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The Democratic Party Is Not Remotely 'Far Left'

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The Democratic Party Is Not Remotely 'Far Left'

One of the most common refrains in American politics is that Democrats have moved "too far left." Spoiler: They haven't.

Peter Daou
May 2, 2022
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The Democratic Party Is Not Remotely 'Far Left'

www.directleft.com
Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

On April 29, Elon Musk tweeted:

Twitter avatar for @elonmusk
Elon Musk @elonmusk
The far left hates everyone, themselves included!
12:28 PM ∙ Apr 29, 2022
1,105,689Likes120,711Retweets

Musk’s tweet sparked yet another wave of claims that Democrats — and American politics overall — have moved too far left.

Thankfully, more and more people see through this ridiculous propaganda:

Twitter avatar for @GBBranstetter
Gillian Branstetter @GBBranstetter
We're two months away from millions of people losing the right to abortion and two years out from an attempted coup while a nationwide reactionary movement bans books and calls queer people a threat to children so yeah no I don't think we've moved too far left
2:03 PM ∙ Apr 29, 2022
51,204Likes10,342Retweets
Twitter avatar for @IHateNYT
Hot Take Appreciator @IHateNYT
The "I heard about a far left position so ergo the people promoting it have gotten too powerful" brain trust strikes again
Twitter avatar for @waitbutwhy
Tim Urban @waitbutwhy
It's true that on aggregate, the right has moved more to the extreme than the left in Washington. But the small group on the far left has become very *culturally* powerful & out of fear, the rest of the left has often allowed them to speak (and make policies) for the whole left.
11:57 AM ∙ Apr 29, 2022
293Likes15Retweets
Twitter avatar for @BitchestheCat
A Cat Named Bitches @BitchestheCat
When self identifying “moderates” claim that things have moved too far left, it just means they liked it better when minorities and marginalized groups just shut the fuck up and basked in the glory that is American opportunity. Fuck that and fuck them.
Image
1:57 PM ∙ Apr 29, 2022
213Likes22Retweets

When I launched Direct Left in January, I knew it would be tough to debunk deeply entrenched myths about leftism in America. Among the biggest of those myths is that the Democratic Party is leftist.

Twitter avatar for @Mike_from_PA
Mike from PA @Mike_from_PA
It's remarkable that people say the Dems are 'too far left', they've literally done nothing but pass a Republican Infrastructure bill and a bailout for huge corporations. There is no major expansion of the welfare state, no tax increases, nothing on healthcare. Just a big fat 0
2:54 PM ∙ Apr 30, 2022
314Likes40Retweets

If anything, Democratic leaders regularly join Republicans in bashing leftists and pushing the “too far left” talking point. As I detailed in a recent piece, Barack Obama waded into the 2020 Democratic primary to warn candidates against echoing “certain left-leaning Twitter feeds.”

Obama cautioned that the universe of voters that could support a Democratic candidate — Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans — are not driven by the same views reflected on “certain left-leaning Twitter feeds” or “the activist wing of our party.”

Being one of those activists, I created the hashtag #TooFarLeft to criticize Obama’s remarks. It caught on, trended worldwide, and was covered by the New York Times:

“Mr. Obama’s remarks prompted fierce backlash online and the creation of the hashtag #TooFarLeft by Peter Daou, a former adviser to Hillary Clinton.”

Twitter avatar for @peterdaou
Peter Daou @peterdaou
CONFESSION: I'm Too Far Left™ I'm #TooFarLeft because I want kids to be safe in school. I'm #TooFarLeft because I want people to live in dignity. I'm #TooFarLeft because I seek justice and equality. I'm #TooFarLeft because I think healthcare and housing are human rights.
2:26 PM ∙ Nov 16, 2019
26,128Likes7,365Retweets
Twitter avatar for @goodyweaver
Goody Weaver Cavorting At The End of The World @goodyweaver
Can you imagine having the ability to stop ecological collapse - the wealth to feed all the children on earth - the power to end nearly all war... Can you imagine having that power and not only refusing to use it, but telling the masses begging for help that they're #TooFarLeft?
8:58 PM ∙ Nov 20, 2019
14Likes7Retweets

Faced with the “too far left” question at a January 2022 press conference, Joe Biden brushed it off, contrasting himself with Bernie Sanders and insisting he was “mainstream, not socialist.”

Twitter avatar for @peterdaou
Peter Daou @peterdaou
#Biden expresses disgust at the idea he's moved left: "I'm not Bernie Sanders. I'm not a socialist. I'm a mainstream Democrat and I have been." Meanwhile, blue check geniuses were giving me shit the other day at how Dems have "moved left." Biden IS the status quo personified.
10:32 PM ∙ Jan 19, 2022
3,786Likes576Retweets

The idea that there’s anything leftist about status-quo-Joe Biden is absurd on its face, but that doesn’t deter the corporate media from demonizing and discouraging the slightest shift away from oligarchic control. The idea that it’s a bad thing to be leftist has been ingrained and normalized across the political spectrum.

The crux of the issue is how to define “left,” which is merely a direction. If you set the starting point at white supremacy, anyone can be described as being to the left. Which makes “too far left” meaninglessly vague.

So let me restate the definition of leftism I’m using at Direct Left:

A leftist strives to eradicate existing systems of oppression, discrimination, and exploitation by fundamentally restructuring how humans coexist and cooperate.

By any reasonable standard, the current Democratic administration is too far right than left. Continuing Trump’s border atrocities, caging migrant children, militarizing the police, expanding an already bloated military budget to become larger than Trump’s, pushing tax cuts for millionaires, approving more oil drilling than Trump, and blocking every avenue to popular leftist policies, is hardly “moving left.”

Twitter avatar for @blackintheempir
Black in the Empire @blackintheempir
The supposedly "Left" Party has embraced Liz Cheney, Bill Kristol and George Bush. They aren't even pretending anymore.
7:04 PM ∙ Jan 20, 2022
360Likes92Retweets
Twitter avatar for @TweetyMctwat
Starbucks Unions Form Like Voltron @TweetyMctwat
Never forget that when the working class of America was poised to get a modest, overdue win in the form of a $15/min wage, the Democrats let the parliamentarian out of the box they keep them in to make sure that didnt happen. Not Republicans, Democrats.
4:38 AM ∙ May 1, 2022
181Likes31Retweets
Twitter avatar for @peterdaou
Peter Daou @peterdaou
Trump became president and Nancy Pelosi prayed for him while Biden perpetuated his policies. And you want to tell me Dems moved left? GTFO.
1:41 AM ∙ Jan 18, 2022
934Likes157Retweets

Propaganda notwithstanding, there is nothing remotely leftist about the Democratic Party, which is half of the capitalist, corporate-owned duopoly. If anything, fascism is in full view in politics, policies, and policing across the country. But you’ll never hear “too far right” in the corporate media and political establishment. That’s because the oligarchs and their minions in government like it that way.

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The Democratic Party Is Not Remotely 'Far Left'

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