New Democrats
Encyclopedia : N : NE : NEW : New Democrats
- In Canada, "New Democrat" means a member of the New Democratic Party.
The New Democrats is also the name of a Political Action Committee (PAC), founded in 2006.[link] This PAC claims to support candidates from all parties who are dedicated to freedom, to reducing the power of the federal government, and to competent governance at all levels. The New Democrats' PAC (hereafter ND-PAC) states it is seeking party recognition where state laws permit and will field candidates within established parties where they do not. ND-PAC states it will support solid incumbents, including Republicans, and will urge challenges against "unprincipled incumbents" as a way to move the political tide in America.
Overview
Ronald Reagan attracted many previously-Democratic voters in his 1980 and 1984 campaigns against Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. The New Democrat faction saw the defeats of Carter and Mondale as proof not that the majority of the electorate in the United States had been truly converted to conservatism, but rather just that it had rejected the excesses that it had come to associate with the 1960s Democratic version of liberalism. The New Republic has been associated with the movement as it generally takes moderate-to-liberal views on social issues, but was associated since the 1970s with a vigorously anti-Communist, and now anti-radical Islamist, foreign policy.Bill Clinton was the single Democratic politician of the 1990s most identified with the New Democrats; his promise of welfare reform in the 1992 presidential campaign, and its subsequent enactment, epitomized the New Democrat position, as were his 1992 promise of a middle-class tax cut and his 1993 expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor. New Democrats were also noteworthy for seeking and obtaining funding from large corporations, and for being less connected with organized labor. They were more open to deregulation than previous Democratic leadership had been. This was especially evident in the large scale deregulation of agriculture and the telecommunications industries[[Citing sources citation needed]], as well as the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), all of which were opposed, in principle, by other Democrats.
The New Democrats claimed success for many achievements in the 90's. The budget was balanced for the first time in over 30 years, and the more moderated approach to economic affairs had allowed for more stable growth[[Citing sources citation needed]]. This perception largely helped give Clinton a 49% plurality in the 1996 election, and advanced Democrats at the state and local levels in the late 1990s. At this time, it is also worth noting that the ideologies of the more liberal and moderate wings of the Democratic party drew closer together[[Citing sources citation needed]]([Disputed statementdisputed]—see [Citing sources citation needed]], and that social programs should be more effective, even as they sought to expand them. As NAFTA's effects began to hit the rust belt and other manufacturing areas, many New Democrats also began to implement practices of fair trade[[Citing sources citation needed]], and international commercial treaties began to have more strict preconditions on labor and environmental practices in the late 90s[[Citing sources citation needed]].
New Democrat successes under Clinton, and the writings of Anthony Giddens, are often regarded to have ispired Tony Blair in the United Kingdom and his moderate policies, which he refers to as "New Labour." Several people identified as New Democrats may vie for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President such as Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Evan Bayh, and former Virginia Governor Mark Warner.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.New Democrat Governors
Members of the House New Democrat Coalition
Members of the Senate New Democrat Coalition
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