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demmiblue

(36,743 posts)
Tue Jul 24, 2018, 07:41 AM Jul 2018

Republicans are telling Democrats to move right. It's dreadful advice.

The Democratic Party’s steady move to the left in recent times, particularly in the past year and a half, is one of the most important developments of this era in American politics. And inevitably, the concern trolls are out, telling the party that it will waste an opportunity if it goes too far to the left.

For instance, here’s former Republican James B. Comey, sharing his political insights about what does and doesn’t affect elections:

Democrats, please, please don’t lose your minds and rush to the socialist left. This president and his Republican Party are counting on you to do exactly that. America’s great middle wants sensible, balanced, ethical leadership.
— James Comey (@Comey) July 22, 2018

Here’s Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, telling liberals that they’ll never beat President Trump with a bunch of leftist policy ideas. And it’s not just Republicans; the group Third Way held a gathering of moderate Democrats so that they could wring their hands about where the party is going. “The Democrats, in my opinion, would make a big mistake if they decide to run a base election and just say, ‘Our base is bigger than your base,’ ” said former New Orleans mayor and possible presidential candidate Mitch Landrieu.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/07/23/republicans-are-telling-democrats-to-move-right-its-dreadful-advice/?utm_term=.c6a003383486&tid=sm_tw
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Republicans are telling Democrats to move right. It's dreadful advice. (Original Post) demmiblue Jul 2018 OP
Comey already did that and we got Trump Raven123 Jul 2018 #1
Good response to Comey here EndGOPPropaganda Jul 2018 #2
Easy on the Soshalism fears Jimbo, not a problem.. appalachiablue Jul 2018 #7
Autocorrect insists on "comedy" whenever I write Comey BeyondGeography Jul 2018 #3
I agree with Comey. The middle does want sensible, balanced, ethical leadership. Trust Buster Jul 2018 #4
No. We Democrats have moved far enough right already Vogon_Glory Jul 2018 #5
watch out, you'll be called out for being divisive ProfessorPlum Jul 2018 #6
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Jul 2018 #8
Comey and the others pushing this advice... rlegro Jul 2018 #9
Seems more likely to push Repubs back to the center or full authoritarian Trumpist. Snellius Jul 2018 #10

Vogon_Glory

(9,084 posts)
5. No. We Democrats have moved far enough right already
Tue Jul 24, 2018, 09:02 AM
Jul 2018

No, those recent former Republicans are giving bad advice. We moved far enough right already. In fact, I’d say that much of the Democratic Party’s agenda is what used to be called moderate-conservative forty, fifty years ago. I see no reason whatsoever why we should move over into the irresponsible anti-welfare state, anti-Great Society, anti-New Deal psychotic mindset that has taken over the Republican Party.

I know this to be true. I used to be a Nixon—Ford era moderate conservative and bailed when I realized that the Raygun Zanies were firmly in control of the GOP and would continue to be so.

I admit I’m more to the right than many DU voters, and that I don’t like the thought of writing off potential voters. But after the 2016 election, I’ve been convinced that all the reachable Republican moderates have already crossed over the River Jordan and joined Team Donkey. There’s little left among the pachyderms except diminishing returns. We’d do better to start registering and recruiting within traditional Democratic blocs.

rlegro

(338 posts)
9. Comey and the others pushing this advice...
Tue Jul 24, 2018, 09:45 PM
Jul 2018

...apparently never heard of the Overton window. Shifting the window back to the center of American politics from the right, where it resides today, in fact requires a vigorous shift to the left in Democratic politics -- perhaps a series of them, which is how the GOP moved the window into neo-fascist territory in the space of a few decades. More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window

Snellius

(6,881 posts)
10. Seems more likely to push Repubs back to the center or full authoritarian Trumpist.
Tue Jul 24, 2018, 10:31 PM
Jul 2018

Their major donors like the Koch brothers must be freaking out over the possibility of democratic socialism, like after WWII when almost every country in the world went socialist in one degree or another. Except the US. Or like Hitler in his rise to power.

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