PARTIES - Democrat | party factions Flashcards
Definition of party faction
Is a group within a political party which shares an ideological agreement that may be different to other groups within the same party.
What are the three Democratic factions?
Liberals
Moderates
Conservatives (known as DINOs - Democrats in Name Only)
What are the three Republican factions?
Moderates
Social Conservatives
Fiscal Conservatives (RINOs - Republicans in Name Only)
Democrat Factions
Liberal Dems | What do they believe in?
Social and racial justice
Oppose death penalty
LGBTQ+ rights
Free college education
Environmental issues
Medicare for ALL
Democrat Factions
Liberal Dems | Examples of politicians
Bernie Sanders
AOC
Democrat Factions
Liberal Dems | What caucus is associated with this faction?
Congressional Progressive Caucus which had just under 100 members in the 116th Congress 2019-2021.
LARGEST DEM FACTION
Four core principles - economic justice, protecting our civil rights, promoting global peace, and environmental protection.
Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House) was a founding member. Planned Parenthood rated her 100%.
Democrat Factions
Liberal Dems | Hostilities with other factions?
Liberals believe the current system is favoured towards the wealthy interest groups, particularly those involved in business and finance.
Liberals often clash with other factions because most of the recent presidential candidates have all been from the moderate wing.
What is a caucus?
A little group that votes together in Congress
Democratic Factions
Liberal Dems | AOC quote
‘In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are’
Democratic Factions
Moderate Dems | What do they believe in?
Public option for healthcare
Minority rights but cautious about wholesale reform of institutions such as the police.
Tax reforms for the M.C
Measures to reduce climate change
Humane immigration reform
They don’t support radical health proposals
More likely to accept Republican’s argument for lower taxes and lower federal expenditure
Democratic Factions
Moderate Dems | What caucus are they associated with?
New Democrat Coalition Caucus
It had just over 100 members in the 116th Congress.
Largest Dem grouping in a caucus.
Democratic Factions
Moderate Dems | Examples of politicians
Joe Biden
Hilary Clinton
Chuck Schumer
Democratic Factions
Moderate Dems | How is Biden a moderate?
Healthcare - he favoured adding a public option to healthcare, curbing prescription drug prices which would allow for Medicare to negotiate drug prices with Pharma companies. He dismisses the liberal preference for universal healthcare.
Climate change - supported re-joining the Paris Agreement.
Wealth inequality - Biden favoured an increase to $15 minimum wage + higher corporate taxes. This is less radical than Sander’s campaign for nomination in 2020, where he favoured a wealth tax and a progressive estate tax which targeted loopholes of the taxation of the super-wealthy.
Democratic Factions
Moderate Dems | Why do mods not like libs?
2020 House losses in the congressional elections.
They believe that the liberal fantasy is what damages them.
House 2020 results came out - mod dem Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, said that the catchphrase Defund the Police damaged mod dem representatives during the re-elections because Republicans were able to exploit and affiliate the party with socialism which lost them votes.
Democratic Factions
Conservative Dems | What do they believe in?
Socially conservative
Fiscally Neo-conservative
Less supportive of LGBTQ+ rights
Gun control rights
Tend to represent Republican-leaning states and districts
Democratic Factions
Conservative Dems | What is the Blue Dog Faction?
This is the main conservative faction which saw 18 House members in 2016.
It is more concerned with reviving the rural community - putting forward an agenda to revitalise the rural communities.
Democratic Factions
Conservative Dems | Examples of politicians
Senator Joe Manchin
Congressman Jim Cooper
Democratic Factions
Conservative Dems | Why is Dan Lipinski interesting?
He is a former Representative for Illinois
He was the co-chair of the Blue Dog Faction.
He was also the chair of the bi-partisan pro-life caucus in Congress, making him one of the most socially conservative Democrats.
Democratic Factions
Conservative Dems | Why is Joe Manchin interesting?
His position as Senator of West Virginia sorta explains why he is so conservative.
West Virginia is a conservative area.
Manchin opposed gay marriage in 2015, supported the building of the wall on the southern border, and he is pro-life.
He was the only Dem to vote for Brett Kavanagh’s nomination as SCOTUS justice in 2019.
PRE-CHEWED POL
Why was Obamacare such a mixed-success for progressives?
Obamacare helped those struggling to afford healthcare - helped 13 million people
However, progressives didn’t get the Public Option which they had wanted. The Public Option advocates for creating a govt-run health insurance agency that competes with private insurers. This was a progressive dream because it would sort of force insurance companies to lower costs because of negotiations.
PRE-CHEWED POL
What is the Dodd-Frank Act 2010 and how did this involve progressives?
This established the new Consumer Financial Bureau to oversee and regulate mortgages, credit cards, and student loans.
Elizabeth Warren is a progressive and law professor, and she specialised in bankruptcy + personal finance, advocating for the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
PRE-CHEWED POL
New Democrats - what is the third way?
A fiscally responsible wing to the Democratic Party.
Democrats basically realised that if they were too liberal, they wouldn’t be electorally successful.
Bill Clinton embodied the third way between 1993-2001 with his stand on big government - ‘the era of big govt is over’
PRE-CHEWED POL
New Democrats - what is workfare?
Clinton’s work policies highlight this third way approach.
His replacement of old aid to families with dependent children with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families meant that it required the recipient to find work within 24 months.
Welfare was replaced with workfare to end the cycle of dependency (Charles Murray who???!)
PRE-CHEWED POL
How did Blue Dog Dems influence Obamacare?
When every Democratic vote was needed to pass Obamacare in 2009, the Blue Dogs had leverage and defeated the public option.
Senator for Nebraska only gave the 60th vote only after the Bill was changed to give states the right to prevent insurance from covering abortion.
PRE-CHEWED POL
What’s happening to the Blue Dogs?
They’re in decline
In 2010, there were 54 Blue Dogs
In 2022, there are 19 (117th Congress)
