Are Democrats right-wing?

[AGA]

Establishment Democrats support capitalism, private property, etc.

[Benjamin Frank]

My history teacher in high school (Mr Commons) said that any supporter of a capitalist system was on the right, so that included liberals.  In the late 1980s, that was kind of shocking to hear because the Republicans were then, as now, claiming there was no difference between liberals and communists.

[gerritcole]

Marx was right wing

[ProgressiveModerate]

Just because the median Democrat might be to the right of where you stand, doesn't make them right wing; that's a very self centered way of looking at poltitics IMO, and it honestly gets me mad whenever I hear people talk about Republicans being left wing RINOS or Democrats right wing DINOS. If they don't share your values, fine, but that doesn't mean you can completely redefine the center of gravity.

[Red Velvet]

Center-right.

[Dr. MB]

not unless you use a childish definition of left vs right as in "left wing = wants to get rid of capitalism, right wing = doesn't want to get rid of capitalism no matter how much they want to reform or regulate it"

And in the American sense anyway the Democrats are the left and the Republicans are the right, like it or not. Foreign politics don't apply. Work with what you've got.

[LM Brazilian Citizen]

Yes and no. Even if we don't include foreign policy, the dominant wing of the party is still center-right, that favor big corporations, which includes, although it's a small faction in the party, of Blue Dog Democrats, social liberals and fiscal conservatives, predominant (although recently slightly less) in the South, while we have a liberal majority wing from center to center left and a populist and social democratic left wing led by Sanders with influences from dwarf political parties like the Democratic Socialists of America and the Social Democratic Party USA.

[Red Velvet]

Yes and no. Even if we don't include foreign policy, the dominant wing of the party is still center-right, that favor big corporations, which includes, although it's a small faction in the party, of Blue Dog Democrats, social liberals and fiscal conservatives, predominant (although recently slightly less) in the South, while we have a liberal majority wing from center to center left and a populist and social democratic left wing led by Sanders with influences from dwarf political parties like the Democratic Socialists of America and the Social Democratic Party USA.

Pretty much. They’re basically a PSDB, while republicans would be a mix of PSL + NOVO.

Difference is that PSDB trend is moving right in the last 3 decades, while US democrats are moving left, even if slowly. In the 90s, PSDB would be the leftier one, nowadays it’s probably 90s Democrats.

The PSDB Brazilian voters in the US voted against Trump, but for Bolsonaro. Which puts them closer to the right than to the left.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=383466.msg7464405#msg7464405

We have this thread every year, and the answer is always "no" from anyone who actually understands anything about comparative politics.

[All Along The Watchtower]

You mean the party that just this past week passed a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill that is explicitly targeted toward middle and lower income Americans?

I could maybe understand someone asking this question in like, 1996, but now? What?!

[free my dawg]

lol

[free my dawg]

I'm genuinely confused why you'd ask this question. From your posts and ideology you seem like one of the more neoliberal Democrats on here.

[1978 New Wave skinny trousers]

The market is left-wing, as it demands an unforgiving and perhaps even cruel level of equality that would never be accepted in conservative social structures like kinship networks, feudal aristocracies, and labor unions.

By that metric, the Democrats were left-wing 1828-1896; left-wing 1896-1972; and left-wing since McGovern's nomination.

No, by that metric the Democratic Party was always right-wing, both in the 19th century because it supported the Southern feudal aristocracy, and since the 20th century because it has generally supported labor unions. The first part is true, but supporting labor unions obviously isn’t right-wing. Then again this post is clearly ironic so I don’t know why I’m taking it seriously.

[AGA]

I'm genuinely confused why you'd ask this question. From your posts and ideology you seem like one of the more neoliberal Democrats on here.

Just seeing what people think. I don't actually think that they're right-wing.

[PSOL]

They are the left wing of Capital, which is just a fancier term to say the left wing of the establishment—i.e. due to structural barriers to entry, they are the safe alternative for our elites.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

They're left-of-center compared if the GOP is the right-of-center party, with factions in the center and factions on the left, perhaps far-left, yes. But they're also much more left-wing on social issues than on economical and especially foreign issues.

I wouldn't they say are center-right. Especially from the perspective of an American they're certainly left-of-center and have been moving further to the left in recent years, that's also clear.

That being said, a lot of European parties tend to have been more left-wing than the Democratic Party itself, even supposedly centrist European parties, especially in the past. I would argue that a lot of christian democratic parties are simply more to the left than the Democratic Party, but that has changed since the Democratic Party has been moving to the left, while mostly all traditional European parties have been moving to the right on economic issues. And on social issues too the Democratic Party is now to the left than most christian democratic parties.

I would say they're perhaps similar to social liberal parties in Europe, with factions of social democracy, christian democracy, modern liberalism as well as a growing faction of democratic socialists.

So the answer is no, they're left-wing. But the distinction wasn't that clear always.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Establishment Democrats support capitalism, private property, etc.

Most on the left actually do nowadays. I would even argue a lot of today's far-left forces do support capitalism and private property, at least the latter part is commonly accepted in communist circles. While communists tend to be the most against capitalism, but even people like Sanders do support capitalism. All they want to do is change the balance a bit. There are few people advocating for a hard communist system.

So, by that metric, I suppose, the left already is dead.

[Nightcore Nationalist]

lol.











Serious answer: they are the left side of the NeoLiberal coin.  The left embraces the market and big business/the financial industry because it helps them achieve their goals.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Oh and...

Establishment Democrats support capitalism, private property, etc.

...well, you see, some important events happened in the late 1980s and early 1990s that kind of settled this question. Though as far as the Democratic Party is concerned, to the extent that this was ever a question it was settled by the late 1940s.

[Ferguson97]

The Democrats are only right-wing if you ignore social issues, immigration, and welfare issues.

[Big Abraham]

The Democrats are only right-wing if you ignore social issues, immigration, and welfare issues.

OP specified establishment Democrats, most of whom do not broadly support a welfare state, the most minimal of which includes a national insurance program.

Also, loosening immigration laws isn't a left-wing policy, either. It's a neoliberal one, as the need for cheap labor is fulfilled with less restrictive borders and the "free flow of capital and labor." It's why, historically, most unions and participants in the labor movement wanted a more restrictive immigration platform, which, in that context, is no right-wing measure.

[Bootes Void]

where is the answer for "extremely"?

[Ferguson97]

The Democrats are only right-wing if you ignore social issues, immigration, and welfare issues.

OP specified establishment Democrats, most of whom do not broadly support a welfare state, the most minimal of which includes a national insurance program.

Also, loosening immigration laws isn't a left-wing policy, either. It's a neoliberal one, as the need for cheap labor is fulfilled with less restrictive borders and the "free flow of capital and labor." It's why, historically, most unions and participants in the labor movement wanted a more restrictive immigration platform, which, in that context, is no right-wing measure.

Xenophobic.

I support loose immigration restrictions because I think people have the right to immigrate where they like.

Your assertion that "if the unions support it, it must be left-wing" is not founded in reality.

Horseshoe theory gains more traction every day.

[Big Abraham]

The Democrats are only right-wing if you ignore social issues, immigration, and welfare issues.

OP specified establishment Democrats, most of whom do not broadly support a welfare state, the most minimal of which includes a national insurance program.

Also, loosening immigration laws isn't a left-wing policy, either. It's a neoliberal one, as the need for cheap labor is fulfilled with less restrictive borders and the "free flow of capital and labor." It's why, historically, most unions and participants in the labor movement wanted a more restrictive immigration platform, which, in that context, is no right-wing measure.

Xenophobic.

I support loose immigration restrictions because I think people have the right to immigrate where they like.

Your assertion that "if the unions support it, it must be left-wing" is not founded in reality.

Horseshoe theory gains more traction every day.

So do the Waltons.

[Ferguson97]

The Democrats are only right-wing if you ignore social issues, immigration, and welfare issues.

OP specified establishment Democrats, most of whom do not broadly support a welfare state, the most minimal of which includes a national insurance program.

Also, loosening immigration laws isn't a left-wing policy, either. It's a neoliberal one, as the need for cheap labor is fulfilled with less restrictive borders and the "free flow of capital and labor." It's why, historically, most unions and participants in the labor movement wanted a more restrictive immigration platform, which, in that context, is no right-wing measure.

Xenophobic.

I support loose immigration restrictions because I think people have the right to immigrate where they like.

Your assertion that "if the unions support it, it must be left-wing" is not founded in reality.

Horseshoe theory gains more traction every day.

So do the Waltons.

And white supremacists oppose immigration because they hate brown people, what's your point?