Upon foundation, the Democratic Party supported
agrarianism, and the
Jacksonian democracy movement of President
Andrew Jackson, representing farmers and rural interests, and traditional
Jeffersonian democrats.
[47] Since the 1890s, the party has favored
liberal positions (the term "liberal" in this sense describes
modern liberalism, rather than
classical liberalism or
economic liberalism). In recent
exit polls, the Democratic Party has had broad appeal across all socio-ethno-economic demographics.
[48][49][50]
Historically, the party has represented 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 fiscally conservative, pro-business wing, typified by
Grover Cleveland and
Al Smith, and a
Southern conservative wing that shrank after President
Lyndon B. Johnson supported the
Civil Rights Act of 1964. The major influences for liberalism were 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.
The Democratic Party, once dominant in the
Southeastern United States, is now strongest in the Northeast (
Mid-Atlantic and
New England),
Great Lakes region, and the
West Coast (including
Hawaii). The Democrats are also very strong in
major cities (regardless of region).
Social scientists Theodore Caplow et al. argue, "the Democratic
party, nationally, moved from left-center toward the center in the 1940s
and 1950s, then moved further toward the right-center in the 1970s and
1980s."
[51]
Centrists
Centrist Democrats, or
New Democrats, are an ideologically
centrist faction within the Democratic Party that emerged after the victory of
Republican George H. W. Bush in the
1988 presidential election. They are an economically
liberal and "
Third Way"
faction which dominated the party for around 20 years starting in the
late 1980s after the US populace turned much further to the
political right. They are represented by organizations such as the
New Democrat Network and the
New Democrat Coalition.
The New Democrat Coalition is a pro-business, pro-growth, and
fiscally conservative congressional coalition.
[52] Compared to other Democratic factions, they are mostly more supportive of the use of military force, including the
war in Iraq, are more supportive of
free trade, and are more willing to reduce government welfare, as indicated by their support for
welfare reform and
tax cuts.
[citation needed]
One of the most influential centrist groups was the
Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a nonprofit organization that advocated
centrist positions for the party. The DLC hailed President
Bill Clinton as proof of the viability of "
Third Way" politicians and a DLC success story; the DLC disbanded in 2011. Much of the former DLC is now represented in the think tank
Third Way.
[53]
While not representing a majority of the Democratic Party electorate,
a decent amount of Democratic elected officials have self-declared as
being centrists. Some of these Democrats are former President
Bill Clinton, former Vice President
Al Gore, Senator
Mark Warner, former Pennsylvania governor
Ed Rendell, former senator
Jim Webb, Vice President
Joe Biden, congresswoman
Ann Kirkpatrick and former congressman
Dave McCurdy.
[54][55]
The New Democrat Network supports socially moderate, fiscally
conservative Democratic politicians and operates the congressional
New Democrat Coalition in the House and Senate.
[56] Congressman
Ron Kind is the chairperson of the coalition
[54] and former Senator and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton was a member while in Congress.
[57] Before he became President, Senator
Barack Obama was self-described as a New Democrat.
[58]
Conservatives
A Conservative Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with
conservative
political views, or with views relatively conservative with respect to
those of the national party. While such members of the Democratic Party
can be found throughout the nation, actual elected officials are
disproportionately found within the
Southern states, and to a lesser extent within
rural regions of the
United States generally, more commonly in the
West. Historically,
Southern Democrats were generally much more ideologically
conservative than conservative Democrats are now.
Many conservative Southern Democrats defected to the
Republican Party, beginning with the passage of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the general leftward shift of the party.
Strom Thurmond of
South Carolina,
Billy Tauzin of
Louisiana,
Kent Hance and
Ralph Hall of
Texas, and
Richard Shelby of
Alabama
are examples of this. The influx of conservative Democrats into the
Republican Party is often cited as a reason for the GOP's shift further
to the right during the late 20th century, as well as the shift of its
base from the Northeast and Midwest to the South.
The Democratic Party had a conservative element, mostly from the
South and Border regions, into the 1980s. Their numbers declined sharply
as the Republican Party built up its Southern base. They were sometimes
humorously called "
Yellow dog Democrats," or "
boll weevils," "
Dixiecrats." In the
House, they form the
Blue Dog Coalition, a caucus of
fiscal conservatives and
social conservatives
and moderates, primarily southerners, willing to broker compromises
with the Republican leadership. They have acted as a unified voting bloc
in the past, giving its forty plus members some ability to change
legislation.
There was a split vote among many conservative Southern Democrats in
the 1970s and 1980s. Some supported local and statewide conservative
Democrats while simultaneously voting for Republican presidential
candidates.
[59]
