The Party Left Me Before I Left The Party

[elehhhhna]

I need a bumper sticker like that. So do my Con acquaintances.

[Quantess]

1. Which party?

Both?

[brooklynite]

2. If you're no longer a Dem...what are you doing here?

[1awake]

4. This site is NOT for Democrat party members only, not even historically. n/t

[BlueToTheBone]

6. Well, historically, yes it is.

Note the name. DEMOCRATICunderground. So, wake up! You can be unhappy with the party and work to change it, but no trolls are welcomed.

[kentuck]

8. Originally, this site was for "progressive-minded" people...

You did not have to be a registered Democrat.

Ask Skinner?

[BlueToTheBone]

12. I came in 2001, or something

had a name change or 2 under DU2 and UpInArms taught me to post. My last name change gave me a 0 post count.
I guess I just thought Democratic meant that and we were all progressives. Thanks for the primer.

[brooklynite]

10. "Democrat Party"? Are you SURE you're in the right place?

[1awake]

15. yep... are you? Nice call out though. Classy. n/t

[Nay]

16. It's a real giveaway, isn't it? Of course, if this person is really a Democrat and writes

"Democrat Party," it only goes to show how RW memes have penetrated everywhere. That bodes ill for the country, but this place is in the shitter anyway.....

[mick063]

7. Raising hell?

Former Democrats explaining why.

Global Warming
Grand Bargain
TPP
NSA

All part of the stupid purity test. Democrats can't win with bullshit complaining like that hanging around their neck.

Am I close?

[RevStPatrick]

9. Oh c'mon, brooklynite... you of all people should know better...

Let's look at the "About" and TOS pages for a second:

"Democratic Underground is an online community where politically liberal people can do their part to effect political and social change... we have no affiliation with the Democratic Party... Democratic Underground is an online community for politically liberal people who understand the importance of working within the system to elect more Democrats and fewer Republicans... advocating in favor of Republican nominees or in favor of third-party spoiler candidates that could split the vote and throw an election to our conservative opponents is never permitted on Democratic Underground..."

Stuff like that.
Now I said that you should know better because you live in New York State. Like I do.
I've been here on DU on and off, starting out with a different username, since reading the Top 10 Conservative Idiots #1. And I have not been a registered Democrat the entire time. Because the party left me in the 90's.

However, here in New York we have "electoral fusion" and a real, progressive, liberal party - the Working Families Party. This means that a candidate can be on more than one party's ticket at the same time. I have voted twice now for Barack Obama, but I did not vote for him on the Democratic ticket. I was able to help get him elected over the Repub candidates, thereby staying within the TOS here, but I also supported an honest to goddess, liberal/progressive third party.

Maybe you didn't know about that.
Now you do.
Now you can stop asking questions like "If you're no longer a Dem...what are you doing here?"

Right?

[brooklynite]

11. Except, if we CONTINUE to read the TOS...

Vote for Democrats.
Winning elections is important — therefore, advocating in favor of Republican nominees or in favor of third-party spoiler candidates that could split the vote and throw an election to our conservative opponents is never permitted on Democratic Underground. But that does not mean that DU members are required to always be completely supportive of Democrats. During the ups-and-downs of politics and policy-making, it is perfectly normal to have mixed feelings about the Democratic officials we worked hard to help elect. When we are not in the heat of election season, members are permitted to post strong criticism or disappointment with our Democratic elected officials, or to express ambivalence about voting for them. In Democratic primaries, members may support whomever they choose. But when general election season begins, DU members must support Democratic nominees (EXCEPT in rare cases where were a non-Democrat is most likely to defeat the conservative alternative, or where there is no possibility of splitting the liberal vote and inadvertently throwing the election to the conservative alternative). For presidential contests, election season begins when both major-party nominees become clear. For non-presidential contests, election season begins on Labor Day. Everyone here on DU needs to work together to elect more Democrats and fewer Republicans to all levels of American government. If you are bashing, trashing, undermining, or depressing turnout for our candidates during election season, we'll assume you are rooting for the other side.

I'm well aware that this site attracts a mix of people including non-Dems: moderates, progressives, socialists, Greens, a few anarchists, etc. and I don't have a problem with a vigorous debate on policy from different perspectives. But when people start to say "I'll never vote for..." or "The Party left me", that comes across as being "anti-Democratic", not just "non-Democratic". This is, last time I checked, "DEMOCRATIC Underground", if you don't like where the Party's going, but you're not willing to stay inside and fight for it's soul, I wonder why you want to hang out here as opposed to plenty of other progressive sites.

[RevStPatrick]

13. Ah! Maybe it's just a matter of perspective.

I see this place as being democratic UNDERGROUND.
Subtle difference, I suppose.

And as far as "I wonder why you want to hang out here..."
It's because this place is simply, and by far, the best news aggregator on the internet.
I participate in discussion occasionally, but I really come here for the news each day.
And the commentary that people add is BY FAR more real and right than anything the "professional pundits" have to say!

[frylock]

18. i'm not, nor have i ever been registered as a democrat..

and I have no intention of EVER registering as one. is there an unwritten requirement that we register in order to access this site?

[brooklynite]

19. Not as I read the rules, but...

the TOS makes it clear that support for Democratic candidates (post-Primary) is expected. It's not my site, but I've noticed (and I assume Skinner has as well) a growing number of people apparently coming close to the line.

[Gothmog]

3. This is one of Reagan's lines

Reagan used this line.

[Vogon_Glory]

5. And Ex-Republicans Can Use That Line, Too

And ex-Republicans can use that line, too. That it was a Ronnie Ray-gun line, and assuming that the wingnutz being addressed know that it was a Ronnie Ray-gun line (doubtful, but still possible), twists the knife even further.

[Gothmog]

17. I agree

I was just pointing out the irony of the statement

[elehhhhna]

22. he did not invent it.

I think he said HELLO a lot, too. Better scratch that from my vocab?

[sharp_stick]

14. That's no more than a typical

excuse for really lazy people that don't deserve the time of day when the results come in.

[elehhhhna]

21. lazy people like me, who have actively campaigned, donated, and volunteered for

dems at the local state and national level as well as being a poll watcher for the last several elections?

[sharp_stick]

24. Everyone on the internet

has done so much to be proud of.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

20. Another president had something to say about that...

"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.

I've been a Democrat since 1965, but owe no allegiance or fealty to any party.

[Little Star]

23. Seems my party has left me, but....

I'm still fighting to get it back.