Washington Post Article Describes Pro-Freedom Democrats The Sunday, October 4, 1998 issue of The Washington Post had a front page article that described "Libertarian Democrats" as being one of the five main kinds of Democrats. With the title "Core Beliefs Recast Party Lines", the article summarized a national survey done by the Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University.
The survey was based on cluster analysis, and "grouped together individuals who held similar core values to illuminate the competing and contrasting factions within the Democratic and Republican parties. Overall, the analsis found that four distinct clusters of voters make up more than 90 percent of the Republican Party. ... Democrats are even more fractured: Five separate groups struggle to coexist within the party.... More than nine out of ten Democrats fit into one of the five Democratic factions."
Here are excerpts from the article's descriptions of the five kinds of Democrats the survey found within the Democratic Party:
The four groups the survey found in the Republican Party were labelled as: 1) "The Liberal Republicans" ("About 19 percent of all Republicans"); 2) "Big Business Republicans" ("About 22 percent of all Republicans"); 3) "Big Government Republicans" ("About 23 percent of all Republicans"); and 4) "The Religious Conservatives" ("About 29 percent of all Republicans").
- "The Determined Liberals":
"Economically and socially liberal". They're compassionate, pro-government and anti-business." "About 30% of all Democrats."
- "Helping Hand Democrats":
[Fiscally liberal, socially between liberals and conservatives.] "Only one Republican group is more religious." They favor "traditional family values. "They're also far more compassionate than most Republicans or Democrats. A majority says welfare benefits should be continued after five years.""This group shares many similar policy preferences of Determined Liberals. But these groups...split sharply over homosexual rights. Eight in 10 Helping Hand Democrats say homosexuality is always wrong and should't be tolerated." "About 22% of all Democrats."
- "Discouraged White Democrats":
[Socially conservative, and apparently economically between fiscal conservatives and centrists.] "More say they are conservatives than say they are liberals".... "Almost nine out of ten say homosexuality should not be tolerated, and "They object more to marriages between blacks and whites than any group, Republican or Democrat." "About 19% of all Democrats."
- "New Generation Democrats":
[Socially and fiscally liberal. According to the description in the article, apparently they differ from the "Determined Liberals" in being much less favorable toward welfare programs than liberals, even more tolerant of homosexuality, and the least religious group within either party.] "[T]he majority say smoking marijuana is acceptable"."More than any group in America, they like big government: Nearly two in three want a bigger federal government with more services" (eg managed care; preventing teenage smoking). [But it has the lowest expected voter turnout of any Democratic group.] This group makes up "About 15 percent of Democrats".
- The Libertarian Democrats:
[Oppose "big government" when it comes to the economy, and also oppose big government interference in personal matters, such as religion and lifestyle decisions.] "About 9 percent of all Democrats.""These Democrats hate the government, are fiercely independent ... But they dislike religion in politics even more than they despise big government: More than nine out of ten say organized religious groups of all kinds should 'stay out of politics' - no other group, Democrat or Republican, is remotely as antagonistic.
"Moreover, they don't like moralists and traditionalists, ranking only behind New Generation Democrats in terms of their rejection of conventional marality and acceptance of alternate lifestyles.
"They're mostly self-made men and women: Three in four strongly agree that 'people should take responsibility for their own lives and economic well-being and not expect other people to help.' They also believe hard work guarantees success, and it's apparently true for them. This group contains the highest percentage of full-time workers as well as the largest proportion of Democrats earning more than $50,000 a year.
"Their policy preferences flow directly from their secular, libertarian views. These voters oppose school prayer, and they reject vouchers as a way to help pay for private or religious schools.
"They're also the most likely of any Democratic group to favor cutting welfare benefits after five years and the least likely to support affirmative action programs. Big minorities support legalizing casino gambling and physician-assisted suicide, and seven in 10 approve of allowing individuals to invest some of their Social Security nest egg in the stock market.
"Footnote: These Democrats have strongly held opinions - perhaps a bit too strong. More than four in 10 say they've been divorced sometime in their lives."
Curiously, even though the survey's analysis of the Democratic Party included a category they labeled as "Libertarian Democrats", the analysis of the Republican Party did not use the term "Libertarian Republican" for any of the groups in the Republican Party, even though some other commentators have referred to the Libertarian Republican faction in the Republican Party.
The survey does describe a faction of Republicans that are fiscally conservative ("Nearly nine in 10 say they prefer a smaller government providing fewer services over a larger one providing more") and socially tolerant ("To those who would translate their moral beliefs into laws prohibiting this or requiring that, they say: Butt out"). But the survey labels that group as "Big Business Republicans" - even though nothing in the article says anything to indicate that the group necessarily favors big business over small business or medium size business, or to imply that it favors any kind of special privileges for big business.
Apparently, one must obtain a copy of the complete survey in order to find why that label was used for that group of Republicans.
An interesting comment the article made about that category of Republicans is: "Don't bother asking these Americans for a handout. Only a third in this group say it is very important to them personally to help the less fortunate, fewer than in any other Republican or Democratic group."
That comment might be relevant to a question that is often asked: "What is the difference between libertarian Republicans and libertarian Democrats?" One of the key differences is that libertarian Democrats seem more likely to emphasize a socially responsible transition toward liberty, which focuses first on removing corporate welfare, rather than cutting the social safety net first. If corporate welfare is removed first, then more jobs will open up, with higher wages and a lower cost of living.
The survey's comments above about the difference in social concern seem to be relevant to the distinction between libertarian Republicans and libertarian Democrats.
Brian Lundy, executive director of the Democratic National Committee in the mid-1980s:
"But the upper income suburbs, the wine-and-cheese set, that's where the libertarian thing comes in, saving the Democratic Party. Democrats, if they're smart, will continue to promote a libertarian philosophy. The largest party in the country is libertarian, but it has no leader. If you look at the majority of the public on these issues, there is this conservative economic outlook and social tolerance. But it has no party. It has voters but it doesn't really have leaders. Democrats are going to do just fine if they stay on the libertarian side of that."
(source: "American Enterprise", March 2001: "Divided Democrats - The Post-Clinton Party", pp.35-42)
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(source: "American Enterprise", March 2001: "Divided Democrats - The Post-Clinton Party", pp.35-42)
Tim Penny "The younger Democrats that I know tend to be fairly libertarian. When I work with young professionals in Minnesota's Twin Cities who think of themselves as Democrats, they are by and large social liberals and fiscal conservatives. They are not frightened by - in fact, they're very much in interested in - Social Security and Medicare reform."