Terms from my blog

Democratic Base/Platforms of late 1950’s and early 1960’s or Traditional Dems

Truman Doctrine/Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was basically a decades-long standoff between the US and the Soviet Union, focused on stopping the spread of communism.  From the Democratic Party’s perspective at the time they saw it as a mission to defend democracy and contain communism, using a mix of firm policies and diplomatic efforts to manage that global rivalry.  

Today’s Democratic Party

A good way to frame it is a very broad coalition, with a lot of different factions from far right to maybe even extreme left.  The Progressive’s on the far left are pushing harder and louder for sweeping changes.  They are sometimes referred to as the Extremists of the party.  The Blue Dogs are to the far right or extreme right.  They are more conservative, fiscal and incremental in change.  They are not calling for much on cultural or extreme social issues.  The Centrists, who are left in the middle, are undecided or confused about a single unified message and direction to head.  Democrats as a coalition have a lot of internal diversity which could be a strength but also a challenge in terms of defining who they are.  

“Big Tent”

This is a metaphor to describe how the Democrats wanted to define themselves in the late 1970’s and 1980’s.  They tried to include a wide range of different view points and groups under the same umbrella.  Their aim was to be a party of lots of different kinds of people, ideologies  and perspectives that could co-exist.  


Blue Dog Democrats

(Traditional Dems, Right Leaning Dems)  This part of the base is the more moderate or conservative side of the party.  Also sometimes referred to as “Right” or moving more to the right.  The term Blue Dog originated in the 90’s and they were part of a faction that felt the party was moving too far to the left.  Metaphorically speaking they were being“choked Blue”, an obvious reference to the Blue color that is often referred to as Blue Democrats. Maybe a more detailed definition is they had a more emphasis on fiscal restraint and a moderate approach to the social issues in comparison to the progressive wing.  

Progressive

(Left Leaning Democrats, Leftists, Progressive Extremists, Left Progressive Socialists or Democratic Socialists) today’s progressive wing of the Democratic Party is all about those big, transformative reforms.  They push for universal healthcare, significant climate action (Green New Deal and global initiatives) and a broad range of social justice measures - like strong support for transgender rights, racial equity (DEI/quotas) and criminal justice reform (defunding the police).  They’re often associated with younger, urban, diverse communities who are eager for systemic change and they are often on the forefront of debates about inclusivity in areas like education, healthcare, and even sports participation.  

Centrists

This part of the Democratic Party are often caught between the vocal progressives on one side and the smaller Blue Dog faction on the other.  Because of that the party can sometimes feel like it lacks a single clear direction and the centrists who used to provide that middle ground can feel a bit unsure of where to go.

Bipartisan

Explanations, in my words

The party base in that time was focused around JFK’s “New Frontier” theme, also know as the “Big Banner Idea”.  The party was talking a lot about expanding social programs, investing in education and promoting civil rights.  They felt strongly about being anti-communist and containing communism globally.  They supported the Truman Doctrine and the idea of supporting NATO and keeping a very strong defense.  Additionally during those times, they did not embrace socialism itself and it is also fair to say that both parties were anti socialists/socialism.  This had a lot to do with dealing with the whole Cold War atmosphere.  Although the Dems were focused on social programs, they were very much about expanding opportunities and protecting capitalism rather than replacing it. They were embraced by a term called “the working class”.  This was made up of “blue collar workers” who belonged to union’s (auto workers, steel workers, chemical pants, etc.) and were tradesmen such as plumbers, electricians, roofers, etc.   Again, there was firm push back on anything that was labeled socialist. 

The Truman Doctrine was a policy announced in 1947 by President Harry Truman.  Its main idea was to provide political, military, and economic support to countries threatened by communism.  It was basically about containing the spread of communism during the Cold War.


This means both major parties support something, showing they found common ground.  It's basically cross-party cooperation on an issue (reaching across the aisle).