Because we also know what “moderate” means, in the general context.
Given that some “moderate Democrats” are progressive AF but not very publicly vocal about it, and some are “progressive except for this economic thing”, and some are “progressive except for this social thing”, and some are just “de facto Republicans with (D) after their names on the chyron”, maybe we can just agree that the term as applied to Democrats isn’t of enough descriptive value to be generally useful.
… the prompt was “high profile and likeable”
Adding “centrist and/or old” moves the goal posts
Biden has been a pleasant surprise really. He’s done ok at unwinding some of Trump’s crazier stuff, although not nearly as much as I’d hoped but some of that requires congress, which has been a dumpster fire the entire time. He’s also passed some game changing legislation but, like is normal for a D, barely talks about it in the press. He’s needs to Al-Bundy-football those things.
I expected him to hide the Diamond Joe personality but it’s been coming out more and more, see Dark Brandon. I have to admit, I enjoy it.
Ok, this is the comment I was replying to:
I was pointing out that the term “moderate” when applied to a Democrat doesn’t mean less conservative, and it doesn’t mean more conservative when applied to a Republican. I wasn’t trying to make any other point. I wasn’t arguing the term’s utility or its accuracy with regards to any specific politician.
For a Republican, “moderate” is usually part of an oxymoron these days…
But yes, in theory, “moderate Republican” is a lot more comprehensible than “moderate Democrat,”* in large part because you can’t get any further to the right than some members of the Republican party, so it must mean more to the left. The Democrats, on the other hand, are a center-right party with a few center-left members, who all get treated by Republicans as if they were far-left. So the question is always, “moderate” compared to what? That’s even true when that “moderate” label is (implied) relative to some other Democrat (who may, like Biden, hold both conservative and a few progressive positions, so it’s impossible to know what positions are being considered, or if it’s just a vibe).
*Or just “moderate,” which is increasingly being used as a synonym for “centrist,” which is increasingly a euphemism for “extreme right-wing.”
Well, yeah, but they’ve all been incredibly conservative. President Obama, for example, was a hell of a lot more conservative than even candidate Obama was…
Biden himself is fairly conservative as a person/politician, even if some of the policies he’s championed have been somewhat progressive, by US standards.
… if we call everybody on the spectrum being measured “incredibly conservative,” we have removed any utility from those words
like renaming all the colors in the rainbow “blue”
Sounds like the US version of “centrist” then. God I hate “centrists” at least nobody judges you for punching an honest to god fascist.
That makes him progressive. How we think the person really is in their heart of hearts is unimportant. What matters is what you actually do in politics. Clinton was a very right wing liberal, Obama was a moderate seeking compromise with radical extremists.
Your politics are what you do and how you vote. Not what you “believe”.
Moderate democrat means pro corporations, pro police and pro wars. But woke.
woke so long as they don’t have to support any policy that would directly address systemic racism. racists? fine, pass hate crime bills maybe. but address any fundamental inequities? never
i think he’s showing his non progressive self regarding israel’s response to the hamas attacks. domestically, on the economic front however he’s definitely more progressive than i thought he would be
While I’m still Team Biden, I can’t fault Phillips for trying. After all, everyone thought that Hilary was a shoe-in for the Dem nod in 2008. Who knows?
Can someone in the US please let us know whether he has always been such a self-centred ass/arse…?
That’s a fair point. He seems to be alienating some of his team. It’s a bit opposite of Obama who was, I thought, better internationally than he was for America. Then again if he had led a new deal type response to the long recession it would have spread around the world.
They don’t represent the whole spectrum, though. (I mean, Obama was a whole spectrum just between his candidate days and his time as president.)
On some issues, sure.
Yeah, there are some pretty alarming indicators that Trump could very well win the next election.
“it is time for a change,”
They all SAY that.
Then it’s always the same shit sandwich as always.
It’s baked into the system.
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