Edi wrote:As I recall, this started as a gun control thread, and I remarked on how it seems from an outside point of view, and besides the Duchess (and you, obviously), everyone else commenting on the Dems political placement in this thread is from Europe, so context of American politics my ass.
This is an American policy issue, proposed by American polticians, to take effect in America (should it pass), on Americans, so of course it's just absurd to view it within the context of American politics.
Edi wrote:If you ran the political spectrums of America and Europe together into a single continuous band, the Democrats would occupy a place ranging from considerably right of centre to just about the middle for their left wing. That's where Simon's comment comes from, as he's from Denmark. We don't necessarily bend over backward to fit everything into the American context even if we speak about American political parties. Why do you think I specifically made the distinction earlier about how the political landscape looks like tonon-Americans? Simon, a non-American, replied to that comment, so the context (European political landscape) should have been pretty clear.
Perhaps it does look that way to a European, and I grant you, I missed that. But is still makes the most sense to look at the politcal spectrum, and where parties stand, in relation to the electorate of that country. However, a lot of the Democrats, especially in the upper echelons of the party right now are more left wing than you think. Nancy Pelosi, for example, the current Democratic leader in the House, is extremely liberal, favoring higher taxes and more social programs every chance she gets. She has voted for higher income taxes. She voted for the death tax. She even voted against repealing the marriage tax penalty! She wants this money for more social programs, because she is basically a socialist in her ideology. Other Democratic leaders, like Tom Daschle, Dick Gephardt, David Bonior, et al. are more left leaning than I suspect most people realize. The thing is, they have to moderate their stances somewhat, because they are savvy enough politicians to know that a lot of the things that are dear to their hearts simply do not play well to the American public. That doesn't change the fact that they are markedly leftist. Again, in Pelosi's case, even a lot of Democrats were shaking their heads with foreboding when Pelosi was selected to replace Gephardt as House minority leader, because even a lot of Democrats felt she was too left wing, and feared she'd alienate mainstream America. But she was still selected because that's where the Democratic party laedership's collective heart lies - to the left. I grant you, they are not as far left as some of Europe's parties are, but they're still left.
