Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States, along with the U.S. Republican Party. Since 1966, it has elected Jimmy Carter president in 1976, and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. It lost the other presidential contests. The Democratic Party lost control of Congress in the mid-term elections of 1994, and regained them in the mid-term elections of 2006.

The new Democratic majority named Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, the first women to hold that position. Nevada Senator Harry Reid became Senate Majority Leader. The Democrats were unable to impede the Iraq war, and passed little significant legislation in 2007, apart from an increase in the minimum wage. Their most important bill, SCHIP to provide health insurance for children, was vetoed.

The race for the 2008 presidential nomination began much earlier than usual. New York Senator Hillary Clinton held a commanding lead in polls, but only a small lead in fundraising over her chief competitor Senator Barak Obama. The winners of the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary in January, 2008, will take momentum into "super Tuesday", Feb. 5, when half the delegates will be chosen for the national convention, which meets in Denver Aug. 25-28.

Clinton is the first woman to lead a presidential race; Obama is the first prominent black contender since Jesse Jackson in 1988, but the African American community is split on his candidacy. Many blacks prefer Clinton because of their admiration for her husband Bill Clinton, or because of fears Obama will be assassinated.

With the GOP in disarray and President George W. Bush unpopular outside his party, the Democrats have been leading in the polls and have outperformed the GOP in fundraising by a 2-1 ratio in 2007. Democrats expect to regain the White House and make gains in Congress. However the party remains split on foreign policy issues, especially regarding the nation's long-term role in the Middle East.

Bibliography

1980 - Present

• Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, The Almanac of American Politics 2008: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts (2007) covers all the live politicians with amazing detail. New edition every two years since 1975.
• Black, Earl and Merle Black. Divided America: The Ferocious Power Struggle in American Politics (2007)
• Brownstein, Ronald. The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America(2007)
• Crane, Michael. The Political Junkie Handbook: The Definitive Reference Books on Politics (2004) covers all the major issues explaining the parties' positions
• Miroff, Bruce. Liberals’ Moment: The McGovern Insurgency and the Identity Crisis of the Democratic Party (2007). excerpt and text search
• Sabato, Larry J. Divided States of America: The Slash and Burn Politics of the 2004 Presidential Election (2005).
• Sabato, Larry J. ed. The Sixth Year Itch: The Rise and Fall of the George W. Bush Presidency (1907), in-depth essays by scholars on key states in 2006
• Sabato, Larry J., and Howard R. Ernst eds. Political Parties and Elections (2007), 540pp; an encyclopedia with 450 entries by scholars
• Sabato, Larry J. and Bruce Larson. The Party's Just Begun: Shaping Political Parties for America's Future (2001) textbook.
• Shafer, Byron E. and Anthony J. Badger, eds. Contesting Democracy: Substance and Structure in American Political History, 1775-2000 (2001), long essays by specialists on each time period
• Shafer, Byron and Richard Johnston. The End of Southern Exceptionalism (2006), uses statistical election data & polls to argue GOP growth was primarily a response to economic change

See Also

• U.S. Democratic Party, history
• U.S. Republican Party
• Fifth party System
• New Deal Coalition
• Bill Clinton
• Hillary Clinton

External links

• Democratic National Committee
• Denver DNC 2008 convention
• PoliticosLatinos.com Videos of 2008 US Presidential Election Candidates' Positions regarding Immigration

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