The Democrats, and Why it's a Problem

This is not a political blog, of course, but (just like the Church is not political) we are impacted by political things. So I'm taking a risk and considering something political.

I was reading this story from a Democrat/Progressive site about the failures of the Democratic Party to, well, win elections. The story was insightful, but many of the comments were not: they insist that nothing stinks in Denmark, and sooner or later the Democrats will start winning again just, well, because. No real need to change.

I think that's a problem for the Democrats and for our country as a whole. On issues touching the Culture of Life, Catholics often find themselves more at home with Republicans (for the first time in history). Abortion, euthanasia, homosexual unions, etc.

But the Democrats do offer a very important check on other social issues: third-world debt, discrimination, education, social nets for the poor, etc. These are all issues that must touch the Christian conscience, even if many Christians do not believe the government is the best answer to these problems. I was once invited to join a campus progressive alliance just because I was one of two people in class who insisted that all people have a right to food, water, and life: everyone else advocated a "Let the poor starve to death" position. Good God.

In a perfect country, we would have a powerful political party that fused traditional social concern with the Culture of Life: a friend's friend in El Salvadore was shocked and confused that anyone could be Progressive AND pro-Abortion. Sadly, that is not the story in the US.

So, I think Christian charity gets an important boost when the Democrats de-emphasize capital punishment and push for the needs of the marginalized. So, to hear so many Democrats think that maintaining their status quo is somehow a good idea (especially the refusal to accomodate the country's majority opinion on Abortion), that's a problem for all of us, even those who don't consistantly vote Democratic.

Thoughts?