Hi, Shrewd!        Login  
Shrewd'm.com 
A merry & shrewd investing community
Best Of PoliticsBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd
Search
Shrewd'm.com Merry shrewd investors
Search
Best Of PoliticsBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd


The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
Answer this questionContinue to Shrewd'mThis note won't appear again
Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (39) |
Author: albaby1 SILVER
SHREWD
  😊 😞

Number: of 84350 
Subject: Re: Priorities
Date: 10/29/24 9:18 AM
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
No. of Recommendations: 1
There was once such a thing [as Standard Generic Democrat], but not for quite some time.

There still is. But the Standard Generic Democrat changes over time, because the party (and the country) changes over time. Today's baseline "standard" Democrat is going to have vastly different positions on things like gay marriage and immigration than the SGD from thirty years ago, for example. And of course, every actual Democrat will differ in some degree from the Standard Generic Democrat.

But they'll all come close. For the most part, the positions of most Democrats will hew pretty closely to the standard party positions overall. The (D) next to a candidate's name is a really good heuristic on what their positions are. For example, both Obama and Biden were pro-union. Their positions on most things were pretty much the same. At the edges, there might be some differences - but their core stance on unions (they're good! they should be encouraged and protected!) will be the same.

Where they differ, though, is not in their positions, but (dare I say it?) in their priorities. Obama supported EFCA. He and Biden had the same position on that issue. But health insurance reform and banking reform were higher priorities for Obama than EFCA - so they went first, and received most of his political capital. Biden might have structured his priority list differently, had he been President with a supermajority in 2008. He might have insisted on EFCA before the health care law - not because he had a different position on the bill, but because it was more important to him. Obama was the health care guy, and Biden's the union guy - which doesn't mean that Biden didn't support health care reform or that Obama doesn't support unions. Just that they prioritize the issues differently.
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
Print the post
Members reply directly to albaby1 here — and replies get answered. Reading is free; so is joining the conversation. Join Shrewd'm »
This community has written 84,309 posts about US Policy. The article-length ones it recommended most:
It's going to get worse · 33 recs · 2025
G’day Donny · 30 recs · 2026
Old Related Story · 28 recs · 2026
HCR is a national treasure · 27 recs · 2025
Fascism in America · 27 recs · 2025
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (39) |


Announcements
US Policy FAQ
Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

Best Of Politics | Best Of | Favourites & Replies | All Boards | Followed Shrewds | Open Questions | Moving a community