Are Left-Wing Politics dead in the USA?

Question

Something I noticed yesterday and CNN commented on as well. Many of the Democrats who had beaten Republicans were very Moderate. One example is Casey in Pennsylvania where I currently reside. He is pro-life similar to Harry Reid. The man who won in Montana and the Women who won in Missouri are also moderate (though their names escape me). My question is has the Democratic Party become a middle or moderate party and have left wing politics become dead in the USA?

So far all the answers suck.

Answer 1

This is a long anwer, but I strongly suggest and hope you read it, maybe it won't su..

I think they are still a number of Americans who are left or far left. In the presidential democratic primary in Ohio in 2004, Representative Dennis Kucinich who is about as far left as you can go and similar in positions to Greens and Ralph Nader took 9% of the vote in Ohio on super Tuesday with next to zero news coverage. He took something like 27% in Oregon one month about the convention months AFTER Kerry was already the presumptive nomineeand he had no chance of winning. This was because people wanted to show they wanted his platform (everyone dropped out but Dennis who had previously said he would continue to run until the primary and then support the nominee at the convention.

He even took first place in Hawaii and all this with less than 1% media coverage, so this means it all came from grassroots--one person getting excited about him and his positions (but both were outstanding) and telling another. I talked to many people at speeches who told me they never campaigned or voted before but he was the real deal.

Also activists tend to be more liberal and each activist sways a lot more people than the average person. They are well versed in politics, hard workers, passionate, and have persuasive ability; consequently, they have a good deal of influence.

I think there appears , unfortunately, to have been a swing to the right, but that may not necessarily be a real swing, but one created by the media and politicians and rigged elections and polls to make people think they stand alone to discourage them and activism and to be able to alternate parties in power (by rigged voting machines sometimes picking dems and sometimes picking reps to make it not look as suspicious to the public and somewhat match polls. If they make it seem that everyone in the country is mre to the right, their can put more conservative positions on democrats in congress' plates and it seems they are doing the will of the people.

This way they (corporations/wealthy elites in charge of things) get to have dems in there and still get what they want as both parties always give them what they want although there are sub issues of the people that sometimes are more to the left and sometimes more to the right.

If the corporate owned media can convince us that the country has swung more to the right, it is easier for lobbyists of corporations, etc to get things passed, regardless of party in power, that benefit them. It also discourages true leftist dems and greens and makes them feel noone thinks like them.

Stand downtown by a bus stop and talk to people like I have when gathering petition signatures for the minimum wage or universal health care or rally against the war and see passerbys support you and you will find that plenty of people think quite liberally especially poor and working poor people of which they are plenty of them. Middle class too. It is just the media rarely shows the protests and things we do...and the news especially fox is very conservative..and can make any issue they want an issue by whether or not they feature and focus on it. Believe you me, if they were told to find people who thought on the left, they would find tons of them...they just ignore people on the left and it gives the appearance the whole country is more right Few people refused to sign my (free) health care for all Ohioans" ballot inititive (which is cheaper than what we have now according to the government's own studies-GAO). We got 1/2 million people in Ohio to sign minimum wage petition which passed handily despite opoosition scare tactics and being vastly outspent on). All minumum wage issues in other states passed handily..

I would not be surprised if they had a deal with high up dems...run conservative dems and we will let the voting machines pick your side (they got so much benefit from Bush already..they can give up 2 years as he accomplished far more in 6 years for them who put him there then most do in 8 years or even more. Drastic changes introduced under Bush.

I thought it a little suspicious that election night fox immediately and constantly stressed these where conservative dems and no one thought or wanted liberal people like Pelosi (who not really that liberal even). It was almost like a preplanned talking point..it was a little too quick.

If we ever got all the crooks out(95% of them), changed laws to favor third parties more like the greens who are liberals (and honest to boot) and broke up corporate media monopolies and had real news and real voting that counts and no voting machines and more diversity of opinions expressed on TV, etc, you would find the liberal and the left are still here.

It was we, the far leftist, inner city college students, minorities, and poor who perserveered in 2-13 hour lines waiting to vote when we thought the vote might count in Ohio before we learned it doesn't. It was we lefist citizens who knocked on doors and registered scores of people to vote from these groups. The left is here in the communities across America...untalked about and unfocused on.

Our job as leftist is to get involved with politics, activism, run organized boycotts of our money power, helping those in need of help that government abandons, and get in the streets...do that and even if media and politics still ignore us at least you aren't part of the problem but are seeking solutions, never giving up, and making a difference till our ripples make a wave.

Meade said "never doubt that a small group of passionate, committed people can change things indeed it is the only thing that ever has." Chin up..I, too, sometimes feel noone thinks like me, but I am wrong and listening to what the media is spinning.= instead of what I see around me.

Answer 2

No. It's alive and well and working in Congress now. I have a problem with the Democrats extreme views. Joe Lieberman is my kind of moderate Democrat who is a logical thinker, but the mainstream Democrats at the moment have pushed him out.

Casey is a poor example. He didn't want the job until he was strong-armed into it by the Democrat machine in Pennsylvania. They knew that he could win on his father's name, Bob Casey, Sr., who was well liked and who died after getting a liver and heart transplant. Both Casey and Santorum have very similar views on choice and "pulling the plug," but many were angry with Santorum for having gotten involved in the Schiavo case, which I'm sure, if pressed, Casey would agree with Santorum that the feeding tube should not have been pulled. He just didn't go down there and get involved. I think Pennsylvania is going to be very sorry for choosing Casey. It's not good to have a freshman senator who's a nice, quiet guy.

Answer 3

First of all, it most definitely seems like it's a matter of opinion whether life is, in fact, so much better in Europe than the USA, but for the sake of answering this question, let's assume that happens to be true. If that's true, it could be that there are lots of other reasons, other than religious, that it's that way. Regardless of what you might think of the USA, it is one of the most unique social/political experiments that have ever been attempted, and, yes, it's very easy to point our fingers at flaws in the system, corruption and other things we don't like. From what I can tell, our lives, the future of the United States and the world and lots of other things are works-in-progress. Best wishes to you in finding a country that you like.

Answer 4

Not sure it is relevant. Some people will say a Democrat is "moderate" if they have one or two differences from the party platform. I don't think that is necessarily the case. As long as a viewpoint is thoughtfully held, I am not inclined to consider the person a left or right winger.

Answer 5

Left wing politcs like Right-wing politics are dead. America wants centrists. That's why Hilary Clinton has the best shot at winning the Presidency.

Answer 6

The ones that won are really republicans in disguise, put there on purpose just to insure that the left radicals will finally shut up. It's working right?

Answer 7

What makes you so sure we're the crazy nutcases your radio guys claim we are in the first place? Democrats are for a sound & sane government. If that's "moderate", ok, we're moderate. Whatever.

Mostly you are just buying into GOP spin.

Answer 8

Conservative speaking democrats won.The leaders are libs.Freshman congressmen and junior senators get nothing that the leadership does not give them.They will have to vote liberal or they will not get seats on committees and may not get support in the next election.Don't be fooled America is not for liberals if they were we had enough liberal republicans already in office.

Answer 9

Nope! It's cause they want votes, and if you're full democrat then you don't get many other votes. Like 3rd parties and Republicans who didn't like the other person..

Answer 10

THE REPUBLICANS ARE GOING TO BE A 3RD PARTY IN 2008.