Democrats Are the New Republicans.

[elleng]

'Family values. How long have we been subjected to that subjective phrase, championed by Republicans who equated it with heterosexuality, fecundity and Christian piety — and who appointed themselves the custodians of those? Well, they lost any remaining claim to that mantle by embracing Donald Trump and then Roy Moore. . .

What pretty lies Republicans tell, most of all about themselves. And what a gorgeous opportunity they have given Democrats to steal that bogus rhetoric right out from under them. Try this on for size: Democrats are the party of family values because they promote the creation of more families. They did precisely that with their advocacy of marriage equality, which didn’t tug the country away from convention but toward it, by encouraging gay and lesbian Americans to live in the sorts of arrangements that conservatives in fact extol.

Democrats also want to give families the flexibility and security that help keep them afloat and maybe intact. That’s what making the work force more hospitable to women and increasing the number of Americans with health insurance do. And Republicans lag behind Democrats on both fronts.

Democrats are the party of fiscal responsibility because they don’t pretend that they can afford grand government commitments — whether distant wars or domestic programs — without collecting the revenue for them.

Democrats are the party of patriotism, because they’re doing something infinitely more urgent and substantive than berating football players who kneel during the national anthem. They’re recognizing that a hostile foreign power tried to change the course of an American presidential election. They’re pressing for a full accounting of that. . .

Under Trump’s thumb and spell, the Republican Party is watching the pillars of its brand crumble. Democrats should grab hold of and appropriate them. And they’re starting to, fitfully and imperfectly. Jettisoning Al Franken as the Republican National Committee reteamed with Moore was part of that effort.

Who among us doesn’t care about family values, defined justly and embraced honestly? Who doesn’t see the good in patriotism, tradition and decency? They’re neither hokey words nor musty concepts, and that’s why Republicans have been using (and misusing) them. But in the age of Trump, they constitute a language that Democrats can more credibly speak.'

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/opinion/democrats-new-republicans.html?

[tirebiter]

1. I umderstand the point of the title as a thesis

But I say bullshit on that notion. We've just always been a tad ahead of the curve. My god, if my rock ribbed Republican father were alive today after having spent the better part of his life as a Cold Warrior (30 years in the Navy, Marines and Air Force) He'd keel over in shock that a Presidency could be decided by the Russians.

[elleng]

2. The points the article makes is that we ARE ahead of the curves,

and we should articulate such by EXPLAINING, for example

'Democrats are the party of patriotism, because they’re doing something infinitely more urgent and substantive than berating football players who kneel during the national anthem. They’re recognizing that a hostile foreign power tried to change the course of an American presidential election. They’re pressing for a full accounting of that. They’re looking for fixes, so that we can know with confidence that we control our own destiny going forward. The president, meanwhile, plays down the threat, and Republicans prop him up.

Democrats are the party of national security. They don’t taunt and get into Twitter wars with the rulers of countries that just might send nuclear warheads our way. They don’t alienate longtime allies by flashing contradictory signals about their commitment to NATO. The leader of the Republican Party does all of that and more, denying the G.O.P. any pretense to stewardship of a stable world order.'

[William Postsalot]

3. And Republicans are the NEW

Why even water it down with "Neo"?

[Nitram]

5. I prefer to call them the new nazis, with a lower-case "n".

[yurbud]

7. cause they are a shitty copy.

[Nitram]

8. Crybaby wannabes.

[yurbud]

9. they are good crybabies

[Nitram]

4. No, we are not "the new Republicans." Republicans never really held those values. We always have.

Republicans are the new nazis. We are the same old Democrats.

[yurbud]

6. I thought that title was going somewhere else entirely

[alarimer]

10. I don't want a "nicer" Republican Party.

I want democratic socialism. What we need is a new New Democratic Party, one that returns to the robust progressive values of the past, only more inclusively. I would rather they emulate the social democracies of Europe, than be a "nicer" Republican Party.

Sure, they are decent (mostly) but where is the boldness? The willingness to back programs like Medicare for all, the $15 minimum wage, a TRUE social safety net, higher taxes on the rich that would reduce income inequality, a reduction in the BLOATED military budget (they spend more on BANDS that we do on foreign aid), etc??