With politicians already revving up for the next presidential election and the nation being divided into regions of red and blue, Democrats and Republicans are ready to engage in bashing each other with renewed enthusiasm . This time of year, the aisle is changed from a line into hostile territory to an all-out No Man’s Land. It can be hard however, to understand the political climate without a basic understanding of the major parties in the U.S.
The Democratic Party is represented by the donkey. Famous presidents who were Democrats are Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. The current president, Barack Obama, is also a Democrat. According to its website the party was “founded more than 200 years ago. The Democratic Party was born in response to the idea that government should represent the people and that wealth and status should not be an entitlement to rule.” (http://www.democrats.org/about/our_history). They are also called liberals or leftist.
Democrats generally vote for funding federal programs such as Welfare and WIC, same-sex marriage, high safety measures and other controls on industry, environmental protection, relaxed drug regulations and tax breaks for the middle class. Liberals usually vote against relaxed gun control, the death penalty, tax breaks for the wealthy and strict immigration laws.
The Republican Party is represented by the elephant. Some presidents who were Republicans were Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and both of the Bush presidents. The mission statement of the Republican Party is “Our vision is for a world in which all individuals can freely exercise the natural right of sole dominion over their own lives, liberty and property by building a political party that elects Libertarians to public office, and moving public policy in a libertarian direction.” (http://2008election.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=1570) The party is also referred to as Right-Wing, Conservative, or the Grand Old Party (GOP).
Republicans usually are for helping large companies, tax breaks for the wealthy, strict drug enforcement and immigration laws. Republicans are typically against abortion, same-sex marriage, and expensive aid to the poor.