You Won't Win As A Centrist

[gyroscope]

"Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican,
voters will pick the Republican every time!" - President Harry S. Truman


Democrats consistently lose when they run as centrist candidates, which explains why Republicans control both houses of Congress. Centrists depress voter turnout, fail to excite the youth and the base of the party, and as we all know Republicans win when voter turnout is low.

[DanTex]

1. Just ask presidents McGovern and Mondale.

[merrily]

4. The centrist memes about those elections were false to begin with and are played out.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1154352

[DanTex]

5. ...says a Bernie fan on DU.

[merrily]

6. Says someone who researched and analyzed this in a number of posts you did not read.

They are all linked within the link I posted to you, not that I expect you to read them. Someone else reading this thread may be interested in actually analysis, as opposed to mindless mouthing of decades old false memes, though.

[DanTex]

8. ...says a Bernie fan on DU.

[merrily]

11. Says a Hillary "fan" on DU who won't bother to read research.

[leftofcool]

10. You beat me to it

[merrily]

12. His knee jerk to old, false cliches was faster. Sorry about that.

[jeff47]

14. Let's ask Presidents Gore and Kerry instead.

Elections that took place during this century might be a tad more relevant.

[DanTex]

15. Or president Nader, while we're at it.

[jeff47]

16. Surely running a centrist campaign like Gore did would make him irrelevant. (nt)

[DanTex]

17. Shouldn't he have won by being so far left? Maybe you can point to another successful presidential

campaign where a far-left candidate won. The last two Dem presidents were Obama and Clinton, and neither of them were running in single payer healthcare and tax increases on the middle class.

[jeff47]

18. The problem is you are claiming centrist campaigns are massive winners

And the fact is that is no longer the case. We are not the same electorate we were in 1984 or 1972.

If we were the same, then Gore and Kerry would have done much better, and Obama would have done worse than Clinton.

Times change.

The last two Dem presidents were Obama and Clinton, and neither of them were running in single payer healthcare and tax increases on the middle class.

You better go review Obama's campaign. He ran on a public option, aka single-payer-lite.

[DanTex]

20. Actually, no, I'm claiming that socialist campaigns are massive losers. The Dems have won the

popular vote in 5 of the last 6 presidential elections, and would have won them outright if not for the Nader/SCOTUS disaster. Can you point me to electoral success that socialists have had recently outside of a few deep blue states? I'm sure there are many, given your confidence, and that would go a long way in persuading me and a lot of other people that Bernie can beat the GOP.

To claim that Obama was running on anything resembling single payer is utterly ludicrous. In terms of policy, Hillary's current platform is further left than Obama's. And also Bill Clinton's. Come to think of it, it's also further left than Gore's and Kerry's.

[NorthCarolina]

2. How about if you are a

"Guilty as charged" moderate that is a "progressive who likes to get things done!"?

Matter AND anti-matter housed in the same vessel....amazing.

[gyroscope]

3. lol

Won't win as a centrist running as a fake progressive either, and Hillary is fooling no one.

Her pandering is so transparent, and why she'd be a disaster in the GE.

[redstateblues]

27. Pandering? Free college!

That will sail tight through congress right along with raising taxes

[pangaia]

29. Unfortunately, she is fooling millions.

For now.

[LWolf]

7. A great summary

of how the neo-liberals have kept us losing.

[-none]

9. Define "Centralist"

Is it half way between the Democrats and the Republicans, as in the 3rd Way? Which makes them Center Right politically? That Center?
Or is it the middle between the two political extremes, we now think of as the Far Left? Or some even call the Radical Left, even though it is the thinking of the main stream America?
We need to stop letting 1%'ers, the corporatist, the Right, the Republicans, our owners, define who and what's where in the political spectrum.
The fact is, our 'leaders' are on the Right of Center. The American citizens are not. Most are in the Real Center and Left of Center.
And that is why Bernie Sanders is doing so great with those that know about him.

[merrily]

13. Correct. Many correct Democratic office holders are center right, thanks in no small part to the

Clintons, Al From, Will Marshall, the Koch brothers and others.

[Ferd Berfel]

19. Correct

And THEY must be rooted out too!



too many disenfranchised republicans came across because it was easier than fighting in their own party.

[LWolf]

21. I don't blame

moderate Republicans for fleeing their party in droves...much.

I would much rather, though, that they stay in their party and fight to take it back.

Just like we are doing now, fighting to take the party back from neo-liberals.

[Ferd Berfel]

22. I do blame them

it was a sign of weakness and cowardice. They took the easy way out.

[merrily]

23. That was not what happened, though. People like Schumer and Kerry, even

Kennedy, were not moderate Republicans who joined the Democratic Party. They were not even Conservadems. They were once traditional Democrats who somehow got co-opted into banging the tambourines for the DLC gospel.

[LWolf]

25. Some did.

It seems to me like it was happening from both sides. The neo-liberal revolution in the Democratic Party, in which traditional Democrats started fleeing to the center-right, attracted moderate Republicans.

[merrily]

32. IMO, it was a lot more complicated than that, but it's moot now anyway.

We now have in essence, the Third Way Party and the Bat Shot Party.

[LWolf]

35. That is certainly clear.

The Third Way Party and the Bat Shit Party.

It's why we need a political revolution.

[gyroscope]

24. A centrist is basically

someone who is liberal on social wedge issues like gay marriage and abortion, but are conservative on economic issues, tend to be very hawkish on foreign policy, are close to Wall Street and corporate donors, etc.

A centrist is 80 - 90% conservative, 10 - 20% liberal.

[OhZone]

31. No, a Centrist can be a lot of things. And a lot of places on the spectrum. n/t

[gyroscope]

38. That's what I said

liberal on social issues, conservative on most everything else.

[-none]

39. You just described Hillary and anyone else who is between the Democrats and the Republicans.

That is not where the real Center is. Hillary is no Liberal. She is far to Right of the actual political Center. Just not far enough to be in or around the Clown Car

[bigwillq]

26. Congrats on 700 posts!

[gyroscope]

30. Thank you bigwill!

[HassleCat]

28. The trick is to triangulate

Make the voters believe you're close enough to the Republicans to be friends with them, but different enough that you're human.

[Ferd Berfel]

33. Not this time - If I can help it.

Working hard for Bernie !

[redstateblues]

34. Yeah right. Try primarying a centrist like McCasskill

With a hard left candidate in a red state like MO. The hard Lefty might win the primary but would get crushed in the GE and we would lose a seat in the Senate tho I'm sure most DUers would be happy with that. You'd rather give the seat to the Republicans than have a centrist Democrat who would vote with the President 80% of the time. Great plan.

[merrily]

37. As if that doesn't happen when you don't primary a DINO. Arkansas, Louisiana, to name only two.

[HereSince1628]

36. FWIW, WiDems have run moderate/centrists against Walker 3 times...

Down at the grassroots, there is huge resentment against Walker and the performance of his legislative and supreme court gangs, but the state leadership hasn't figured out a way to encourage a person who can lead that.