the world and used human rights as the center of his administration's foreign policy. | |||
| Despite all of these successes, Carter failed to implement a national health plan or to reform the tax system, as he had promised in his campaign. Inflation was also on the rise. Abroad, the ] (], ] - ], ]) involved 52 Americans held hostage for 444 days, and Carter's diplomatic and military rescue attempts failed. The ] starting in December 1979 helped weaken the perception Americans had of Carter. In the ], Carter defeated ] to regain the party's nomination, but lost to Ronald Reagan in November. The Democrats lost 12 Senate seats, and, for the first time since 1954, the Republicans controlled the Senate. The House, however, remained in Democratic hands. | |||
| Instrumental in the election of Republican President ] in the ] were Democrats who supported many conservative policies. These "]s" were Democrats before and after the Reagan years. They were mostly white ethnics in the Northeast and Midwest who were attracted to Reagan's social conservatism and his hawkish foreign policy. Reagan carried 49 states against former Vice President ], a New Deal stalwart, in the ]. ] Governor ], running not as a New Dealer but as an efficiency expert in public administration, lost by a landslide in the ] to Vice President ]. | |||
| The Democrats remained in control of Congress, although conservative "]" often voted with Reagan and the GOP controlled the Senate 1980-86. The Democrats clashed frequently with Reagan on numerous issues. In foreign policy, they disagreed with the president on the ] and the ], which tried to restrict funding of the ] who were challenging the left-wing government of ]. Democrats failed to block Reagan's income tax cuts. They supported his increases in military spending, but they did keep funding for social programs that he tried to cut or eliminate, but did not veto. Congress voted for most of the spending increases and tax cuts that Reagan proposed, but not his spending cuts. Annual federal budget deficits, and the national debt, rose to record heights under Reagan. | |||
| In response to two landslide defeats in a row in 1980 and 1984, the ] was created to move the party to the ideological center. With the party retaining left-of-center supporters as well as supporters holding moderate or conservative views on some issues, the Democrats, more so than ever, became a ] with widespread appeal to most opponents of the Republicans. | |||
| ===The New Democrats: 1992-2004=== | |||
| ]'s presidency (1993-2001) that the Democratic Party's campaigning ideology moved toward the center.]] | |||
| In ], for the first time in 16 years, the United States elected a Democrat to the White House. President ] balanced the federal ] for the first time since the Kennedy presidency and presided over a robust American economy that saw incomes grow across the board. In 1994, the economy had the lowest combination of unemployment and inflation in 25 years. President Clinton signed into law the ], which imposed a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases; he also signed into legislation a ban on many types of ]s (which expired in 2004). His ], covering some 40 million Americans, offered workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-guaranteed leave for childbirth or a personal or family illness. He helped temporarily restore democracy to ], took a strong (if ultimately unsuccessful) hand in Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations, brokered a historic cease-fire in ], and negotiated the ], which helped bring an end to nearly four years of terror and killing in the former ]. In ], Clinton became the first Democratic president to be reelected since ] in 1944. | |||
| However, the Democrats lost their majority in both houses of Congress in 1994. Clinton vetoed two Republican-backed ] bills before signing the third, the ] of 1996. The ] ] passed over his veto. Labor unions, which had been steadily losing membership since the 1960s, found they had also lost political clout inside the Democratic Party; Clinton enacted the ] with ] and ] over their strong objections.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kilborn |first=Peter T. |title=THE FREE TRADE ACCORD: Labor; Unions Vow to Punish Pact's Backers |publisher=] |date=] |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00616FB395D0C7A8DDDA80994DB494D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fC%2fClinton%2c%20Bill|accessdate=2006-11-17}}</ref> In ], the Republican-led House of Representatives ] Clinton on two charges; he was subsequently acquitted by the ] in ]. Under Clinton's leadership, the United States participated in ]'s ] against Yugoslavia that year. | |||
| During the ], the Democrats chose Vice President ] to be the party's candidate for the presidency. Gore and ], the Republican candidate and son of former President George H.W. Bush, disagreed on a number of issues, including ], ], ], ], tax cuts, foreign policy, public education, ], judicial appointments, and ]. Gore won a popular vote plurality over Bush, but lost the election in the ]. The United States Senate during the ] was tied between the two major parties (with a Republican Vice President breaking a tie) until Republican ] became independent and caucused with the Democrats, giving them majority control over the Senate for the first time since it changed hands in 1995. | |||
| In the aftermath of the ], the nation's focus was changed to issues of ]. All but one Democrat voted with their Republican counterparts to authorize President Bush's ]. House and Senate Democratic leaders pushed Democrats to vote for the ] and the ]. The Democrats were split over entering Iraq in 2003 and increasingly expressed concerns about both the justification and progress of the ], as well as the domestic effects, including threats to ] and ], from the ]. | |||
| In the wake of the financial fraud scandal of the ] and other corporations, Congressional Democrats pushed for a legal overhaul of business accounting with the intention of preventing further accounting fraud. This led to the bipartisan ] in 2002. The Democrats generally campaigned on the issue of economic recovery for the 2002 midterm elections. The Democrats lost control over the Senate to the Republicans in the election. | |||
| ] of Massachusetts was the Democratic Party's 2004 nominee for the presidency.]] | |||
| The 2004 campaign started as early as December 2002, when Gore announced he would not seek the party's nomination for president. ], an opponent of the war and a critic of the Democratic establishment, was the early front-runner leading into the ]. Massachusetts Senator ] was nominated because he was seen as more "]" than Dean.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mahajan |first=Rahul |publisher=] | date=] |title=Kerry vs. Dean; New Hampshire vs. Iraq |url=http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0128-13.htm |accessdate=2006-10-12}}</ref> | |||
| As layoffs of American workers occurred in various industries due to ], some Democrats such as Howard Dean and ] began to refine their positions on free trade. By 2004, the failure of George W. Bush's administration to find ] in ], mounting combat casualties and fatalities in that country, and the lack of any end point for the War on Terror were frequently debated issues in the election. That year, Democrats generally campaigned on surmounting the ], solving the Iraq crisis, and fighting terrorism more efficiently. | |||
| In the ], Kerry lost both the popular vote by 3 million votes and the ]. Republicans also gained four seats in the Senate (leaving the Democrats with only 44 seats, their fewest since the 1920s) and three seats in the House of Representatives. For the first time since 1952, the Democratic leader of the Senate lost re-election. Democrats gained governorships in Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Montana while losing the governorship of Missouri and a legislative majority in Georgia—which had long been a Democratic stronghold. | |||
| After the election most analysts concluded that Kerry was a poor campaigner.<ref name=future>], ], and Staff of ] (2005).''Election 2004: How Bush Won and What You Can Expect in the Future''. PublicAffairs. ISBN 1-58648-293-9.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kelly |first=Jack |title=Kerry's Fall From Grace |publisher=] |date=] |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04249/373186.stm |accessdate=2006-10-10}} See also: {{cite news |last=Last |first=Jonathan V. |title=Saving John Kerry |publisher=] |date=] |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/900nmdbr.asp |accessdate=2006-10-10}}</ref> The ], ballot initiatives banning ], Kerry's inability to reconcile his vote to authorize the war in Iraq with his opposition to it, all played various parts in his defeat. Other factors included a healthy job market, a rising stock market, strong home sales, and low unemployment. | |||
| === Recent history === | |||
| After the 2004 election, prominent Democrats began to rethink the party's direction, and a variety of strategies for moving forward were voiced. Some Democrats proposed moving toward the right to regain seats in the House and Senate and possibly win the presidency in the ]; others demanded that the party move more to the left and become a stronger opposition party. These debates were reflected in the 2005 campaign for Chairman of the ], which ] won over the objections of many party insiders. Dean sought to move the Democratic strategy away from the establishment, and bolster support for the party's state organizations, including those in red states.<ref>, '']'', ]. ]. Retrieved on ].</ref> | |||
| When the ] convened, ], the new ], tried to convince the Democratic Senators to vote more as a bloc on important issues; he forced the Republicans to abandon their push for privatization of Social Security. In 2005, the Democrats retained their governorships in ] and ], electing ] and ], respectively. | |||
| With scandals involving lobbyist ], as well as ], ], ], and ], the Democrats used the slogan "]" against the Republicans during the 2006 campaign. Negative public opinion on the war in Iraq, along with widespread dissatisfaction among conservatives over government spending, dragged President Bush's job approval ratings down to the lowest levels of his presidency. | |||
| ] of California is the first female ].]] | |||
| As a result of the ], the Democratic Party became the majority party in the House of Representatives and its caucus in the United States Senate constituted a majority when the ] convened in 2007. The Democrats had spent twelve successive years as the minority party in the House before the watershed 2006 mid-term elections. The Democrats also went from controlling a minority of governorships to a majority. The number of seats held by party members likewise increased in various state legislatures, giving the Democrats control of a plurality of them nationwide. No Democratic incumbent was defeated, and no Democratic-held open seat was lost, in either the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, or with regards to any governorship. The Democratic Party's electoral success has been attributed to running conservative-leaning Democrats against at-risk Republican incumbents,<ref>{{cite news |last=Hook |first=Janet |title=A right kind of Democrat |publisher=] |date=]}} See also: {{cite news |last=Dewan |first=Shaila |coauthors=Kornblut, Anne E. |title=In Key House Races, Democrats Run to the Right |publisher=] |date=] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/30/us/politics/30dems.html |accessdate=2006-11-10}}</ref> though this has been disputed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Perlstein |first=Rick |title=Who deserves credit for the Democratic comeback? |publisher=] |date=] |url=https://ssl.tnr.com/p/docsub.mhtml?i=w061106&s=perlstein110806 |accessdate=2007-02-11}} {{cite news |last=Burt |first=Nick |coauthors=Bleifuss, Joel |title=Progressive Caucus Rising |publisher=] |date=] |url=http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2914/ |accessdate=2007-02-15}} {{cite news |last=Bacon Jr. |first=Perry |coauthors=Cox, Ana Marie and Tumulty, Karen |title=5 Myths About the Midterm Elections |publisher=] |date=] |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1560212,00.html |accessdate=2007-02-11}} {{cite news |last=Bazinet |first=Kenneth R. |title=Hil's no dump Dean fan |publisher=] |date=] |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/472767p-397816c.html |accessdate=2007-02-11}}</ref> | |||
| In the 2006 Democratic caucus leadership elections, Democrats chose Rep. ] of Maryland for ] and nominated Rep. ] of California for ]. Senate Democrats chose ] of Nevada for ]. Pelosi was elected as the first female House Speaker at the commencement of the 110th Congress. The House of Representatives soon passed the measures that comprised the Democrats' ]. | |||
| == Presidential tickets == | == Presidential tickets == | ||
Revision as of 22:45, 12 April 2007
Political party
| Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Howard Dean |
| Founded | 1820s (modern) 1792 (historical) |
| Headquarters | 430 South Capitol Street SE Washington, D.C. 20003 |
| Ideology | Liberalism Progressivism |
| Political position | Center-left Centrist |
| International affiliation | None |
| Colours | Blue (unofficial) |
| Website | |
| www.democrats.org | |
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. It is the oldest active political party in the world today.
Since the 2006 midterm elections the Democratic Party is the majority party for the 110th Congress; the party holds an outright majority in the United States House of Representatives and the Democratic caucus constitutes a majority in the United States Senate. Democrats also hold a majority of state governorships and control a plurality of state legislatures.
The Democratic Party traces its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential Anti-Federalists in 1792. Since the division of the Republican Party in 1912, it has consistently positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party in economic matters. The pro-working class, activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, called "liberalism" in the U.S., has shaped much of the party's agenda since 1932. Roosevelt's New Deal coalition usually controlled the national government through 1964. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, championed by the party despite opposition at the time from its Southern wing, has continued to inspire the party's liberal principles.
Current structure and composition
_US_House_of_Representatives.svg){kind=small}
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is responsible for promoting Democratic campaign activities. While the DNC is responsible for overseeing the process of writing the Democratic Platform, the DNC is more focused on campaign and organizational strategy than public policy. In presidential elections it supervises the Democratic National Convention. The national convention is, subject to the charter of the party, the ultimate authority within the Democratic Party when it is in session, with the DNC running the party's organization at other times. The DNC is currently chaired by former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) assists party candidates in House races; its current chairman (selected by the party caucus) is Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Similarly the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) raises large sums for Senate races. It is currently headed by Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), currently chaired by Joan Fitz-Gerald of Colorado, is a smaller organization with much less funding that focuses on state legislative races. The DNC sponsors the College Democrats of America (CDA), a student-outreach organization with the goal of training and engaging a new generation of Democratic activists. The Young Democrats of America (YDA) is a youth-led organization that attempts to draw in and mobilize young people within the Democratic Party. The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is an organization supporting the candidacies of Democratic gubernatorial nominees and incumbents; it is currently chaired by Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.
Each state also has a state committee, made up of elected committee members as well as ex-officio committee members (usually elected officials and representatives of major constituencies), which in turn elects a chair. County, town, city and ward committees generally are comprised of individuals elected at the local level. State and local committees often coordinate campaign activities within their jurisdiction, oversee local conventions and in some cases primaries or caucuses, and may have a role in nominating candidates for elected office under state law. Rarely do they have much funding, but in 2005 DNC Chairman Dean began a program (called the "50 State Strategy") of using DNC national funds to assist all state parties and paying for full time professional staffers.
Ideology and voter base
Since the 1890s, the Democratic Party has favored "liberal" positions. (The term "liberal" in this sense dates from the New Deal era.) The party has favored farmers, laborers, labor unions, and religious and ethnic minorities; it has opposed unregulated business and finance, and favored progressive income taxes. In foreign policy, internationalism (including interventionism) was a dominant theme from 1913 to the mid 1960s. In the 1930s, the party began advocating welfare spending programs targeted at the poor. The party had a pro-business wing, typified by Al Smith, that shrank in the 1930s. The Southern conservative wing shrank in the 1980s. The major influences for liberalism were the labor unions (which peaked in the 1936-1952 era), and the African American wing, which has steadily grown since the 1960s. Since the 1970s, environmentalism has been a major new component.
In recent decades, the party advocates civil liberties, social freedoms, equal rights, equal opportunity, fiscal responsibility, and a free enterprise system tempered by government intervention (what economists call a mixed economy). The party believes that government should play a role in alleviating poverty and social injustice, even if that means a larger role for government and progressive taxation to pay for social services.
The Democratic Party, once dominant in the Southern states of the former Confederacy, is now strongest in the Northeast (Mid-Atlantic and New England), Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Region and along the Pacific Coast, including California and in Hawaii. The Democrats are also strongest in major cities, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, San Francisco, Dallas, Milwaukee, and Washington D.C.. Recently, Democrats have been faring better in some southern states, such as Virginia, Arkansas, and Florida, and in the Rocky Mountain states, especially Colorado and Montana.
Recent issue stances
Economic issues
- Minimum wage
Democrats favor a higher minimum wage, and more regular increases, in order to assist the working poor. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 is an early component of the Democrats' agenda during the 110th Congress. In 2006, the Democrats supported six state ballot initiatives to increase the minimum wage; all six initiatives passed.
- Renewable energy and oil
Democrats have opposed tax cuts and incentives to oil companies, favoring a policy of developing domestic renewable energy. Democratic governors have led the way in this issue, such as Montana's state-supported wind farm and "clean coal" programs.
- Fiscal responsibility
Democrats are trying to position their party as the party of fiscal responsibility. Democrats increasingly call for responsible tax policies and government spending that keeps the budget deficit under control. The Democratic-led House of Representatives reinstated the PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) budget rule at the start of the 110th Congress. DNC Chairman Howard Dean has cited Bill Clinton's presidency as a model for fiscal responsibility.
- Health care and insurance coverage
Democrats call for "affordable and quality health care," and many advocate an expansion of government intervention in this area. Many Democrats favor a national health insurance system in a variety of forms to address the rising costs of modern health insurance. Some Democrats, such as Senator Edward Kennedy, have called for a program of "Medicare for All."
Some Democratic governors have supported purchasing Canadian drugs, citing lower costs and budget restrictions as a primary incentive. Recognizing that unpaid insurance bills increase costs to the service provider, who passes the cost on to health-care consumers, many Democrats advocate expansion of health insurance coverage.
- Environment
The Democratic Party generally sides with environmentalists and favors conservation of natural resources together with strong environmental laws against pollution. Democrats support preservation of endangered lands and species, clean land management and regulation on pollutants.
The most contentious and concerning environmental issue championed by the party is global warming. Democrats, most notably former Vice President Al Gore, have pressed for stern regulation of greenhouse gases.
- College education
Most Democrats have the long term aim of having low-cost, publicly funded college education with low tuition fees (like in much of continental Europe) which should be available to every eligible American student, or alternatively, with increasing state funding for student financial aid such as the Pell grant or college tuition tax-deduction.
- Trade agreements
The Democratic Party has a mixed record on international trade agreements that reflects a diversity of viewpoints in the party. Generally, more conservative and moderate Democrats favor free trade agreements while those further to the left, supporters of fair trade, populists, and unions often oppose them. In the 1990s, the Clinton administration and a number of prominent Democrats pushed through a number of agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Since then, the party's shift away from free trade became evident in the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) vote, with 15 House Democrats voting for the agreement and 187 voting against.
Social issues
- Discrimination
Democrats support Equal Opportunity for all Americans regardless of sex, age, race, sexual orientation, religion, creed, or national origin.
The Democratic Party mostly supports affirmative action as a way to redress past discrimination and ensure equitable employment regardless of ethnicity or gender, but opposes the use of quotas in hiring. Democrats also strongly support the Americans with Disabilities Act to prohibit discrimination against people on the basis of physical or mental disability.
- Same-sex marriage and LGBT rights
The Democratic Party is divided on the subject of same-sex marriage. Some members favor civil unions for same-sex couples, others favor legalized marriage, and others are opposed to same-sex marriage on religious grounds. The 2004 Democratic National Platform stated that marriage should be defined at the state level and it repudiated the Federal Marriage Amendment. Almost all agree, however, that discrimination against persons because of their sexual orientation is wrong.
- Reproductive rights
The Democratic Party believes that all women should have access to birth control, and supports public funding of contraception for poor women. The Democratic Party, in its national platforms since 1992, has called for abortion to be "safe, legal and rare"—namely, keeping it legal by rejecting laws that allow governmental interference in abortion decisions, and reducing the number of abortions by promoting both knowledge of reproduction and contraception, and incentives for adoption.
The Democratic Party opposes attempts to reverse the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade which recognized abortion as a right. As a matter of the right to privacy and of gender equality, many Democrats believe all women should have the ability to choose without governmental interference. They believe that each woman, conferring with her conscience, has the right to choose for herself whether abortion is morally correct. Many Democrats also believe that poor women should have a right to publicly funded abortions.
- Stem cell research
The Democratic Party has voiced overwhelming support for all stem cell research with federal funding. In his 2004 platform, John Kerry affirmed his support of federally funded stem-cell research "under the strictest ethical guidelines." He explained, "We will not walk away from the chance to save lives and reduce human suffering."
Foreign policy issues
- Invasion of Afghanistan
Democrats in the House of Representatives and United States Senate near-unanimously voted for the authorization of military force against "those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States" in Afghanistan in 2001, supporting the NATO coalition invasion of the nation. Most elected Democrats continue in their support of the Afghanistan conflict, and some have voiced concerns that the Iraq War is shifting too many resources away from the occupation of Afghanistan.
- Iraq War
In 2002, Democrats were divided as most in the Senate voted for the authorization of the use of force against Iraq while most Democrats in the House voted against it. Since then, many prominent Democrats have expressed regret about this decision, such as former Senator John Edwards, and have called it a mistake. Amongst lawmakers, Democrats constitute some of the most vocal critics of the Iraq War and the President's management of the war. Democrats in the House of Representatives near-unanimously supported a non-binding resolution disapproving of President Bush's decision to send additional troops into Iraq in 2007.
- Unilateralism
Democrats mostly oppose the doctrine of unilateralism, which dictates that the United States should use military force without any assistance from other nations whenever it believes there is a threat to its security or welfare. They believe the United States should act in the international arena in concert with strong alliances and broad international support. This was a major foreign policy issue of John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, and unilateralism has been blamed for the failures in Iraq.
In a general sense, the modern Democratic Party is more closely aligned with the international relations theories of liberalism and neoliberalism than realism and neorealism, though realism has some influence on the party.
Legal issues
- Torture
Democrats are opposed to use of torture against individuals apprehended and held prisoner by the military of the United States, and deny that categorizing military prisoners as unlawful combatants excludes them from the rights granted under the Geneva Conventions. Democrats contend that torture is inhumane, decreases the United States' moral standing in the world, and produces questionable results.
- USA PATRIOT Act
All Democrats in the U.S. Senate except for Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold voted for the original USA PATRIOT Act legislation. After voicing concerns over the "invasion of privacy" and other civil liberty restrictions of the Act, the Democrats split on the renewal in 2006. Most Democratic Senators voted to renew it, while most Democratic Representatives voted against renewal. It should be noted renewal was only allowed after many of the most invasive clauses in the Act were removed or curbed.
- Right to privacy
The Democratic Party believes that individuals should have a right to privacy, and generally supports laws which place restrictions on law-enforcement and intelligence agency monitoring of U.S. citizens. Some Democratic Party officeholders have championed consumer-protection laws that limit the sharing of consumer data between corporations.
Most Democrats believe that government should not regulate consensual non-commercial sexual conduct (among adults), as a matter of personal privacy.
- Crime and gun control
Democrats often focus on methods of crime prevention, believing that preventive measures save taxpayers' money in prison, policing and medical costs, and prevent crime and murder. They emphasize improved community policing and more on-duty police officers in order to help accomplish this goal. The party's platform in 2000 and 2004 cited crackdowns on gangs and drug trafficking as preventive methods. The party's platforms have also addressed the issue of domestic violence, calling for strict penalties for offenders and protection for victims.
With a stated goal of reducing crime and homicide, the Democratic Party has introduced various gun control measures, most notably the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Brady Bill of 1993 and Crime Control Act of 1994. However, many Democrats, especially rural, Southern, and Western Democrats, favor fewer restrictions on firearm possession and warned the party was defeated in the 2000 presidential election in rural areas because of the issue. In the national platform for 2004, the only statement explicitly favoring gun control was a plan calling for renewal of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban.
Current factions
Main article: Factions in the Democratic Party (United States)In the House of Representatives, the Blue Dog Democrats, a caucus of fiscal and social conservatives and moderates, primarily southerners, forms part of the Democratic Party's current faction of Conservative Democrats. They have acted as a unified voting bloc in the past, giving its forty plus members some ability to change legislation and broker compromises with the Republican leadership. Pro-life Democrats are sometimes classified as conservatives.
Though centrist Democrats differ on a variety of issues, they typically foster a mix of political views and ideas. Compared to other Democratic factions, they are mostly more supportive of the use of military force, including the war in Iraq, and are more willing to reduce government welfare, as indicated by their support for welfare reform and tax cuts. One of the most influential factions is the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a non-profit organization that advocates centrist positions for the party. The DLC hails President Bill Clinton as proof of the viability of third way politicians and a DLC success story. Former Representative Harold Ford, Jr. of Tennessee is its current chairman.
Liberal Democrats are to the left of centrist Democrats. The liberal faction was dominant in the party for several decades, although they have been hurt by the rise of centrist forces such as President Bill Clinton. Compared to conservatives and moderates, liberal Democrats generally have advocated fair trade and other less conservative economic policies, and a less militaristic foreign policy, and have a reputation of being more forceful in pushing for civil liberties. Liberals are increasingly identified as being part of the larger progressive wing of the party.
Many progressive Democrats are descendants of the New Left of Democratic Presidential candidate/Senator George McGovern of South Dakota; others were involved in the presidential candidacies of Vermont Governor Howard Dean and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio; and still others are disaffected former members of the Green Party. Unifying issues among progressive Democrats have been opposition to the War in Iraq, opposition to economic and social conservatism, opposition to heavy corporate influence in government, support for universal health care, revitalization of the national infrastructure and steering the Democratic Party in the direction of being a more forceful opposition party. Compared to other factions of the party, they've been most critical of the Republican Party, and most supportive of social and economic equality. The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is the single largest Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives.
Since the 1930s, a critical component of the Democratic Party coalition has been organized labor. Labor unions supply a great deal of the money, grass roots political organization, and voting base of support for the party. The overall percentage of employed wage and salary workers that are union members has significantly declined from U.S. unions' peak membership of 36% in the mid-1950s. The historic decline in union membership over the past half century has also been accompanied by a growing disparity between public sector and private sector union membership. The three most significant labor groupings in the Democratic coalition today are the AFL-CIO and Change to Win labor federations, as well as the National Education Association, a large, unaffiliated teachers' union. Both the AFL-CIO and Change to Win have identified their top legislative priority for 2007 as passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Other important issues for labor unions include support for industrial policy (including protectionism) that sustains unionized manufacturing jobs, raising the minimum wage and promoting broad social programs such as social security and universal health care.
Civil libertarians also often support the Democratic Party because its positions on such issues as civil rights and separation of church and state are more closely aligned to their own than the positions of the Republican Party, and because the Democrats' economic agenda may be more appealing to them than that of the Libertarian Party. They oppose gun control, the "War on Drugs," protectionism, corporate welfare, governmental borrowing, and an interventionist foreign policy. The Democratic Freedom Caucus is an organized group of this faction.
History
Main article: History of the United States Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party evolved from the Anti-federalist factions that opposed the fiscal policies of Alexander Hamilton in the early 1790s. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party and the party's key issues included support of states' rights, strict construction of the Constitution, opposition to a national bank, and opposition to elites and aristocrats (and distrustful of moneyed interests), known as Jeffersonian democracy. It won an ascendancy to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812, the party was divided on the issues that once contrasted it from its then-moribund rival, the Federalist Party. The party faction that supported many of the old Jeffersonian principles was later led by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, and became the Democratic Party with the political philosophy known as Jacksonian democracy. The Democratic Party competed with its main rival, the Whig Party, from the 1830s until the 1850s. The issues in this time period were territorial expansion, government patronage jobs, and modernizing programs. As the Democrats became increasingly associated with The Slave Power, and the Whigs splintered over the issue of slavery and faded away, the Republican Party emerged in the 1850s in opposition to the expansion of slavery and in support of modernization.
The Republican Party gained an ascendancy in the election of 1860. As the American Civil War broke out, the Democrats were divided among those in support of the war and those opposed to it. Most War Democrats rallied to President Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans' National Union Party. The Democrats benefited from white Southerners' resentment of Reconstruction after the war and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. After Redeemers ended Reconstruction in the 1870s, and the disenfranchisement of African Americans took place in the 1890s, the South, voting Democratic, became known as the "Solid South." Though Republicans continued to control the White House until 1884, the Democrats remained competitive. The party was dominated by pro-business Bourbon Democrats led by Samuel J. Tilden and Grover Cleveland, who represented mercantile, banking and railroad interests, opposed imperialism and overseas expansion, fought for the gold standard, opposed bimetallism, and crusaded against corruption, high taxes, and tariffs. Cleveland was elected to non-consecutive presidential terms in 1884 and 1892.
Agrarian Democrats demanding free silver overthrew the Bourbon Democrats in 1896 and nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency (a nomination repeated by Democrats in 1900 and 1908). Bryan waged a vigorous campaign attacking Eastern moneyed interests, but he lost to Republican William McKinley. The Democrats took control of the House in 1910 and elected Woodrow Wilson as president in 1912 and 1916. Wilson led Congress to, in effect, put to rest the issues of tariffs, money, and antitrust that had dominated politics for 40 years with new progressive laws. The Great Depression in 1929 that occurred under Republican President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Congress set the stage for a more liberal government; the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives nearly uninterrupted from 1931 until 1995 and won most presidential elections until 1968. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, elected to presidency in 1932, came forth with a mass of programs called the New Deal. New Deal liberalism meant the promotion of social welfare, labor unions, civil rights, and regulation of business. The opponents, who stressed long-term growth, support for business, and low taxes, started calling themselves "conservatives."
Issues facing parties and the United States after the Second World War included the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement. Republicans peeled off conservatives and white Southerners from the Democratic coalition with their resistance to New Deal and Great Society liberalism and the Republicans' use of the Southern Strategy. African Americans traditionally supported the Republican Party and began supporting Democrats following the ascent of the Franklin Roosevelt administration, the New Deal, and the Civil Rights movement. The Democratic Party's main base of support shifted to the Northeast, marking a dramatic reversal of history. Democrat Bill Clinton was elected to the presidency in 1992 and 1996 and governed as a New Democrat while the Democratic Party lost control of Congress in the election of 1994 to the Republican Party; the Democratic Party regained majority control of Congress in 2006. Some of the party's key issues in the early 21st century have included the methods of how to combat terrorism, homeland security, labor rights, environmentalism, and the preservation of liberal government programs.
Presidential tickets
- For a list and details of party presidential candidates in the era of the Congressional nominating caucus, see Democratic-Republican Party (United States).
Resigned from office.
Died in office.
Died before the electoral votes were cast.
Thomas Eagleton was the original vice presidential nominee, but was forced to withdraw his nomination.
2008 nomination
Main articles: Official and potential 2008 United States presidential election Democratic candidates and United States presidential election, 20082004 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio have declared their candidacies for the Democratic presidential nomination. New York Senator Hillary Clinton has declared being in the race, and has formed a presidential exploratory committee. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has also formed an exploratory committee. Other possible candidates include 2000 Democratic Presidential nominee Al Gore as well as retired General Wesley Clark. Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack became a candidate in November, but withdrew from the race in February 2007. 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, once considered possible candidates, have announced that they will not be seeking the party's presidential nomination in 2008.
Senator Clinton has taken an early lead in national opinion polls for the 2008 Democratic nomination. Many early polls have put Senator Obama, and former Senator Edwards closely behind Clinton. Clinton leads many early opinion polls of 2008 Democratic primaries; Edwards often leads opinion polls in the first primary caucus state of Iowa. The Clinton campaign very narrowly led fundraising over Obama in the first quarter of 2007, although twice as many donors gave to Obama as any of his nearest competitors.
Symbols and name
In the 1790s, the Federalists deliberately used the terms "Democrat" and "Democratic Party" as insults against Jeffersonians. For example, in 1798, George Washington wrote that "you could as soon scrub the blackamore white, as to change the principles of a profest Democrat; and that he will leave nothing unattempted to overturn the Government of this Country." By the 1830s, however, the term that had once been considered an insult became the party's name. In the late 19th century, the term "The Democracy" was in common use for the party.
The most common symbol for the party is the donkey, although the party itself never officially adopted this symbol. The origins of this symbol are unknown, but several theories have been proposed. According to one theory, in its original form, the jackass was born in the intense mudslinging that occurred during the presidential race of 1828 in which Andrew Jackson was sometimes called a jackass by his opponents. A political cartoon depicting Jackson riding and directing a donkey (representing the Democratic Party) was published in 1837. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast in an 1870 edition of Harper's Weekly revived the donkey as a symbol for the Democratic Party. Cartoonists followed Nast and used the donkey to represent the Democrats, and the elephant to represent the Republicans.
Although both major political parties (and many minor ones) use the traditional American red, white, and blue colors in their marketing and representations, since election night 2000 the color blue has become the identified color of the Democratic Party, while the color red has become the identified color of the opposition Republican Party. That night, for the first time, all major broadcast television networks used the same color scheme for the electoral map: red for Republicans and blue for Democrats. Since then, the color blue has been widely used by the media to represent the party. It has also been used by party supporters for promotional efforts (e.g BuyBlue, BlueFund) and by the party itself, which in 2006 unveiled the "Red to Blue Program" to support Democratic candidates running against Republican incumbents in the 2006 midterm election.
Jefferson-Jackson Day is the most common name given to the annual fundraising celebration held by local chapters of the Democratic Party. It is named after Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, whom the party regards as its distinguished early leaders.
The song "Happy Days Are Here Again" is the unofficial song of the Democratic Party. It was used prominently when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was nominated for president at the 1932 Democratic National Convention and remains a sentimental favorite for Democrats today. More recently, the emotionally similar song Beautiful Day by the band U2 has become a favorite theme song for Democratic candidates. John Kerry used the song during his campaign, and it was used as a celebratory tune by several Congressional candidates and liberal bloggers.
See also
- Democrat In Name Only
- Democratic organizations
- List of notable Democrats
- List of state Democratic Parties in the U.S.
- Political party strength in the United States
- Red state vs. blue state divide
Notes
- Witcover (2003), Ch. 1, p. 3.
- "Day Two: House passes new budget rules". Associated Press. 2007-01-05. Retrieved 2007-01-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Medicare for All (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-01-25. See also: TedKennedy.com
- "Clinton Joins Key Senate Democrats to Release Report on "The College Cost Crunch"". clinton.senate.gov. 2006-06-28. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Economic Prosperity and Educational Excellence. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.
- Weisman, Jonathan (2005-07-06). "CAFTA Reflects Democrats' Shift From Trade Bills". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Nichols, John (2005-07-28). "CAFTA Vote Outs "Bush Democrats"". The Nation. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Abramsky, Sasha (2005-04-18). "Democrat Killer?". The Nation. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Barabak, Mark Z. (2007-04-09). "Clinton, McCain lose front-runner label". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "George Washington to James McHenry, September 30, 1798". Retrieved 2006-10-12. Transcript.
- History of the Democratic Donkey. Retrieved on 2006-11-15.
- A Fool in the Forest: Music Depreciation at the DNC, accessed 3/18/2007
- Salon.Com - Democrats Are Ready To Lead, accessed 3/18/2007
Bibliography
Surveys
- Finkelman, Paul and Peter Wallenstein, eds. Encyclopedia of American Political History (2001)
- Jensen, Richard. Grass Roots Politics: Parties, Issues, and Voters, 1854-1983 (1983)
- Kleppner, Paul et al. The Evolution of American Electoral Systems (1983), advanced scholarly essays.
- Rutland, Robert Allen. The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton (1995). short popular history
- Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr. ed. History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-2000 (various multivolume editions, latest is 2001). For each election includes good scholarly history and selection of primary document. Essays on the most important election are reprinted in Schlesinger, The Coming to Power: Critical Presidential Elections in American History (1972)
- Schlisinger, Galbraith. Of the People: The 200 Year History of the Democratic Party (1992) popular essays by scholars.
- Taylor, Jeff. Where Did the Party Go?: William Jennings Bryan, Hubert Humphrey, and the Jeffersonian Legacy (2006), for history and ideology of the party.
- Witcover, Jules. Party of the People: A History of the Democrats (2003), 900 page popular history
Since 1992
- Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, The Almanac of American Politics 2006: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts (2005) covers all the live politicians with amazing detail.
- Dark, Taylor, The Unions and the Democrats: An Enduring Alliance (2001)
- Judis, John B. and Ruy Teixeira. The Emerging Democratic Majority (2004) demography is destiny
- Patterson, James T. Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush vs. Gore (2005) well balanced scholarly synthesis.
- Sabato, Larry J. Divided States of America: The Slash and Burn Politics of the 2004 Presidential Election (2005), scholarly study.
- Sabato, Larry J. and Bruce Larson. The Party's Just Begun: Shaping Political Parties for America's Future (2001) scholarly textbook.
Before 1992
- Blum, John Morton. The Progressive Presidents: Roosevelt, Wilson, Roosevelt, Johnson (1980)
- Fraser, Steve and Gary Gerstle, eds. The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930-1980 (1990)
- Kleppner, Paul. The Third Electoral System 1853-1892: Parties, Voters, and Political Cultures (1979), major study of voting patterns in every state
- Ladd Jr., Everett Carll with Charles D. Hadley. Transformations of the American Party System: Political Coalitions from the New Deal to the 1970s 2nd ed. (1978).
- Lawrence, David G. The Collapse of the Democratic Presidential Majority: Realignment, Dealignment, and Electoral Change from Franklin Roosevelt to Bill Clinton (1996)
- Milkis, Sidney M. and Jerome M. Mileur, eds. The New Deal and the Triumph of Liberalism (2002)
- Milkis, Sidney M. The President and the Parties: The Transformation of the American Party System Since the New Deal (1993)
- Nichols, Roy Franklin. The Democratic Machine, 1850-1854 (1923)
- Patterson, James T. Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (1997) well balanced scholarly synthesis.
- Rae, Nicol C. Southern Democrats Oxford University Press. 1994. focus on 1964 to 1992.
- Remini, Robert V. Martin Van Buren and the Making of the Democratic Party (1959)
- Silbey, Joel H. The American Political Nation, 1838-1893 (1991)
- Sundquist, James L. Dynamics of the Party System: Alignment and Realignment of Political Parties in the United States (1983)
External links
- Democratic National Committee
- Democratic Senate Caucus
- Democratic House Caucus
- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
- Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee
- Democratic Governors Association
- Democratic Attorneys General Association
- College Democrats of America
- Young Democrats of America
- Democrats Abroad
- 2004 National Platform (PDF), HTML version
- Charter & Bylaws (PDF)
