Progressive Ponderings: What is the difference between a Democrat and a Liberal?

A Liberal believes in principles

by Joe Mayer 4/15/11

Frequently when I’m conversing with a Democratic elected official or their staffers I’m accused of being too liberal. Almost every time, I had been advocating the party platform, a platform I had thought these officials signed onto when they were endorsed.

For example, the health care plan that was finally enacted by Congress is far from what the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party platform endorses, a “single-payer” plan on both the state and national level. Early in the discussion of these plans public opinion overwhelmingly favored ‘single payer’. But what happened? Obama and the Congressional Democrats would not allow single-payer advocates at the table either at the White House or Congressional hearings. Elected Democrats even had constituents arrested for trying to be heard!

By the end of the hearing/testimony/vetting process of what became known as “Obamacare,” conservatives grabbed the dialog and the momentum. When Democrats sacrifice principle – often party platform – two things usually happen: 1) their base abandons them because they lack a clear vision, and 2) the public abandons them for the same reason. I personally believe that the 2010 election catastrophe for the Democrats had a lot to do with their inability to articulate a clear vision on health care.

The DFL “Action Platform” specifically supports passage of the “Employee Free Choice Act” designed to make it easier for workers to form and join unions and to penalize employers that retaliate against union organizing. When it passed the House on Mar.1, 2007, it was filibustered by Senate Republicans. After the 2008 election, Democrats controlled the House, the Senate with a filibuster-proof majority, and the Presidency. Bills were introduced in both houses supporting this act but the Democratic committee chairs failed to call a single hearing!

Doing nothing about the Employee Free Choice Act, Democratic voters again lost interest in the political process and stayed home for the 2010 elections. The winning Republicans quickly seized on this passivity and are attacking unions at the state level across the nation. The response by the working class has been revolutionary. Still, some Democrats in Congress and even the President are afraid to support a party platform that endorses collective bargaining.

These are only two examples where the failure of elected Democrats to act on party principles has been devastating for the working class. These failures, among others, have energized the GOP to aggressively make the poor and working Americans take the blame for the financial crisis created by corporations and the wealthy. Washington-elected Democrats don’t seem to see what is happening in the states. Holding two out of three seats of power, the Senate and the Presidency, they still live in a state of waffling.

A few months ago I was on the phone with a young staffer at a Congressional office. After voicing my frustration, I asked “What is the difference between a Democrat and a Liberal?” Hearing nothing I said, “Just give me your opinion. I’m not asking for the Congressperson’s.” The answer came from the mouth of youth: “A Liberal believes in principles!”

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