7 ms·

The Democratic Party is too large of an umbrella these days. Anybody whose primary concerns are among fiscal responsibility/the deficit, public education, effec

The Democratic Party is too large of an umbrella these days. Anybody whose primary concerns are among fiscal responsibility/the deficit, public education, effective foreign policy, civil rights, human rights, political corruption, science based public health/policy, climate change, domestic extremism, an independent judiciary etc. has moved into the democratic party. The Republican Party is for people whose primary concern is one of a theocratic judiciary, paying less taxes if you make more than $400k/yr, white nationalism, extractive industries, military contractors, unrestricted access to any/all classes of firearms. In both of those groups there are large pro-business, anti-labor contingents. Hopefully one day we will move to ranked choice voting and other mechanisms that allow 3rd parties to compete and we can have more meaningful and direct connections between parties and specific policies instead of these two loose coalitions.

lawnchair_larry 6y ago
Have you ever talked to a single Republican? You’re way off base, especially with the race baiting.
- moate 6y ago
  What do you view the Republican platform as being? What specifically is he wrong about?
  - edmundsauto 6y ago
    OP is wrong about unrestricted access to all weapons. And not all Republicans are anti-abortion, although that is a big part of their platform due to the control it gives over evangelicals. (That is to say, I think if there is a schism, the more centric version of the party would not be anti-abortion.) Also, white nationalism is only embraced by a small percentage of the party. It's not really part of their platform, it's just what the loudest shouters in the party want. (Disclaimer: I do not identify as repbulican, but if this is your best faith effort to define their platform, you lack empathy for them which means you'll never understand even their lucid ideas. Granted, many of their ideas are vague and not lucid.)
    - myownpetard 6y ago
      > whose primary concern is one of... I'm not saying that all Republicans are white nationalist and anti-abortion but I haven't met a Republican whose primary political concern wasn't one of the issues I listed. And everybody I've met whose primary issue is one of those that I listed has been Republican. The vast majority of my extended family, whom I love, is Republican. There isn't some great mystery to understanding their political motivations.
- myownpetard 6y ago
  Yes, many. I'm not saying that all Republicans are all of those things, just that those are the coalitions that make up the current Republican Party. Did I miss a Republican Party coalition from my list? But this is also I reason why I think ranked-choice voting is so compelling. I've met Republicans who essentially only vote Republican because they want to defend their 2nd amendment right but otherwise would be much more likely to support left-wing economic causes. But the way policies are bundled in our two parties they are forced to vote according to their primary concern.
  - myownpetard 6y ago
    Likewise there are a lot of working class Christians who would be strong allies in a labor movement but if that movement is inextricably linked to a pro-choice party it is a non-starter for them.
- Frondo 6y ago
  Entirely anecdotal, of course, but several of my republican relatives (big family) moved to Idaho a year and change ago -- shortly before the covid era. The last family gathering we all had together, pre-covid thanksgiving, they all spent much of the time telling me how I had to "be afraid" of Mexicans and Arabs for a variety of reasons. I'm kind of dumb in social situations and kind of polite so I just stood there entirely unsure how I should even respond to that. have I talked to a single republican? I've talked to several that I'd known all my life, who all came out with the race baiting stuff.

lawnchair_larry 6y ago

Have you ever talked to a single Republican? You’re way off base, especially with the race baiting.

moate 6y ago
What do you view the Republican platform as being? What specifically is he wrong about?
- edmundsauto 6y ago
  OP is wrong about unrestricted access to all weapons. And not all Republicans are anti-abortion, although that is a big part of their platform due to the control it gives over evangelicals. (That is to say, I think if there is a schism, the more centric version of the party would not be anti-abortion.) Also, white nationalism is only embraced by a small percentage of the party. It's not really part of their platform, it's just what the loudest shouters in the party want. (Disclaimer: I do not identify as repbulican, but if this is your best faith effort to define their platform, you lack empathy for them which means you'll never understand even their lucid ideas. Granted, many of their ideas are vague and not lucid.)
  - myownpetard 6y ago
    > whose primary concern is one of... I'm not saying that all Republicans are white nationalist and anti-abortion but I haven't met a Republican whose primary political concern wasn't one of the issues I listed. And everybody I've met whose primary issue is one of those that I listed has been Republican. The vast majority of my extended family, whom I love, is Republican. There isn't some great mystery to understanding their political motivations.
myownpetard 6y ago
Yes, many. I'm not saying that all Republicans are all of those things, just that those are the coalitions that make up the current Republican Party. Did I miss a Republican Party coalition from my list? But this is also I reason why I think ranked-choice voting is so compelling. I've met Republicans who essentially only vote Republican because they want to defend their 2nd amendment right but otherwise would be much more likely to support left-wing economic causes. But the way policies are bundled in our two parties they are forced to vote according to their primary concern.
- myownpetard 6y ago
  Likewise there are a lot of working class Christians who would be strong allies in a labor movement but if that movement is inextricably linked to a pro-choice party it is a non-starter for them.
Frondo 6y ago
Entirely anecdotal, of course, but several of my republican relatives (big family) moved to Idaho a year and change ago -- shortly before the covid era. The last family gathering we all had together, pre-covid thanksgiving, they all spent much of the time telling me how I had to "be afraid" of Mexicans and Arabs for a variety of reasons. I'm kind of dumb in social situations and kind of polite so I just stood there entirely unsure how I should even respond to that. have I talked to a single republican? I've talked to several that I'd known all my life, who all came out with the race baiting stuff.