What's a "Conservative Democrat"?

[Comrade Grumpy]

The question is not about the primaries, although it was prompted by the posting of a PPP poll from New Hampshire that showed Bernie Sanders getting support from significant fractions of self-identified "conservative" and "very conservative" Democratic primary voters. Hillary also got support from conservatives in the poll.

To me, conservative Democrat sounds like an oxymoron, but not apparently to all people calling themselves Democrats.

What makes a person a conservative Democrat?

Are there people here who self-identify as conservative Democrats? How are you different from liberal or moderate Democrats?

And for you non-conservative Democrats, how do you define a conservative Democrat?

Seems like there are many axes, too: economic, social, racial, foreign policy (Israel?).

[Petrushka]

1. Interesting answer at the following link --->

http://topics.wisegeek.com/topics.htm?conservative-democrats#


Edited to add:
More information here ---> http://www.conservapedia.com/Conservative_Democrat

[madville]

2. Depends what "conservative" means

Maybe religious, not pro-LGBT, anti-abortion, pro-gun, ex-military, a "fiscal" conservative, who knows.

I disagree with a few mostly Democratic stances, I agree with a couple of Republican positions, nothing is absolute.

[Betty Karlson]

17. That's one way of defining it. But it's not my way.

I consider myself conservative, in that I oppose unnecessary change and I am in favour of necessary change. That's the Burkean definition of conservatism.

Yes I am religious. And pro-LGBT, because there is a strong conservative case for being on the LGBT side (quitre apart from being gay myself). Yes I am anti-abortion, oin that I would like to prevent as many abortions as possible - by preventing as many unwanted pregnancies as possible. That means I am in favour of comprehensive age appropriate sex ed from age 12 AT LEAST. It doesn't mean I would favour denying women's health care in case of an unwanted pregnancy. Because that is a radical position, not a conservative one.

No I am not pro-gun; the second amendment absolutists are radicals, not conservatives.

As for military and fiscal matters: I am opposed to military-industrial complexes taking over sovereign nations. It's the conservative in me that opposes TPP, TIPP and the rest of that nonsense.

And that puts me at odds with the GOP one more time.

[Samantha]

3. A conservative Democrat is a New Dem, Third Way (former DLC Dem) politician

I personally prefer to call them Trojan Horses. Some of these come from states where they wanted to win an election as a Republican, the odds of doing so were pretty slim. So they run as a Democrat to get the seat.

Others sometimes call themselves fiscally conservative, but socially liberal (President Obama does this).

In short, one cannot count on them to vote positively for programs and/or ideals traditional Democrats generally support.

Sam

[GoneFishin]

19. Pretty much the way I see it also.

[hifiguy]

31. Yep.

DINOs orTurd Wayers.

[PatrickforO]

4. A traitor to the interests of the people. Someone who has sold out to corporate greed.

[KentuckyWoman]

5. I used to consider myself a conservative Democrat.

Unfortunately "conservative" has changed meaning in the last 10-20 yrs and doesn't quite fit anymore.

I'm pro labor..... very pro labor. I'm universal single payer medical care because it gives us the best bang for the buck. I'm pay as you go and spend very carefully to do the most good for the most Americans with the dollars you tax and spend. I'm keep your nose out of other people's bedroom if everyone is capable of and has consented. I'm keep your nose out of everyone else's medical care decisions - and their grocery cart. I'm for decent mental health care and/or rehab available instead of jails - not for moral reason but because jail is not cost effective plus it's an absolute waste of human potential. I'm for letting the corporations and the rich eat their own gambling losses and paying the cost the protecting the natural resources they want to exploit half way round the world. I pay my own way, so should they. I'm for raising general taxes instead of wasting cops time on idiot "you changed lanes without a signal" stops to raise money in tickets.

So that is really why I consider myself conservative .... govern only as much as needed to serve the general welfare and protect from outside invaders. Otherwise leave us the hell alone. The smallest government necessary and no more.

I don't know what label works on me now but conservative doesn't fit anymore.

[murielm99]

6. Some people I know who define themselves

as conservative Democrats are blue collar. They are union members, often Catholic, anti-abortion, not fond of gay people. Many of them have served in the military, or have children who are serving.

I know this is a generalization, but it seems to be true, in my experience. I live in a rural area. Many of the Democrats here self-identify as conservative Democrats.

[pampango]

9. That is what I was thinking. Pro-labor and anti-1% but also anti-abortion and anti-gay rights.

This type of person is not liberal across the board by any means, but they are certainly not republicans either due to their pro-labor, anti-1% beliefs.

[LuvNewcastle]

7. A conservative is someone who is resistant

to change, or at least that's what the definition used to be. The people who call themselves conservatives nowadays aren't really conservatives; they're radical right-wingers. Real conservatives prefer to keep things as they are. They want to maintain the status quo. I'd say there are many Democrats who fit that description. When the radicals took over the GOP, the conservatives left and became Democrats and now they think they own the party.

[raouldukelives]

8. To me it is one who wants things to remain the same for them.

Even at the realization it is making things horribly worse for everyone else.

The surest way to ensure nothing changes, and hopefully for them, becomes easier, is to invest in and labor for Wall St. Sure voting counts, but not as much as cash. Sadly. And those that increase the bottom line of corporations increase the corruption tenfold. Each dollar a little extra weight on the boot stamping all of our faces forever.

[KG]

10. apparently, they're 'reality based'

[London Lover Man]

15. Interesting to know that 'reality based' Democrats is backing Bernie by a significant number

[TexasProgresive]

11. We are a spectrum

Some of us are very left on all issues, some mixed and some less so. It is the nature of our party and always have been since it is the party of the people. As Will Rogers said it so succinctly and correctly, "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat." If you want to belong to a monolithic, lockstep party that would be the Republicans.

[rock]

12. Let's start by asking, "What's a conservative Conservative?"

There aren't any. At least not many. Conservatives are as wasteful as all get out. And greedy and stingy. But they'll spend money on wars much faster than we can print it. Now Democrats are responsibly conservative. They're generous, but in a sane way. They don't like wars and the waste that they produce. They're willing to have their tax dollars spent on feeding children, healthcare for the sick, well you get the picture.

[ananda]

13. Basically a Reep skunk with a few social stripes.

..

[B Calm]

14. Joe Lieberman eom!

[DFW]

16. You want to meet a conservative Democrat? Hi. Here I am.

It's a highly abused, utterly meaningless label.

"Conservative" in politics has been twisted and perverted and means NOTHING like the real definition of the word "conservative." Not in English anyway.

I have been with the same woman for 41 years now. We have two normal children who are now grown and now both earn their own living. I do no addictive drugs (not even nicotine or alcohol). I am scared of debt, avoid it like the plague. I got my job with my current employer at age 23. I'll be celebrating my 40th year with them next month. I do not make major decisions lightly, but ponder them and think them out before making them.

In other words, I am conservative. I am a Democrat. But please note: I am not "a" conservative. These days, that has been perverted by Fox Noise and its propagandists to mean "nasty uncaring Republican," which they have miraculously managed to make into a good thing in the eyes of nearly half the country. Hell, some of the most fervent Democrats you'll meet are angry and nasty, sometimes even uncaring unless you share their exact point of view. It doesn't make them "conservative."

So, I am conservative as defined in English. I am NOT according to the definition as meant in Foxese. But I don't speak Foxese anyway, although I understand enough of it to know when someone is speaking it. You can usually tell, since they'll be making no sense whatsoever.

[GoneFishin]

20. As you said "conservative" from the dictionary is different from right wing "conservative".

[steve2470]

32. would you say you're socially conservative but politically liberal/progressive ?

That's how I describe myself. I totally get all your choices, because the ones that apply to me, are mine also. Happy days after anniversary, friend!

[DFW]

33. I wouldn't even say I'm socially conservative

I'm for unrestricted abortion rights, unrestricted voting rights and unrestricted marriage rights. I'm for drastic action on curtailing out-of-control police who commit more crimes than they prevent, and out-of-control money that is used to manipulate the electoral process. I'm not against closing tax loopholes that let multi-millionaires pay a lower tax rate than a secretary. I do not think it is a productive use of time and energy to go after only billionaires. There are less than two thousand of them in the USA. A tax rate of over 50% encourages capital flight, and I am not for Nazi-style "Enteignung." I do think it would be productive to close loopholes that make it possible for megacorps like GE and Exxon to get away with paying little to no taxes at all in the USA. I think a great ad would be: "This is (CEO's name here). His company earned (number of gazillion dollars) last year. His company paid less in taxes than you did. Republicans made this possible. If you think this is a good thing, continue to vote Republican. If not, vote for a Democrat." And then Democrats have to come out and support that very vocally.

I'm just BY NATURE conservative. It has to do with my own personal lifestyle, and has zero to do with my politics.

[steve2470]

34. no, I meant in your personal life

We're on the same page, I think. I also support what you do.

[DFW]

36. Personal life, absolutely

Risk averse, and happy with that I've got.

Dump a billion dollars on me tomorrow, and I'll give half of it to cancer research and the rest to found a PAC that will make right wing PACS look over their shoulder until the day after election day.

But since no one is likely to do that, I'm not going to drastically alter things as they stand.

[Chuuku Davis]

18. ProGun Democrat here

Does that make me conservative??

[AngryAmish]

21. Scoop Jackson, Sam Rayburn

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. Conservative Democrats are the ones I don't/won't vote for.

I like easy questions.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. They tend to be liberal in social positions

and anywhere from conservative to very conservative with economics. Yes, they believe in public schools (not all, some believe in privatization) but also believe in lower taxes, trickle down, et al.

This is where the DLC came from by the way.

[Adrahil]

24. My Dad was a registered Democrat....

But fairly conservative.

He was a moderate socially and economically, but conservative on foreign policy, and while he voted D sometimes in sate or Congressional elections, he noramally voted R for President.... A source of many arguments.

[LWolf]

25. What ever the person using it spins it to mean.

Language is flexible and constantly evolving. Words have multiple meanings, in denotation, connotation, and context.

Politics is all about spinning the lens people see through so that they see things your way. Spin. It's a manipulation of language.

What did the authors who used the word mean? That's the question.

I know that when I answer polls that ask me to self-identify where I fall in the spectrum, the choices are always inaccurate. They can be spun any way someone analyzing poll results chooses.

That's one of the reasons I choose not to worship at the altar of political polls.

[Agnosticsherbet]

26. Socially libersl, fiscally conservative is how Jimmy Carter

Would have put it. Rockefeller Republicans, who were once liberal Republicans centered in the Northeast used the same description for thenselves.

[PeteSelman]

27. A somewhat sane Republican.

Nothing more.

[Rex]

29. A small minority of people on DU. Thank God.

Just a handful of 'confused' people.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

30. Some douchebag who posts here in his spare time from uncovering commie plots. nt

[mmonk]

35. I was going to say an oxymoron but it seems you covered it.

[Drunken Irishman]

37. I'd define a conservative Democrat this way...

They're typically white ethnics - Irish, Italian, Polish - who are blue collar union members. Economically, they were brought into the Democratic Party through the New Deal and remained there due to their strong union support. However, these members are probably religious, traditionally Catholic, and also very pro-life and apprehensive toward marriage equality. These are Democrats who, in the 1970s and 80s, most certainly defected from the Democratic Party to vote for Nixon and Reagan, but came back to the party with Clinton. On the local level, they'll support Democrats far more than they do the national party. People like Bob Casey in Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin in West Virgia are the typical Democrats who benefit from their support. They're also pro-gun, pro-fracking and pro-Keystone.

That's who I see as conservative Democrats. I don't think they're as relevant as they used to be, tho.

[Hortensis]

38. Conservative, liberal, libertarian are personality types. Parties are political organizations.

[Paladin]

39. Guns are involved, in many instances. (nt)

[Douglas Carpenter]

40. I think it means different things to different people.

To some it means an old style pro-life or pro-war New Dealer like LBJ or Hubert Hubert Humphrey. To others it might mean a "DLC" type "New Democrat". To others it might mean someone who is very liberal on economic issues - but conservative on social/lifestyle issues. To others it is the stark opposite of that - someone who is conservative on economic issues - but liberal on social/lifestyle issues. To others it is someone whose soul focus is on winning and cares minimally about policy.

I have been accused on a few rare occasions here on DU of being a conservative Democrat which would be laughable to anyone who knows me or who checks my log over the past seven years. I suppose some people mistake attempts at intellectual honesty and independent thinking for conservatism when in fact attempting intellectual honestly and attempting independent thinking are fundamental to being liberal.

[oberliner]

41. A Democrat who holds conservative views on social or economic issues.

For instance, one who supports gay marriage and tax breaks for the wealthy or vice versa.

[trueblue2007]

42. NO SUCH THING.

[geek tragedy]

43. generally, the kind who think progress should be slow.

distinguished from Republicans, who do not believe in the idea of progress