So what IS your real attitude toward today's Democratic Party?

[Douglas Carpenter]

28 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	It is the Party of the people and I will always support it
	2 (7%)
	It is just another Party contolled by Wall Street and big moneyed interest - at best - only marginally better than the Republicans
	11 (39%)
	It is a party dominated by moneyed interest but we have no alternative but to support it because not supporting Democrats means helping elect Republicans who are far, far worse
	12 (43%)
	There is not a dimes worth of difference between the two parties and it doesn't make hardly any difference who wins
	0 (0%)
	The Democratic Party is a broad coaltion of sometimes competing interest that I will usually or almost always support
	3 (11%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[BarbaRosa]

1. I voted one, the party of the people,

but come on, grow a pair, find a spine.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. Who are you telling to 'grow pair and find spine'? Are you for real?

[Logical]

4. I assume he meant the Democratic Party! n-t

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. We are the Democratic Party.

All of us! ?

[chemenger]

31. IMHO ... Harry Reid might be a good candidate

[struggle4progress]

2. I work with them whenever I can cuz the alternative seems to be

a gaggle of troglodytes who, after a long night boozing and chewing magic mushrooms, want to borrow my car to drive up and down main street honking and waving

[4 t 4]

6. I agree the alternative is frightening ,but my real attitude is

" they suck beyond belief" and they have totally let us down !!! It's kind of like you are going to be hit with a board, no matter what, would you like to be hit with a board with nails in it or without nails in it ?

[BlueStreak]

8. And you might consider whether this is all a gigantic "Good cop, bad cop" game

And the GOP and Dems take turns reversing the roles, depending on whom they are addressing. When addressing the Tea Party, the GOP is "good cop" and the Dems are "bad cop". And when addressing liberals, it is the reverse.

And then they all go out to the bar and kick it. "What a bunch of schmucks those commoners are. Can you believe they bought it?"

[4 t 4]

10. yes, I agree to that

100%, it is a good cop bad cop game , so ?

[4 t 4]

11. nails , no nails, my point exactly

[struggle4progress]

17. I'm touched by your concern that I might not be cynical enough or skeptical enough, but

it's misplaced

I lost all of my optimistic beliefs back in the Nixon era, when I concluded that dwindling resources and increasing industrial pollution would destroy the economic base, with the result that fascism would re-emerge on a grand scale. I've pretty much expected ever since then that my life would finally end in a concentration camp, if I wasn't beaten to death on the streets by blackshirts first

I still think that's a realistic view of emerging conditions

However, as I've grown older, I've become more and more convinced that one has moral obligations to proceed even in hopeless-seeming circumstances -- and I've become increasingly impressed by the notion that one ought to take a pragmatic scientific approach to the problems we face. By "scientific approach," I mean the following:

(1) First abandon all pretense that "the truth" can be known in an abstract, rather than a practical way
(2) Decide that having real knowledge about some matter simply means: we become able to do something about it
(3a) Real knowledge is a product of real activity
(3b) Therefore one must try different things to see what works and what doesn't work
(4a) When something doesn't work, we must be willing to assume the underlying idea might have been wrong
(4b) And when something doesn't work, we must be willing to try something else

A certain healthy paranoia can be useful to us, when we use it as a guide to some analysis, provided that we remember FACTS MATTER and OUR ANALYSES MUST BE BASED ON THE FACTS WE ENCOUNTER AS WE TRY TO ACCOMPLISH SOME DEFINITE GOAL. There is no substitute for the experience gained by actually engaging in political action, there is no substitute for careful attention to details, and there is no substitute for intellectually honest critical thought about why something we tried didn't work

Cynicism CAN be just another excuse for not trying

[dimbear]

5. You have to consider what you have to work with.

People.

[4 t 4]

12. no, no you really don't

how do you think anything has ever changed in this world ? not by your thinking!

[BlueStreak]

13. We have to consider the principles that are important

and then make sure we are always working as aggressively as possible in that direction.

And unfortunately, we cannot expect much leadership or even support from the Washington level of the Party.

But before we all slit our wrists, let me remind everybody we are actually making progress getting through to average Americans one by one. It is a slow, painful process, but we got 1,500,000 more votes for Congressional candidates this last election, and we did push our Presidential candidate (for better or worse) to a very solid margin. We have won the popular vote in almost all of the election cycles in the past 20 years. And the demographics are changing even more in our favor.

So we just have to keep that up, realizing that politicians never lead. They always follow, and only when that is their last viable option.

[Starry Messenger]

7. All of the statements are true at times.

It depends on what is going on with which issue.

There's probably regional biases in everyone's attitudes too.

In some states even the most moderate Dem might seem like a raging leftie in contrast with the right-wing, while in other places more leftward oriented Dems in office give reasons to criticize more rightward Dems (I'm looking at you DiF.)

Both parties are parties of Wall Street, but only one Party gives an avenue for grassroots politics for (mildly) leftward politics. It's a two-party system. It's this or stay home.

[quinnox]

14. not happy

Things I hate: drone strikes being used so often (am glad Obama seems to be dialing this down though)

Police State-ism, policies like the Patriot Act not only being continued but enhanced

Slaves to Military industrial complex, sick of the bloated defense spending

Ashamed of liberals - Most mainstream Dems seem almost ashamed of talking about the liberal approach to issues, they seem scared of being called a liberal or something. I want to see loud and proud liberals in the Dem party again!

[Smarmie Doofus]

15. BTW, The correct answer ( response) is "marginally better."

"Far , far better" is giving the nat'l party "far, far" too much credit.

In case you were wondering.

[SammyWinstonJack]

16. wondering what?

[Egalitarian Thug]

18. I wouldn't say marginally better, rather slightly less detestable. n/t

[Jamaal510]

19. The Democrats aren't perfect,

but no political party is. The Green Party seems to prioritize environmental issues over other issues such as jobs, and while Libertarians are more liberal than the GOP on social issues, they are basically a more extreme version of the GOP fiscally.

I think the Democratic Party is fine overall. Obama is in D.C. getting things accomplished in spite of Congressional obstruction, unemployment is going down, we're getting expanded access to health care, and the wars are coming to an end. None of that would be possible under a President McCain or Romney.

[Populist_Prole]

20. My real feeling is the #2 choice but my actions are of the #3 choice

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. It's the slightly lesser of two evils but sometimes that becomes a negligible factor.

"I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 1789.

"Were parties here divided merely by a greediness for office,...to take a part with either would be unworthy of a reasonable or moral man." --Thomas Jefferson to William Branch Giles, 1795.

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." --John Quincy Adams

[Douglas Carpenter]

22. another kick for more results

[KamaAina]

23. Vote Democratic. Because we won't destroy the country nearly as fast.

[Douglas Carpenter]

24. some more results, perhaps?

[Ruby the Liberal]

25. I am rather jaded about the money in politics

and things like CU just keep us going in the wrong direction. When it takes millions of dollars to win a House seat - our priorities are dramatically misplaced.

[Marr]

26. On economic and foreign policy, the two are mostly indistinguishable.

They differ on social issues, in exactly the way that Pepsi and Coke differ in their advertising styles.

[Douglas Carpenter]

27. one more

[Douglas Carpenter]

28. anyone else?

[TacoD]

29. Options 2 and 4 are the same thing, just spun differently

"Marginally better" means the same as "hardly any difference". Interestingly, no one dares vote for #4.

[Douglas Carpenter]

30. one more attempt at results