Is there room in the Democratic Party for racists and homophobes?

[kentuck]

If we are indeed a "big tent" Party, where do we draw the line?

What should we stand for if we are going to call ourselves "Democrats"?

Are we willing to accept the "birthers" into our Party? How about those that defend the big corporations against the people?

In yesterday's House vote for health care reform, three "Blue Dogs" voted against it. All seven wanted to weaken it. Are they still part of the big tent?
======================


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/31/house-health-bill-clears_n_249150.html


<snip>

The seven conservative Blue Dog Democrats on Waxman's committee stood as the primary obstacles to the bill throughout the past two weeks. The five Democrats who ultimately voted against the bill included three of those seven -- Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah, Charlie Melancon of Louisiana and Bart Stupak of Michigan -- plus Reps. John Barrow of Georgia and Rick Boucher of Virginia.

The four Blue Dogs who voted to support the bill were Reps. Bart Gordon of Tennessee, Baron Hill of Indiana, Zack Space of Ohio and frontman Mike Ross of Arkansas.

With the aid of Obama administration officials, Waxman and those four struck a deal Wednesday that delayed the full House vote past August, weakened the bill's public health care option and cut $100 billion over 10 years, much of it in subsidies for uninsured members of the middle class who would be ineligible for the public plan.

Those concessions prompted an outcry from House progressives, 57 of whom signed a letter to House leadership and the three committee chairmen protesting the Blue Dog deal. Waxman struck a deal between the progressives and Blue Dogs early Friday morning that left the public option delinked from Medicare and forced to negotiate its own rates, but restored the middle-income subsidies by shifting funds from existing federal health care programs. The deal also slightly reduced the cost of premiums for the uninsured, from 12 percent of a household's annual income to 11 percent.

....more

[mitchtv]

1. they appear to be a major part of the Dems

so I guess it's a defacto yes

[Starry Messenger]

3. Sad but true.

:(

[sandyd921]

7. Doesn't mean we have to support them

when they stand for re-election or that when possible, we wouldn't support progressive primary opponents.

[spanone]

2. the tent is only so big

[noamnety]

4. Yes - it's getting crowded

Right now it's so full of the homophobes that there doesn't seem to be room left for the folks fighting for gay rights.

[imdjh]

5. IS there no price to be paid? Is Lancaster the only place where shunning still works?

I'll be honest with you, I wouldn't recognize Max Baucus on the street. But then I don't live in DC so it wouldn't matter if I did. If I did live in DC, I would photo posters put up on these guys. WANTED: For betrayal of the public and for political prostitution.

These guys should not be able to go out in public without getting an earful. They should wonder each time they get poor service, or no service, each time a door is slammed rather than held, each time a waiter spills a glass of water, each time a bird shits on their car- am I being shunned? Am I being punished for being a whore and a jackass?

[QC]

6. Homophobes get the red carpet, homosexuals get the back of the hand.

So yeah, I'd say there's plenty of room for homophobes in the party.

[stray cat]

8. yes and bigots of any persuasion - where would you draw the line on bigotry?

based only on sexual orienation or skin color, what about bigotry on the basis of religious persuasion or lack there of, what about differences in class, those who hate any who have wealth, those who are biased against education or lack there of, those who hate southerners, or joke about regional differences.

Each of us could be a party of one = perfectly pure and perfectly inconsequential and powerless.