Democratic Parties

After a strong effort made for months by the nationally-based Democratic Party and the dozens of state Democratic parties around the country, one of the most important pieces of legislation proposed by the Democratic Party in the early 21st century was passed late in March 2010 against almost overwhelmingly strong opposition from Republican Party legislators and activists and their media allies in Fox News. The health care-reform bill, which had been approved by the Senate on Christmas Eve 2009, was finally passed by the House of Representatives after a concerted process that required the Democrat Party to deal with strongly, often deceptively worded arguments made by conservative politicians and media personalities, as well as deal with disagreements between various regional Democratic parties and their legislative representatives as to what provisions the bill should contain. A particularly strong disagreement occurred within the Democratic Party over the provisions made within the bill for funding abortions through the health care system. After a period of political setbacks to local Democratic parties that seemed to promise a striking new turn in the political landscape not long after the deeply unpopular administration of President George W. Bush, this victory on Capitol Hill for the Democratic Party will likely be counted as a significant sign of good fortunes and as one of the first major and tangible achievements to come out of the historic presidential win for President Obama.

The political divide that now yawns between Republican and Democratic parties all across the country will likely only increase as a result of this major legislative achievement as well as the means through which it was accomplished, which were accompanied by fervent, in many cases hysterical and overheated criticism from conservative politicians and their allies among right-wing media commentators. Some members of the Democratic Party had come to feel that the possibility was dawning by the end of President Bush’s tenure in office for a greater spirit of cooperation among the Republican and Democratic parties. The Bush Administration, which in the wake of the 9/11 attacks had adopted so-called security measures for dealing with internal safety and foreign relations that attracted criticism that was widespread in the Democratic Party, was at first extremely divisive for the American political landscape, giving competition in the media and in the Capitol an increasingly bitter tinge. With time, however, the Republican and Democratic parties had in some quarters grown closer in a shared spirit that the President’s administration had proved largely inept even in implementing programs that some critics might otherwise agree with.

Any hope that the Democratic Party might be appeal to disgruntled sections of its opposing political party to switch to support for more liberal programs has been largely scotched by a legislative battle that helped empower the often-radical and legally dubious “Tea Party” movement of right-wing activists, who in some instances have adopted arguments seemingly based less on actual Democratic Party proposals than on nativist and racially-based suspicion of the President and other liberal leaning politicians.