Why do Democrats have a much worse party switching problem than Republicans?

[Red Wall]

Sinema, Tulsi, Nighthorse Campbell, Libermann, Van Drew, Jim Justice are some examples. Meanwhile the only notable republican party switched came a long time ago such as Jim Jeffords and Arlen Specter. Not even Murkowski has left the party. Do many democrats stop supporting liberalism when in office and decide to switch?

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

The reason is because the Republican party does not have broader principles or values, beyond "me, me, me." So people who join the Republican party in the first place (especially as politicians) do so in order to do what is in their own personal or financial interest.

Consequently, they can never have a principled reason to leave the Republican party in the first place, because the Republican party does not have principles over which to leave it. On occasion, Republican politicians may leave the Republican party for reasons of self interest. Arlen Specter was an example of this, but it is rare when doing what is in your own personal self interest conflicts with the Republican Party, because the Republican party is fundamentally about self-interest.

Also consequently, the only way it is possible for politicians to leave the Republican party over principles, they do so not over Republican party principles or over policy or anything like that, but rather over more fundamental principles which are American principles rather than Republican principles. For example, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and the like. But even in this case, they do not generally (technically) leave the Republican party and don't start saying they are an independent, they just do one thing (in isolation) in opposition to it such as supporting the Jan 6 committee, or possibly don't even actually do anything in opposition but just verbally speak against it and that's all (like Jeff Flake).

This is also why Kyrsten Sinema really belongs in the Republican party, not the Democratic party. Because for her, it is all about "me, me me."

[lfromnj]

Republicans don't party switch because party switching ruins your value for an MSNBC gig.

[patzer]

Off the top of my head, Justin Amash, Joe Walsh, David Jolly, Charlie Crist, Barbara Bollier, Joy Hofmeister, Evan McMullin...

[Suburbia]

Democrats are seen as too far to the left....a lot of these politicians in the Democratic Party come from the DLC mold...

Vietnam/Anti-War/Anti-Police sentiment really damaged the brand of Democrats for a lot of people like the sexism/racism/homophobia with Republicans

Sinema, Lieberman, etc. are from the center-left of the party.....not the Michael Moore/Sharpton/AOC base

[Roll Roons]

Look up Dawn Addiego. Funny thing is she definitely would have won reelection if she'd stayed a Republican.

[ملكة كرينجيتوك]

From 2015: TL;DR- GOP base is more united than the Dem base

The Republican Party is primarily the agent of an ideological movement whose supporters prize doctrinal purity, while the Democratic Party is better understood as a coalition of social groups seeking concrete government action. This asymmetry is reinforced by American public opinion, which favors left-of-center positions on most specific policy issues yet simultaneously shares the general conservative preference for smaller and less active government.

As kwabbit said, the D coalition is more pluralist (racially, ethnically, religiously, socioeconomically, etc. diverse) than the R coalition. Also there are more right-leaning Dem voters than there are left-leaning GOP voters.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/political-typology-comparison-2021/

I also enjoy the (probably correct) observation that more people in the Democratic coalition have essentially Republican orientations than the reverse, so there is still more low-hanging persuasion fruit for the Republicans to pick, on net. (Also, interesting to note that Republicans with Democratic orientations are an overwhelmingly young group -- likelier in every younger age group, and the effect is really strong -- while Democrats with Republican orientations seem to have virtually no demographic characteristics that mark them apart. A little likelier to be Hispanic than a different race, but even that's only a small effect.)

[Indy Texas]

I'd distinguish party leaving from party switching. Lieberman didn't become a Republican; he became an independent and remained in the Democratic caucus.

Jim Jeffords became an independent in 2001 but he also switched from the GOP to the Democratic caucus and thus flipped control of the chamber.

Jim Justice was a Republican who switched to the Democratic Party in 2016 solely because at the time it was seen as making it easier to get elected governor, and then quickly reverted to form once it became clear the bottom for the party was falling out.

[TDAS04]

Sinema, Tulsi, Nighthorse Campbell, Libermann, Van Drew, Jim Justice are some examples. Meanwhile the only notable republican party switched came a long time ago such as Jim Jeffords and Arlen Specter. Not even Murkowski has left the party. Do many democrats stop supporting liberalism when in office and decide to switch?

Not saying you're wrong, but there were also Chafee and Crist. 

[Alben Barkley]

Democrats are seen as too far to the left....a lot of these politicians in the Democratic Party come from the DLC mold...

Vietnam/Anti-War/Anti-Police sentiment really damaged the brand of Democrats for a lot of people like the sexism/racism/homophobia with Republicans

Sinema, Lieberman, etc. are from the center-left of the party.....not the Michael Moore/Sharpton/AOC base

[Alben Barkley]

I'd distinguish party leaving from party switching. Lieberman didn't become a Republican; he became an independent and remained in the Democratic caucus.

Jim Jeffords became an independent in 2001 but he also switched from the GOP to the Democratic caucus and thus flipped control of the chamber.

Jim Justice was a Republican who switched to the Democratic Party in 2016 solely because at the time it was seen as making it easier to get elected governor, and then quickly reverted to form once it became clear the bottom for the party was falling out.

Justice is an interesting one though because he's also a relatively not awful Republican for his state anyway though. Perhaps more of an old school Republican than either a Democrat or modern Republican in his beliefs, to the extent he has any solid beliefs at all.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

WV is a Republican state it was only D because it was a Robert C Byrd when Byrd and many Dixiecrats flipped Secular after Clinton yrs WVA,LA, MO flipped R, so just because it voted D, it was a Robert C Byrd Dixiecrat state now it's a red states and Dixiecrats weren't Secular they were Traditional because they support Apartheid

It was only after Cold War when Blue became D and R became red Jefferson was a Dixiecrat, FDR was Secular, and Ben Nighthorse Campbell became a moderate republican unlike Shelby or Justice he voted for Abortion and against ANWR DRILLING AND CLIMATE CHANGE LIKE MCCAIN

But, does Joe Manchin have a chance to win even in 24 yes because Doug Jones doesn't always apply Laura Kelly just won and Beshear is fav as the inc Govs in KY all R plus 20 states we need to hold Brown and Tester or Manchin

[ProudModerate2]

Democrats are seen as too far to the left....a lot of these politicians in the Democratic Party come from the DLC mold...

Vietnam/Anti-War/Anti-Police sentiment really damaged the brand of Democrats for a lot of people like the sexism/racism/homophobia with Republicans

Sinema, Lieberman, etc. are from the center-left of the party.....not the Michael Moore/Sharpton/AOC base

LOL. I had to look twice.
I thought it was an olawakandi post.

[Pres Mike]

The Democratic Paty stretches across a much wider spectrum than the Republican Party does. The Democrats are far more big tent.

[Ferguson97]

Because the Democratic Party is a big tent, coalition party. Republicans are much more homogeneous from an ideological and demographic perspective.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Because the Democratic Party is a big tent, coalition party. Republicans are much more homogeneous from an ideological and demographic perspective.

This was once true,  but is not really true now.

[Ferguson97]

Because the Democratic Party is a big tent, coalition party. Republicans are much more homogeneous from an ideological and demographic perspective.

This was once true,  but is not really true now.

I'm not really sure what you think has changed. Could you be more specific?

[Indy Texas]

I'd distinguish party leaving from party switching. Lieberman didn't become a Republican; he became an independent and remained in the Democratic caucus.

Jim Jeffords became an independent in 2001 but he also switched from the GOP to the Democratic caucus and thus flipped control of the chamber.

Jim Justice was a Republican who switched to the Democratic Party in 2016 solely because at the time it was seen as making it easier to get elected governor, and then quickly reverted to form once it became clear the bottom for the party was falling out.

Justice is an interesting one though because he's also a relatively not awful Republican for his state anyway though. Perhaps more of an old school Republican than either a Democrat or modern Republican in his beliefs, to the extent he has any solid beliefs at all.

West Virginia Republicans have historically actually been "not awful" relative to a lot of neighboring states.

Chapman Revercomb was a supporter of civil rights (and was attacked from the right by Robert Byrd on that issue). Shelley Moore Capito is far saner than most federal Republicans.

The crazy ones like Patrick Morrisey and Alex Mooney are out-of-state transplants.

[Mr. Smith]

Democrats are a broader base, the establishment is far less willing to play to ANY of the bases with that zero-sum mentality, AND there are simply more of them in general that can switch.

Also the conservative and far-right media love that Dems in Disarray narrative.

Oh and the GOP are far better at persuasion.

[Alben Barkley]

I'd distinguish party leaving from party switching. Lieberman didn't become a Republican; he became an independent and remained in the Democratic caucus.

Jim Jeffords became an independent in 2001 but he also switched from the GOP to the Democratic caucus and thus flipped control of the chamber.

Jim Justice was a Republican who switched to the Democratic Party in 2016 solely because at the time it was seen as making it easier to get elected governor, and then quickly reverted to form once it became clear the bottom for the party was falling out.

Justice is an interesting one though because he's also a relatively not awful Republican for his state anyway though. Perhaps more of an old school Republican than either a Democrat or modern Republican in his beliefs, to the extent he has any solid beliefs at all.

West Virginia Republicans have historically actually been "not awful" relative to a lot of neighboring states.

Chapman Revercomb was a supporter of civil rights (and was attacked from the right by Robert Byrd on that issue). Shelley Moore Capito is far saner than most federal Republicans.

The crazy ones like Patrick Morrisey and Alex Mooney are out-of-state transplants.

Agreed, West Virginia is certainly a very interesting state politically. You'd expect a Rick Scott or Ron Johnson to emerge from there and a Shelly Moore Capito to emerge from Wisconsin or Florida based on recent voting patterns, yet it's the opposite. We'll see who replaces Manchin though, if he does in fact lose. If it's Justice, the pattern of WV being relatively sane may hold. If it's Mooney or someone crazier, however...

[Hammy]

The fact that you see people leaving the Dems but not the GOP should, if anything, illustrate just how far from the center the GOP has gone

[Alben Barkley]

One thing I would appreciate is if Angus King and Bernie Sanders officially joined the Democratic Party to counter Sinema's defection.

Their "I'm above this partisan stuff" schtick has grown old and looks childish. We live in relatively black and white times. Pick the side of fascism or don't. "But I'm an independent!" is a ridiculous copout. Let Sinema try that, but don't be aligned with her in it, not if you are serious in your so-called "principles."

It's such a seemingly small thing, and yet it matters so much to me and many others. Be a team player for Christ's sake. Get over yourselves. I get it's part of their brands at this point but I doubt their voters would bat an eye.

Also: I was just reminded of how cool it would have been if Stephen King had beaten Susan Collins for Maine's other Senate seat and the Maine delegation was King/King. What a waste!

[DaleCooper]

The fact that you see people leaving the Dems but not the GOP should, if anything, illustrate just how far from the center the GOP has gone

This is a Sinema thing and she's probably been laying the groundwork for this since she won in 2018.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Rep. Michael Forbes R-NY switched to being a Democrat but forgot to change his views on abortion, so of course lost the primary.

[MABA 2020]

Opportunists have more options for opportunism in the Republican Party