At 10:54 PM -0500 13/1/03, Nathan Newman wrote:
>Bowles down in North Carolina. You just didn't hear much about most of
>those folks because most of them won their elections easily. As I repeat,
>80% of Dems run on all the strong positions folks demand, yet people insist
>on attributing the position of the most moderate 20% to the whole party.
-Let me get the terminology straight. I take it that the extreme right-wing rump of the party -(the tail that wags the dog) are commonly known as the "moderates", does - this mean that the invisible majority of members, who are follow popular -opinion on these issues, are known as the "extremists"?
The "moderates" vote almost unanimously to raise the minimum wage, almost unanimously in support of gay rights and civil rights, almost unanimously in support of increased environmental regulation, and almost unanimously in support of core labor rights to organize. Even on tax issues, on amendments to the 2001 bill, they almost unanimously voted to tax the wealthy more steeply.
Where they differ from the rest of the party is on a certain number of votes differing from that 80% consensus, but still voting radically different from the GOP alternative. Aside from literally six or seven Democrats in both houses, the most conservative Democrats are far to the left of the most liberal Republicans.
-- Nathan Newman