TRNN Debate: Is the Democrats Talkathon on Climate Change Just Talk?
Center for American Progress Director of Climate Strategy Daniel Weiss and IPS Fellow Daphne Wysham debate whether Senate #39;s all nighter means Democrats are s...
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TRNN Debate: Is the Democrats Talkathon on Climate Change Just Talk? - Video
The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the younger Republican Party. Tracing its origins back to the Democratic-Republican Party, the modern Democratic Party was founded around 1828.[9] There have been 15 Democratic presidents, the first being Andrew Jackson, who served from 1829 to 1837; the most recent is the current president, Barack Obama, who has served since 2009.
Since the 1930s, the party has promoted a social liberal platform.[2][10][11] Until the late 20th century the party had a powerful conservative wing based in the rural South, which over time has greatly diminished. Today its Congressional caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists.[12]
As of the 113th Congress, following the 2012 elections, the Democratic Party holds a minority of seats in the House of Representatives and a majority of seats in the United States Senate, as well as a minority of state governorships and control of a minority of state legislatures.
The Democratic Party evolved from the Jeffersonian Republican or Democratic-Republican Party organized by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in opposition to the Federalist party of Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. The party favored republicanism, a weak federal government, states' rights, agrarian interests (especially Southern planters) and strict adherence to the Constitution; it opposed a national bank, close ties to Great Britain, and business and banking interests. The Party came to power in the election of 1800.
After the War of 1812, the Federalists virtually disappeared and the Jeffersonian party split into factions. They split over the choice of a successor to President James Monroe, and the party faction that supported many of the old Jeffersonian principles, led by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, became the Democratic Party. Other factions led by Henry Clay helped form the Whig Party. The Democratic Party had a small advantage over the Whigs until the 1850s, when the Whigs fell apart over the issue of slavery. In 1854, angry with the KansasNebraska Act, anti-slavery Democrats left the party and joined Northern Whigs to form the Republican Party.[13][14]
The Democrats split over the choice of a successor to President James Buchanan along Northern and Southern lines; factions of the party provided two separate candidacies for President in the election of 1860, in which the Republican Party gained ascendancy. Southern Democrats, after some delegates followed the lead of the Fire-Eaters by walking out of the Democratic convention at Charleston's Institute Hall in April 1860, and were subsequently joined by those who, once again led by the Fire-Eaters, left the Baltimore Convention the following June when the convention would not adopt a resolution supporting extending slavery into territories whose voters did not want it, nominated the pro-slavery incumbent Vice-President, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, for President and General Joseph Lane, former Governor of Oregon, for Vice President. The Northern Democrats proceeded to nominate Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois for President and former Governor of Georgia Herschel V. Johnson for Vice-President, while some southern Democrats joined the Constitutional Union Party, backing its nominees (who had both been prominent Whig leaders), former Senator, Speaker of the House, and Secretary of War John Bell of Tennessee for President and the politician, statesman, and educator Edward Everett of Massachusetts for Vice-President. This fracturing of the Democrats led to a Republican victory, and Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States.
As the American Civil War broke out, Northern Democrats were divided into War Democrats and Peace Democrats. The Confederate States of America, whose political leadership, mindful of the welter prevalent in antebellum American politics and with a pressing need for unity, largely viewed political parties as inimical to good governance; consequently the Confederacy had none, or at least none with the wide organization inherent to other American parties. Most War Democrats rallied to Republican President Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans' National Union Party in the election of 1864, which featured Andrew Johnson on the Republican ticket even though he was a Democrat from the South. Johnson replaced Lincoln in 1865 but stayed independent of both parties. The Democrats benefited from white Southerners' resentment of Reconstruction after the war and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. After Redeemers ended Reconstruction in the 1870s, and following the often extremely violent disenfranchisement of African Americans led by such white supremacist Democratic politicians as Benjamin Tillman of South Carolina in the 1880s and 1890s, the South, voting Democratic, became known as the "Solid South." Though Republicans won all but two presidential elections, the Democrats remained competitive. The party was dominated by pro-business Bourbon Democrats led by Samuel J. Tilden and Grover Cleveland, who represented mercantile, banking, and railroad interests; opposed imperialism and overseas expansion; fought for the gold standard; opposed bimetallism; and crusaded against corruption, high taxes, and tariffs. Cleveland was elected to non-consecutive presidential terms in 1884 and 1892.[15]
Agrarian Democrats demanding Free Silver overthrew the Bourbon Democrats in 1896 and nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency (a nomination repeated by Democrats in 1900 and 1908). Bryan waged a vigorous campaign attacking Eastern moneyed interests, but he lost to Republican William McKinley. The Democrats took control of the House in 1910 and elected Woodrow Wilson as president in 1912 and 1916. Wilson effectively led Congress to put to rest the issues of tariffs, money, and antitrust that had dominated politics for 40 years with new progressive laws. The Great Depression in 1929 that occurred under Republican President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Congress set the stage for a more liberal government; the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives nearly uninterrupted from 1931 until 1995 and won most presidential elections until 1968. Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected to the presidency in 1932, came forth with government programs called the New Deal. New Deal liberalism meant the promotion of social welfare, labor unions, civil rights, and regulation of business. The opponents, who stressed long-term growth, support for business, and low taxes, started calling themselves "conservatives."[16]
Issues facing parties and the United States after World War II included the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement. Republicans attracted conservatives and white Southerners from the Democratic coalition with their use of the Southern strategy and resistance to New Deal and Great Society liberalism. African Americans had traditionally supported the Republican Party because of the anti-slavery agenda of Abraham Lincoln and successors such as Ulysses Grant. But they began supporting Democrats following the ascent of the Franklin Roosevelt administration, the New Deal, the integration of the military and embrace of proposed civil rights legislation by President Harry Truman in 194748, and the postwar Civil Rights movement. The Democratic Party's main base of support shifted to the Northeast, marking a dramatic reversal of history. Bill Clinton was elected to the presidency in 1992, governing as a New Democrat. The Democratic Party lost control of Congress in the election of 1994 to the Republican Party. Re-elected in 1996, Clinton was the first Democratic President since Franklin Roosevelt to be elected to two terms. Following twelve years of Republican rule, the Democratic Party regained majority control of both the House and the Senate in the 2006 elections. Some of the party's key issues in the early 21st century in their last national platform have included the methods of how to combat terrorism, homeland security, expanding access to health care, labor rights, environmentalism, and the preservation of liberal government programs.[17] In the 2010 elections, the Democratic Party lost control of the House, but kept a small majority in the Senate (reduced from the 111th Congress). It also lost its majority in state legislatures and state governorships. However, the 2012 elections which re-elected President Obama represented a partial reversal of the results of the 2010 midterm vote, increasing the Democratic majority in the Senate and reducing the Republican majority in the House.
The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalists in 1792. That party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, with the election of Andrew Jackson. Since the division of the Republican Party in the election of 1912, it has gradually positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic and social issues.
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BRICK Mayor John Ducey is planning on getting his term off to a fast start.
Ducey, a Democrat, was sworn in by Judge James D. Clyne during the Township Councils annual organization meeting Wednesday afternoon. During his first meeting as mayor, Ducey announced an aggressive 100-day plan aimed at making changes to the township.
Its something that will be done, he said. I know that we can all work together to make Brick Township the best it can be. A new Brick starts today.
Ducey, a former councilman, defeated Republican Councilman Joseph Sangiovanni for a four-year term as mayor during the November election. Ducey is the first Democrat to be elected to the townships highest political office since 2005, when Joseph Scarpelli defeated Stephen Acropolis.
The Duceys plan includes the creation of new committees including a Teen Advisory Committee, as well as continuing the rebuilding process from superstorm Sandy and rescinding an executive order that barred township employees from speaking to members of the council. Ducey rescinded the order during the meeting.
Why am I doing this? Its something that needs to be done, we need communication, Ducey said. If we are going to fix the things we are going to fix, accomplish the things we are going to accomplish, we need to work together. So council now has full right to speak to all the township employees.
In addition to winning the mayors office, the Democrats also swept the three council seats up for election in November. During the meeting Wednesday, Democrats Marianna Pontoriero, Paul Mummolo, and Heather deJong, where sworn in as council members. The Democrats now hold all seven seats on the Township Council.
Its an honor to be up here, I will do my best to show that I deserve this honor, deJong said We are here to make Brick better. Our residents want that old feeling of a thriving community, great businesses and a great place to live. We are committed to addressing these concerns as well as other we heard during the campaign.
During the meeting, Susan Lydecker was named council president, while Jim Fozman was named vice president of the council.
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From Conservapedia
Democratic Party can refer to: Democratic Party (Mongolia), Democratic Party of Albania, Democratic Party (Kenya) or Democratic Party of Serbia The Democratic Party, more grammatically called the "Democrat Party," is one of the two major political parties in the United States of America. In general it is pro-abortion and anti-free enterprise, supporting higher taxes, anti-gun policies, and a larger government, while the Republican Party is generally pro-life and pro-free enterprise, supporting lower taxes and small government. President Barack Obama and other Democrats are liberal / Progressive leftists. Many conservatives consider him to be the worst president to date.
Members of the Democratic Party are known as Democrats. In the 19th century when it supported slavery the party was sometimes called "The Democracy." Today, there are Democrats who claim to be more conservative than typical liberals, called the "Blue Dogs" in Congress, but they often behave like "lapdogs" for the liberal party leadership when there is a controversial vote.
In the doldrums after 2000, the party roared back with major gains in 2006, which it expanded in 2008 to sweep control of the national government, and leave the GOP in a state of confusion and decline. The GOP bounced back in 2009, with near-unanimous opposition to contentious Democratic policies, especially stimulus spending and health care reform. Polls show Obama's popularity began to sink in the summer of 2009.
The Democrats currently control the White House and hold a slim majority in the Senate, but in the 2010 midterm elections, the Republican party won decisive control of the House of Representatives; suburbs and rural areas are still more likely to be in Republican hands.[1] Polls show 50% of voters identify themselves with the Democratic Party as opposed to 35% for the Republican Party.[2] Surveys which address both the Republican House and the Democratic Senate currently has an average 78% negative approval rating, with only 13% expressing approval.[3]
The views of individual Democrats sometimes diverge from the party's official stance as expressed in its national party platform, however unlike the Republican party, the Democratic National Committee has not allowed dissenting opinions to share the podium on matters such as abortion at National Conventions.[4] The Democratic party also adopts policy positions and platforms at the state and Congressional district levels.
In the field of economic policy, Democrats tend to favor high progressive taxes, more regulation, and higher government spending.
The Democratic Party has historically had ties to organized labor.[5]
The National Education Association,[6] the largest union of public school teachers, is a backbone of the party, supplying the largest number of delegates to its national conventions.
Democrats typically state that they want to help low-income Americans, however they usually seek to accomplish this by increasing the tax burden on the wealthiest Americans.
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Democratic Party - Conservapedia - Main Page - Conservapedia
Overall, Americans are split evenly on whether they want Republicans or Democrats to control Congress after November. Fully 54 percent say they'd like to see every single member of Congress replacedincluding their own representatives.
That sentiment helps explain why Republicans and Democrats recently agreed on a budget deal, lifting near-term spending and declaring a truce in their budget wars. An overwhelming 86 percent say they'd be more likely to support a congressional candidate who will compromise with the other party to get things done.
And despite the loud criticism of budget "earmarks" in recent years, 67 percent want a candidate committed to bringing federal dollars and projects to their local areas. In a long list of potential issues, the poll shows, the biggest drag on a candidate's appeal would be supporting reductions in Social Security and Medicare to deal with the budget deficit.
(Read more: White House forecasts more economic growth in 2014, 2015)
Other results explain why neither party advocates using military force to deal with the crisis involving Russia and Ukraineeven though 72 percent of Americans view Russia as an adversary and 63 percent hold a negative view of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A 45 percent plurality, the poll shows, would be more likely to support a candidate who wants America less involved in settling international conflicts.
Looking ahead to 2016 shows the divergent fortunes of two of the best known potential candidates. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's favorability ratings have ebbed since September, but she is still viewed positively by 44 percent of Americans; 34 percent view her negatively. But New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie has fallen precipitously since revelations over a traffic scandal. Viewed positively by more than 3 to 1 last year, he's now viewed negative by a 2 to 1 margin.
The NBC/WSJ poll of 1,000 adults, conducted by telephone March 5-9, carries a margin for error of 3.1 percentage points.
By CNBC's John Harwood. Follow him on Twitter @JohnJHarwood.
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