The United States has long functioned largely as a two-party nation with smaller and less influential secondary parties.
While the Democratic and Republican parties have existed as the two major parties for much of U.S. history – with changing perspectives and political philosophies over time – other parties or blocs have organized under the banner of the Whigs, Federalists, Free Soil, American or Know-Nothings, Unionists, Libertarians, Green, Socialist Workers, People’s Party, Progressive or Bull Moose, and Youth International.
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In different eras, the Democratic and Republican Parties stood along a continuum from closely resembling one another to standing wide apart. At this current snapshot in time, these two parties are situated at very different, if not diametrically opposed positions, on that political spectrum.
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The Democratic Party, as President Joe Biden’s campaign slogans proclaimed, is to “Build Back Better” to “Restore the Soul of the Nation” after the traumatic and divisive four years under the “former guy” and his enabling sycophants.
The Republican Party, on the other hand, seems to have lost its soul as it tries to find its way while waging an internal and often public Civil War.
While by no means the results of an officially sanctioned survey, and certainly not exhaustive, the following includes the respective policy agendas for the two political parties at this current inflection point:
Democratic Party Agenda:
- End the Covid Pandemic Globally
- Cure Diseases like Cancer
- Update and Improve Infrastructure
- Reverse Climate Change
- Clean the Environment
- Subsidize and Install Clean Renewable Energy Technologies
- Equitably Reform Immigration and Reunify Families
- Promote Pathways toward Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants
- Ensure Equitable Voting Rights
- Support Washington D.C. Statehood
- Advocate for Preschool Education
- Improve K-12 Education
- Support Free Public Community College Education
- Construct Universal Broadband
- Establish Paid Family Leave
- Ensure Childcare and Eldercare
- Guarantee Thrivable (not merely Livable) Income
- Ensure Food Security
- Develop a Fair and Equitable Tax System
- Curb Corporate Lobbying and Funding of Politicians
- Promote Gun Safety Policies
- Ensure LGBTQ+ Equality
- End Racism and Fascism Domestically and Worldwide
- Promote Equitable Prison Reform
- Change Drug Position Incarceration to Drug Treatment
- Expand and Deepen International Alliances
- Work for Negotiate Peace Abroad
- Trust Science
- Tell the Truth
- Ensure Political Transparency
- Govern as Public Servants for The People
Republican Party Agenda:
- Amplify “The Big Lie” that Donald J. Trump Won the 2020 Election
- Topple Liz Cheney
- Suppress Voting Rights of People of Color, Low-Income People, Young People
- Further Gerrymander Legislative Districts
- Win Back the House of Representatives and Senate by Any Means Necessary
- Demonize Non-Christians
- Further Dismantle the Supposed but Never Actualized Wall of Separation between “Church and State”
- Create a Bona Fide Christian Theocracy
- Fully Open the Economy and Large Audience Venues and Covid Precautions Be Damned
- Reverse Rights of Women to Control Their Bodies
- Reverse Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
- Side with Police Officers Who Clearly Violate Civil and Human Rights of Largely Unarmed Black and Brown People
- Restrict Teaching of History Showing Unfavorable Side of the United States
- Promote White Grievance as Foundational Philosophy of the Party
- Ban “Diversity Training” in Public Schools and Government Agencies
- Infuse Public Funding to Private Schools through a Voucher System
- Deny Transgender People Ability to Access Public Accommodations and Sports Teams Aligning with Their Gender Identities
- Enlarge Tax Breaks for the Rich
- Deny Climate Change
- Increase Subsidies to Oil, Gas, and Coal Companies
- Privatize Public Lands for Exploitation
- Clear Cut Forests
- Further Deregulate Corporate Industrial Waste Products into the Environment
- Decertify Labor Unions and Collective Bargaining
- Eliminate Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP Program, Head Start, Unemployment Insurance, National and State Minimum Wages, Disability Aid, Affordable Care Act
- Make Government Smaller and Small and Smaller…
- Further Deregulate Economic Market Systems
- Exponentially Increase Military Budgets
- Demonize Activists in All Types of Progressive Social Change Movements
- Demand Power without Governing
- Oppose Everything and Anything Supported by Democrats
- Install the Orange Fascist Dictator
- Claim Party Motto as “The Party of No”
The Democrats certainly have their problems, internal tensions, factions, and alliances. They do not always carry out their campaign promises even in the best of times. But these times are anything but the best.
We stand at an inflection point, a point of crisis. We are being tested as a nation to determine whether we can continue to advance the promise of creating a more perfect union, or whether we will collapse as the democratic republic of the people and by the people that we had imagined.
The difference is stark between the Republican agenda versus Democrats’ priorities