Conservative Democrat

In American politics, Conservative Democrat is a term referring to a member of the Democratic Party who holds some conservative political views.

Related Topics:
American politics - Democratic Party - Conservative

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Conservative Democrats of the twenty-first century are similar to their progressive Republican counterparts, in that both became political minorities after their respective political parties underwent a major political realignment starting in 1964. Prior to 1964, both parties had their liberal, moderate, and conservative wings, each of them equally influential in both parties. After 1964, the conservative wing became more dominant in the Republican Party, and the liberal wing became more dominant in the Democratic Party. This political realignment was mostly complete by 1980. After 1980, each major party has largely become identified by its dominant political orientation, while conservatives within the Democratic Party and liberals within the Republican Party have typically fulfilled the roles of political mavericks, radical centrists, or brokers of compromise between the two major parties.

Related Topics:
Twenty-first century - Progressive - Republican - 1964 - Liberal - Moderate - 1980 - Radical centrist

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Since 1994, conservative Democrats have been organized in the U.S. House of Representatives as the Blue Dog Democrats. Another coalition of moderate Democrats within the United States Senate is the Democratic Leadership Council, which promotes centrist political views but is sometimes also referred to as being conservative. Neither of these two groups is considered to be anywhere near as conservative as some of the earlier conservative groups which preceded them in the Democratic Party.

Related Topics:
1994 - U.S. House of Representatives - Blue Dog Democrats - United States Senate - Democratic Leadership Council - Centrist

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