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AH Challenge: Christian Democratic Party of the United States
Topic Started: Apr 11 2011, 09:15 PM (299 Views)
The Moon ManPosted Image
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Your mission if you choose to accept it is to make an america where one of the two major political parties follows the morally conservative, economically redistributionist paradigm of Christian Democracy (go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_democracy if you don't know what Christian Democracy is). What kind of effects would it have on America and the world?

To be fair, since it is American politics we're talking about the party can be a big tent party, but Christian Democracy needs to merely be as visible and influential within the party to the extent of the progressives in the modern Democratic party.
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Photovoltaic ArrayPosted Image
Second Dubs
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This is tougher than it seems. I also suspect this party's base would be based in the south arguably more than the Republicans of OTL are.

If we can salami slice demographics here, making the libertarians go into the Democratic Party (well, this timeline's equivalent) could help and it doesn't strike me as impossible. Maybe better since it would also let the globalists see what might be more slight support from the Dems. Perhaps making common cause and appeal to blacks would help given their pro-christian and socially conservative stance in recent history.

Honestly, a lot of pro-business types went to the GOP as is because they don't care that much about social issues. I suspect to get this it will require blatant cultural restructuring more than anything else. It's not impossible but very difficult. On the other hand social liberals would likely hate this party more than the OTL GOP and the Dems would be seen as more visibly elitist, if also more cosmopolitan.
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Photovoltaic ArrayPosted Image
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As for national and world effects, hmm. It could be interesting and useful to let the transnationalist-globalist-Davos types be more visible sooner. But a bunch of localisms that are blatantly conservative and perhaps seemingly backward could make for a lot of visible dreariness and grumbling at minimum.
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The Moon ManPosted Image
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Your point about the pro-business types not caring about social issues is interesting and points to issues with trying to make the GOP go Christian Democratic.

Remember, until the period of 1968-72, the democrats had a left wing, but tended to be the working class party. Having a more serious far-left third party candidate in 1968 to split the dem base a bit, followed up by Wallace's winning the 1972 nomination is one possibility to get populist/conservative dems.

Another possibility is perhaps killing off FDR in 1933, which aborts the democrat-left connection of OTL.

if you want something more recent, then perhaps a second Ford administration caused by the democrats opting to run Ted Kennedy in 1976. After Ford's second four years of failure, America would move rightwards as it did in OTL, but we could see Jimmy Carter as the standard-bearer for a new and strange wave of backlash politics.
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Photovoltaic ArrayPosted Image
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Would Wallace be able to win the 1972 Democratic nomination? If it does I can see the Dems become that Christian Democratic party but it would be in third place. I can sort of see something akin to 1912 with that. Also, a lot of the social consensus we have right now was forming strongly by then and it anything it may let extreme liberals have their way a bit more. I don't know for sure, though.

I do agree Carter was as close as we got to one in actuality and of course the current wave ultimately started with FDR. But I think the later one goes the more likely any potential CD party is small and not meaning much until the next significant FDR-style alignment.
Edited by Photovoltaic Array, Apr 11 2011, 09:45 PM.
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The Moon ManPosted Image
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I don't see a Wallacite/CD dem party as being small. It'd have many OTL people who either left politics in disgust, or went republican due to social issues or the democrat decision to embrace identity politics.

consider two things
1) The average american's views on social issues tend to be center-right and on economics they tend to be center to center-left. This suggests that there is a large swing group of people willing to vote for it.
2) Consider how the religious right's voters often are much more motivated by cultural issues. Also, look at how various segments of the dem party even now are neutral/conservative on social issues like remaining blue-collar voters and to a lesser degree minority voters. There is a ready base.
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Photovoltaic ArrayPosted Image
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Undeniably true. Social liberals are a minority of sorts. I am hesitant to make rough guesses, but those with college degrees vs. those without are probably a good example. There are obvious exceptions, of course, but the Democrats take in socially conservative blacks and recently-immigrated hispanics who might make for a natural base for this party along with many GOP whites uncomfortable with the big-business aspects.

The electoral map may not change too much in the basic sense but a lot of swing states could be swinging in a whole new direction instead.
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The Moon ManPosted Image
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Speaking of the electoral map, I disagree with you. Yes, some areas like the south would remain the same(a monoparty bloc), but consider how portions of the rustbelt and midwest would find the dems more attractive than they do our republicans.

Conversely, the republicans in TTL would be more attractive in certain coastal areas and portions of the western states than our GOP.

Imagine a world where west virginia, pennsylvania, michigan and kansas are solid democrat zones while the GOP's core are nevada, California, colorado, arizona, Oregon, alaska.

The swing areas would be a bit hard to predict. Portions of the plains or midwest seem like obvious candidates. The same would go for portions of the sunbelt too based on economics. Florida seems like a possibility.
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WendellPosted Image
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Didn't Doom or someone make a map about this, with IIRC a "Christian People's Republic of China" as the end result? Something about having Hearst being elected President in 1904 and then in the Democratic Reaction they become evangelical and the Republicans go along for the ride.
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The Moon ManPosted Image
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You're thinking of one of Steve's maps.
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WendellPosted Image
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Indeed.

The idea does have merit, except for Hearst beating Roosevelt.
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The Moon ManPosted Image
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Well, Staev's idea was more to get a theocratic US.

My idea is simply an America where the political spectrum on the right for American conservatism is centered around Christian Democracy.

Essentially an America where the right is more statist, less market, but also more christian. Essentially a GOP that's like a more conservative version of Mexico's PAN or Germany's CDU.
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wormyguy
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One might look to the pre-FDR Progressives and Populists: William Jennings Bryan, Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson - even Hoover (actually probably the most "Christian Democratic" president the US ever had). Some POD between the 1890s and 1920s could make this work.
Edited by wormyguy, May 4 2011, 09:56 PM.
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The Moon ManPosted Image
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That's one POD that could work.

Another would be to have reconstruction somehow stick so you'd get the early populist rainbow coalition to work. Blacks, dixie lower class whites and midwestern protestants all in one party.
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