What % of America does DU represent?

[paparush]

How much of America thinks the DU way?

Opinions?

[Jed Dilligan]

1. There's a DU way to think?

Hard to see for all the arguing that goes on here.

[paparush]

3. I know..that was a weak way to put it.....

[Jed Dilligan]

8. I think anti-Bush and anti-war is a locked-in majority at this point,

but only a minority of people holding these views believe the Democratic Party is the means to end the administration. In other words, I think there is a mismatch between the anti-war/anti-Bush crowd (of which DU is part) and the Democratic electorate (of which DU is also part). A lot of people voting for Democrats probably aren't as anti-war/anti-Bush as DU, and a lot of people who are as anti- as we are don't have enough faith in the system to vote at all. DU represents the overlap, which I think is 30% of the country at best.

[BootinUp]

2. 15% - 20% lol.

So you gonna flame me or what?

[kentuck]

4. On the big issues...

It seems that about 65-70% agree with us?

[Ron Green]

5. Not quite enough to effect the necessary sea change.

Comfort and convenience will ultimately bring us down.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. Depends on your definition.

The rightmost fringe of DU is probably about 15-20% in from the left, I'd say, but most posters are well past the 5% mark.

*Never* make the mistake of assuming that DUers "speak for the people" or similar (although I have a somewhat better claim to be able to do so than American DUers, by virtue of "the people" in my context being the British rather than the Americans). But by American standards, DU is a fringe group (considerably more fringe than e.g. FR), and it behoves us to remember that.

[Jed Dilligan]

9. Keep blowing...

If you blow hard enough we might move a millionth of a percent to the right.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

18. If you wish to keep your head in the sand, I can't stop you.

But DU *isn't* representative of Americans on average, and pointing that out is not "blowing".

If you continue to try and convince yourself that it is, you will continue to be puzzled and angry and unable to understand why you're not achieving anything, and have to continue to cast around for scapegoats like "the media" and "the establishment", when the group actually causing most of the problems in America today due to their conservative views is "the electorate".

Diagnosing a problem is not the same as causing it.

[Jed Dilligan]

21. You know what? You've changed my mind,

you've totally convinced me with your thoughtful post. I have been wondering what might cause the amazing lack of achievement at DU, and it has taken the fresh and unsullied eyes of a foreigner like yourself to remind me what my countrymen are actually like.

I'll be sure to mix in some pro-corporate, anti-immigrant, anti-poor, and crypto-racist statements with stuff I actually believe in my future posts.

That way, I'll be doing my part in confusing the ultra-right-wing American public into voting for Democrats.

[CollegeDUer]

7. Out of ALL of America maybe 10-15%

You have to remember Apathetic America whose greatest political activity is voting on American Idol. Out of all of political America, probably more.

[Tulum_Moon]

11. I think the tide is changing

More and more people are starting to see things in a new light.

[CollegeDUer]

12. That may be true, but remember...

There's a difference between disliking Bush and going left/liberal. Some people are actually blaming bush for not being right wing enough, others think he's a really nice guy who just made mistakes.

[bdamomma]

23. geez I hope so, the ignorance has to subside. wishful thinking??

[Kickoutthejams23]

10. Depends on the subject.

I've seen Du'ers defend possession of child porn on free speech grounds. On the other hand many if not most seem to be in favor of school uniforms. So per subject we seem all over the map.

[bryant69]

13. What's the DU way?

How do you think the DU way?

Are DUers Optimstic or Pessimistic?

Do DUers believe in the potential of Government or do they Despise it?

Do DUers believe that we have nothing to fear from Islamic Terrorists or do they believe that there is athreat but that Democrats can deal with it better?

What do DUers believe happened on September 11th 2001?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Jed Dilligan]

27. New poll shows 1/3 of Americans are LIHOP or MIHOP

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2003251


DU is more like 2/3. I doubt that all or even most of the 1/3 in the survey are Democratic supporters or voters.

[chat_noir]

14. The liberals? The progressives? The moderates?

As Dems, we are all over the spectrum.



……….


www.awolbush.com




DESERTER: THE STORY OF GEORGE W. BUSH AFTER HE QUIT THE TEXAS AIR NATIONAL GUARD http://www.glcq.com/bush_at_arpc1.htm















$10,000 reward was never collected




Cheerleader action doll hahahaha

[Sammy Pepys]

15. Brutal honesty....

Maybe 15-20%. I definitely think a lot of what gets discussed here would resonate in some way or another with Democrats of all stripes, but DU is certainly not casual about the issues and ideas it supports....and while that's a good thing, it does alienate a significant crowd.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

16. At absolute most, MAYBE 10%.

Considering we probably don't even reflect a third of the Democratic party, I really can't think we're that representative of the American people, at least not if you take our "agenda" as a whole. On individual issues, we probably score very highly on some, and almost non-existant on others.

[Joanne98]

17. Because we're always ahead of the trend 10%

But we don't need anymore. We're the spearhead!

[Generic Other]

19. DU views seem mainstream in my blue leftcoast state

At least 51% agree with DUers about Bush.

[LoZoccolo]

20. DU doesn't even represent a large percent of Democratic activists.

Case in point: people didn't even recognize what I was talking about in this post, nor did any of them think of what to post after I made it clearer:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2801224&mesg_id=2801224

[ThomWV]

22. About 60%. After All, We're All Democrats - Aren't We?

[WI_DEM]

24. 10-15 percent

[phrenzy]

25. We are mostly 'fringe' democrats.

I'm sorry - I know this hurts, but we are basically the left equivelant of freepers in terms of numbers. Well, maybe a little better than them, but in general most people aren't as 'engaged' and fanatical as us about as many things as we are.

It is MUCH more common for me to meet people who are simply not interested in politics AT ALL than meeting a hard-core democrat or republican. I think following politics is almost like a hobby (sadly) - a hobby which not many people take up.

[Jed Dilligan]

26. Quite the contrary, I think.

The salient features of politics here are being anti-Bush and anti-war. You'll find allies for any other conservative position among our posters.

At least 2/3 of the country is now both anti-Bush and anti-Iraq-war. Only about half the country are Democrats, and a fraction of that number are liberal Democrats.

In that sense, DU is more mainstream than the Democratic party. The real fringe are "moderate" Democrats who support the party but are not anti-Bush or anti-Iraq-war.

[Cleita]

28. After spending the day lurking at White Supremist and

anti-immigrant websites including Congressman Tom Tancredo's I am getting the chilling feeling that we are in the minority.

:scared::scared::scared:

[ComerPerro]

29. maybe 5%, but that might be a bit high

30% of the country is genuine FReeper, racist idiots.

And the rest of the country?

they don't think.

[applegrove]

30. I'm a DUer, a fiscal conservative and a social Liberal. So... that makes

me one of a few thousand moderates. Moderates dislike * too. Don't sell yourself short. DU is a big tent.