Why are you a Democrat?What is the ideology of the Democratic party?
816296
I chose to be a Democrat because I felt they were the party of the people. The party that showed tolerance to alternative lifestyles, believed in civil rights, believed in personal choice and believed in human rights.\nI don't condone violence or torture under any circumstance. I also believe that we as a party, at least try to stick up for the downtrodden. Above all I believe we as Democrats are more willing to take in the people who previously held other views without prejudice and not alienate them to cut off our nose to spite our faces--therefore truly striving to be a party of the people.
603361
A Vote for a Democrat\nis a Vote for a Republican\nwhich is a Vote for a Democrat\nwhich is the same as a Republican\n\nThey are one and the same.\n\nThey have proven it for decades now.\n\nI voted Republican because the Democrats REFUSED to put forth a platform.\nThey were much to vague. \n\nI will not lean toward voting Republican this time\nbut there are some good republicans.\n\nThe Democrats Expect me to vote Democrat\nand have the audacity  to think I will \nvote their way simply because "we aint the other guy".\n\nI am no fool.\nThose who would vote in that manner I do not respect.\n\nA Third Party?\nThere are many. But the point is this. \nThe Libertarians Platform reads as though they are Democrats in disguise.\nRead their Webpage....See how they say "we aint the other guys".\nBut there may be some good people in the Libertarian Party.\n\nThe Constitution Party is too far Right.\nThe Parties that play to your enviromentalist side are too far Left.\nBut there may be some good people in the Constitution Party.\n\nAs for all the other fringe Parties...they play to a particular group also.\nBUT THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE OUT THERE.\n\nWhich brings to a point.... WHY do we even Need a Party?\nWhy can't we simply vote the candidate?\n\nBut with things in place the way they are now, \nHERE is what needs to be done:\n\nExisting restrictions that remove Voices from the Debate Stage need to be forcibly removed. Forced by the voter.\nWhat do I mean?\nThe fact that you only have 2 freaking choices and both of them are worthless bastids.\nI want Every Candidate that shows minimal support from around the country, to be in my face right up to election day.\nI won't stand much longer for being told that these two candidates (the Dem or Repub) are the best America has to offer.\n\nIn fact: Simply calling them a Third Party Candidate limits the weight you put on their stance.\n\nAlso, believing that crap our 2 parties spew, \nthat a Vote for a Third Party candidate is a vote for the other party (dem or repub) \nis a Lie.\nYOUR VOTE is not wasted.\n\nYou showing support for ANY Candidate is support for That Candidate!\n\nWe also need to get rid of this Electoral College disease.\nDo you know, that the Electoral College representative is NOT REQUIRED to vote the way the state votes?\nHe hasn't, but can change his vote to the candidate NOT supported by the majority of voters in your state.\n\nDrokk, that is crapola!\n\nThe lie that the electoral college is best for america is proven in the fact that it does not represent OneMan=OneVote.\n\nWhat it directly does, is take away the demands for a candidate/s to travel to every state.\nThey can stay in California,NY,Michigan,Ohio etcetera and go for the big electoral college states.\n\nOne man = one vote? NO, Your state has 3 electoral college votes? It is swamped and owned by NY or Another who can offer a 20+ electoral college prize.\n\nGET RID OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE.\nOne Man, One Vote. That is what will always work. Quit believing the lies.\n\nWhat else can be done?\nVote these other parties in at the local level.\nStart there. \nGive the Law Party/Libertarian  Party/Constitution Party etcetera, \na chance to prove their mettle with decisions that Directly affect you. \nALSO by voting them in at a local level, you can keep a better eye on them \nand have more influence on the development of their national platforms.\n\nOur 2 Party System must be destroyed. \nThe stranglehold they have on your vote is bought and sold by both parties \nin the very halls of congress where laws are created.\n\nTake back America is not a waste of words.\nPatriotism starts with awareness \nand a willingness to not be bought \nwhile fighting for what is right.\n\nIf you elect someone who says "change is needed, I am for change"...WHAT CHANGE? \nand if he is bold enough to say what he wants to affect,\nHold Him to It.\n\nEnough. is Enough. I am with you Drokk.
912084
OK, not a liberal, nor a democrat, but....\n\nI think you are asking why the emotional knee jerking of a range of people has hijacked a political party to, at least at one point, the verge of implosion..... \n\nA liberal, so far as I can see, is someone who, not to be rude, has let their emotions run wild and swayed their logic. hope that made sense. These are a people who are also likely to be swayed by the emotional string tugs of politicians, who happen to be in the democratic party. \n\nDon't misunderstand, I do not believe that the liberal minded people out there are evil or corrupt by nature, they simply believe in something so much that they will align themselves with people who tell them what they want to hear. I have very good friends that are liberal minded, and they are not evil, just find more 'truth' in something that others don't find truth in.... ie. class warfare, extreme environmentalism, and 'evil' corruption in big business. Most of these people tend to align into the green party more so in the democratic party, but there is a power base already in existence with in the democratic party, and they seem to gain their support there through some crafty politicians.\n\nI am more concerned with the crafty politicians that have taken control over the democratic party than I am with the people who support the democratic party. These individuals seem to like their positions and will do and say anything to keep them. Dare I say even the likes of Joe Leiberman started going down that road during his spin while running as the vice president candidate. And now that Mr. Leiberman dared reclaim his true self he was butchered by his own party. \n\nI think that is the best example of what is happening at the power levels in the democratic party, they seem to be so concerned with keeping and reclaiming power that they use the emotional ploys to attract voters. \n\nThis is just an opinion, but it explains to me why when people grow a little older they abandon their emotions for logic and start looking toward the libertarian and republican parties for a home.
801704
What political party should I join?\n\nI'm Pro-choice....excellent\n\nI don't believe in having children out of wedlock...\nWhat about others? Are you tlereant of their choices?\n\nI support gay rightsl...\nExcellent. We are all equal despite differences in sexual orientation\n\nI'm agnostic...\nWhy not! The founding fathers were diests. Read about what they thought about religion not mixing with politics here. \n\nI'm a woman/I'm young/I come from a middle class family \n\nAdditional Details...unnecesssary.\n\nbottom line is you support individual rights and are pro chpoice. That excludes you from being a member of the Repub party who are vehemently against indivildual rights, equality among the races and creeds and economic levels, and are not pro choice.\n\nThe mnore liberal wingh of the Democrats is whare you could lie, or the Green Party.
572033
I would like to think that the Democratic party is in fact sick, but I'm afraid that a Liberal might construe that as an appeal toward homophobia.\n\nBeing a Democrat at one time, and wondering what happened to my party's blue collar apple pie roots, I started looking closely at its operation. As the US shifted toward global markets and technology in the early 80's, and taxpayers realized that Democratic revenue strategies choked US economy, like many other Democrats I became a Republican; i.e., it made economic sense.\n\nHowever, Democrat strategists like Bill Press and Kathleen Brown created big-business Republican boogey-men and structured their messages as appeals to fear. Barbara Boxer, for example, is classic when it comes to appeal to fear messages.\n\nRealizing that mainstream America did not buy into Democratic propaganda, the Democratic Party went after the "extreme" vote: Criminals including its rehabilitation poster children, Minority Groups including its homosexual poster children, State Employee Unions, men who serve feminism, and of course Democrats' favorite poster children, the impoverished welfare class. With a voting bloc this big, and as Californians have witnessed first-hand since the Willie Brown days, how could the Democrats lose?\n\nIn all but a few conservative counties and a few conservative districts, the Democrats are California's controllers, and they answer to the extremists who keep them in office year after year. Gay Davis, for example, pandered to illegal aliens for six years, and if California's Democrats could give illegal aliens voting rights, they would do that also.\n\nAs long as Gays show up at the polls and elect Democrats, we will continue to see bills like SB 1437.\n\nOTBPOC
351183
Mainly nowadays political party is more accompanied to the political theory one believes in.  Democrats usually relate to liberalism - socialistic, focus on individualism, and freedom to do what you want so long as you don't hold back anyone from doing what they want.  Republicans usuually relate to conservatism - capitalistic, focus on conformitiy, and a strong national government.  Of course they can be switched up, but often not.  The main reason nowadays for political parties is to simply seperate yourself from the other side in order to present a solid political platform.
856403
I'm not sure if it is gay people that you do not like or democrats???? Gay people are just people like you or me. Democrats currently have some pretty good ideas. I voted for quite a few this election. Not because of their party affiliation but based on each individuals agenda. Conservatives are generally against gay marriage, rights etc. That does not always mean that they are republicans. Peace.
206274
Republicans believe in using religion and money and power to control others lives, behavior and finances.\n\nDemocrats believe people should be free to make their own behavior choices, and democrats believe in giving the working class a decent comfortable lifestyle.
1068746
There are two meanings here.  One democratic means we vote to decide policy the other is the "democratic party" which has a certain set of values it expouses that are different from that of the other dominant political party the "republican party".
833204
The Democratic Party was, in the early days of the United States, the party of States Rights (as opposed to the Federalist Party, which championed the power of the federal government over the states.) Over the years, the Federalists fell apart and were replaced by the Whigs, then the Jacksonian Democrats. The Republican Party arose in New England as a fairly elitist party. But with the issue of slavery, many northern Democrats left the Democratic Party and joined the Republicans. But states rights were the dominant issue of the Civil War for the South, and the Democratic Party held to it throughout the war.\n\nAfter the war, many Democrats who had joined the Repubicans on the issue of slavery returned to the Democratic party, but there were major differences between the Northern and Southern Democrats that kept them weak for decades.\n\nIt wasn't until 1910 that the Democrats won the White House again. During that time, the Republican Party had become the party of business, elitism, the Industrial Revolution, railroads, and destroying the Native American tribes. The Democrats became the party of liberalism, land reform, tax equity, and anti-trust legislation. They went, in essence from the party of States' Rights to the party of People's Rights. But they fell apart again after WWI on issues of prohibition (north was against it, south was for it), women's sufferage (same) and debate over the Versailles treaty.\n\nStill, many southern Democrats were fairly conservative on social issues. The old states' rights concepts were still very much alive in the South. Any many southerners remained loyal to the Democrats simply because they were NOT the party of Abe Lincoln, whom they despised.\n\nBut while the Southern Democrats were licking their wounds, the Northern Democrats really took control of the party and established its modern identity. That identity is best seen through the actions of two of its leaders, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt.
207354
I am a Christian Conservative and I vote Republican because they TELL THE TRUTH NO MATTER WHAT. Liberal Democrats LOVE TO LIE BECAUSE THEY CANNOT TELL THE TRUTH and that is why I do not vote Democrat unless the candidate comes from the city that I live in.
906676
Democrat\nBig brother.  The average American needs the gov'ts help to obtain insurance, invest for retirement, determine what to teach our children, even what you should and shouldn't eat.  They believe in income redistribution, ie taking money from successful people and giving it to those who haven't earned it.  They are the party of choice for product liabilty attorneys.  Disproportionately higher taxes for people who earn above the median.  Taxation for those who have the gall to actually save money during their lives and die with that money still in their name.  Yes that is double taxation.  Restriction on private usage of land.  They emphasize diplomacy and global agreement in foreign relations.  They value the opinion of the U N and would have to be sorely provoked to act unilaterally against our enemies.  They believe in a womans "right to choose" is sacrosanct.  The right of the baby never enters the equation.  They will appoint supreme court judges who will legislate from the bench in order to implement laws they know they could never pass.\n\nRepublican\n\nLower overall taxation with a more proportionate percentage to each tax bracket.  Less restriction on big business with the idea that big business is what employs most of our middle class.  Minimal social safety net programs.  Republicans believe that the most effective social programs are administered by private organizations.  In general they promote a stronger military as America's shield.  The agreement of the world body is never scorned but it isn't needed if our national interests are sufficiently threatened.  Most repubs feel abortion should be regulated in some fashion.  They also feel that judges should determine if trials are held in accordance with the law and leave the making of those laws to legislatures who are elected by the voters.\n\nBelieve it or not, they are the same on most issues, the items I've hi-lighted are the major exceptions, not the rule.  Neither Democrat or Republican is inherently a monster or wrong.  They have polarized opinions on how our country should move forward.  It's the beauty and the beast all wrapped up in our political process.
860037
Good Democratic Party Ideas:\n\n1.) Legalizing gay marriage.\n2.) Keeping abortion legal.\n3.) Universal health care.\n4.) Universal college education.\n5.) Funding for stem-cell research.\n6.) Separation of church and state.\n7.) Protecting civil liberties.\n\nThe Democratic ideal has been progressive since at least the days of Frankin Delano Roosevelt.  All Republicans support universal misery - rich Republicans want to oppress everyone else, and poor Republicans want everyone to conform to religious orthodoxy.  \n\nHow can you believe that American-liberalism is somehow communistic?  Our society can't function unless everyone has the opportunity to improve their lives and/or live a decent life.  Read a book or a serious political journal, and stop listening to Rush Limbaugh.
690408
The Democrats and the Republicans are the two major political parties in this country.  Republicans are universally recognized as more conservative (enact fewer laws that change things radically or even slightly and tax less and interfere with moral issues far more e.g. abortion) than Democrats who are considered much more liberal (tax more to fund many more sweeping changes; a rather laissez faire "anything goes" approach to morality).  The same sort of alignment is found in other countries, take England where the Labor party is the more liberal counterpart of our Democrats.\n\nWithin the Democratic Party there are some conservatives and many middle-of-the-roaders.  Conversely among the Republicans are some liberals and many middle-of-the-roaders as well.  Beginning in the last half of the 20th Century the present party status began to form with the Democrats being gradually considered more and more liberal and the Republicans more and more conservative until by 1980 the present battlelines were drawn. So the question as you asked it doesn't fit exactly . . . There is NO difference between liberals and SOME Democrats and a few Republicans; and there is a huge difference between liberals and other Democrats and even more Republicans.  \n\nThe strangest thing is that up until about 1947 when Harry Truman splintered his party (the Democrats) by standing up for civil rights for the Black servicemen returning from World War II and the Dixiecrats were formed to oppose him, up until that time the Republicans were the liberals and the Democrats were the conservatives with their power bases in the North east and the South respectively.  After all, the most radical change in American life was created during the first Republican administration in history:  Abraham Lincoln's.  \n\nToday the south and the west are the bastions of conservatism and the north east and heavy industrial states are the centers of liberal thought.  Labor unions tend to be the biggest supporters of liberal candidates and business and merchants of the conservative ones.\n\nIn general, Liberals are easily criticized as too eager to tax and too impractical in their legislation, too eager to align with so-called fringe groups (gays and lesbians, for example). Conservatives nowadays are seen as too eager to align themselves with the interests not just of business but especially of big business, too willing to legislate morality, too closely in touch with religious groups that would for example undo Roe vs. Wade. One last comment:  some people call liberals leftists, that is aligned with socialism or even communism; and conservatives right-wingers, that is aligned with the status quo and keeping the rich and powerful, rich and powerful.\n\nIn my opinion the best of both possible worlds is found in the Libertarian Party which espouses very low taxes, strong national defense and simple practical public works projects with no interference in private lives.  Conservative fiscally and on national defense; non-interfering in most other ways.  I hope this helped.  Good luck.
873507
Yes you most have a degree to be a democrat,\n\nI have one and I am not a democrat,\n\nTheir logic is maddening and visceral hatred I hope Kerry sank their political ship again.
292456
Liberal is a way of thinking and not related to a specific poltical agenda or party. Democrat is an actual political party that one registers to be a part of..Yes many liberals are Democrats but many arent as well.. I consider myself liberal but am closer to a Libertarian than anything else yet I remain registered 'non-partisan' so I dont have to be stuck in the dogmatic agenda of a specific party..Plus I can vote for whoever I want and actually vote on the issues and not just the party..Hope this helped..
697311
Do what I do -- I vote for the candidate and not the party.  Although I'm registered Democrat, I'm fairly neutral when it comes to the party issue.  If you're old enough to vote, you're old enough to decide which person is best suited for the job.  Don't put so much emphasis on what you feel the parties represent.  Often time these perceptions are wrong or they're subject to change.  Good luck!