What Failed Policies?

I don't want to start a "liberal-conservative" food fight here, but yesterday I heard McCain repeat a phrase you hear GOP candidates saying all the time, namely "We do'nt want a return to the failed policies of the Democrats." My question is what
"failed policies?" In the '60's we passed Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, the beginnings of the EPA which Nixon ratified, COLA adjustments to Social Security and
the Freedom of Information Act. Does anyone really think these are "failed policies?"

Obviouly Vietnam was a "failed policy" but that was a bipartisan
failure.

The next Democrat in office was Carter, who as far as I can tell
had no policies which screwed us domestically, although he did the right things with Egypt and Israel, the Panama Canal and emphasis on human rights. After him was Clinton who balanced the budget and had solid domestic and foreign policies.

So when the right talks about the "failed policies of the past," what exactly are they talking about?

That's why I fucking hate partisan politics.

Maybe nafta? Just a guess.

That was bipartisan as well. In fact the GOP was pushing it harder than the left wing of the Dems, and it was Clinton and some moderate Dems and All the GOP in the Senate who pushed NAFTA through. That was in 93 I think.

POST Nixon policies, or should we say... non-policies.

The pre-Nixon Democrats were more towards the middle and from Carter on started to swayyyy wayyyy over to the left!

That's actually true, DC.

A left wing agenda was clearly more prevalant in the Democratic Party post-Nixon.

I think as a whole, the party felt that after Watergate, it was okay to take the gloves off.

That's when both parties went off the deep end.

Failed policies is simply a euphenism for policies with which Republicans don't agree.

That's definitely true, but my question is, what has inspired the shift? Was it the Nixon administration? Watergate? Or was it just a turn of political tide?

Just a thought..

Many pre-Nixon Democrats were souhteners who still retained vestigaes of the Old South - racial prejudice and fervent nationalism with isolationist tendencies. Post Nixon, they became Republicans. That left the Democratic Party with a core of left of center members.

After Nixon and Watergate I believe there was a general feeling of disgust and disdain for the corruption in politics, and a yearning to embrace simpler and more wholesome times.

As a result, we elected Jimmy Carter in 1976. he was relatively unknown, but was a genuine down-home guy. John Denver became even more popular and "The Waltons" was a top tv show. Many of the top movies post Nixon were touchy feely.

Of course, the hostage crisis hit us in late-1979 and the pendulum started swinging the opposite way, and paved the way for Ronald Reagan, who had no prayer of being elected in '76.

The pendulum keeps swinging.

You have a very valid point. Yesterday's Dixiecrats are today's Republican Party. Though they may have been isolationist pre-Nixon, I think they've taken an opposite turn after his presidency.

What's really interesting is to see how the democratic party has evolved. It's evolved from the early 60's from the New Frontier set out by Kennedy, and took on to such a counter-culture after he was assassinated that his supporters took a fascination to those he opposed (Castro, other communists..). It's outlined in this book I got for Christmas, which I would recommend to anyone who's interested in the political thought current flowing in this country during the 1960's. It's called Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism. Kennedy has captured my interest very much, not only because of the highly suspicious assassination, but also because of his short presidency, and the ideas to come from it.

Yes, JFK represented an evolving Democratic Party that was recognizing the moral degradation of racial segregation, but had authetic concerns about eroding federalism. That all collided with the counter-culture which found vast numbers among college-age babyboomers who were just discovering their wings. Unfortunately, many of them flew smack into the wall of drugs, free-love, pretentious anti-everything, and eventual disillusionment.

Oh. Oswald murdered JFK unassisted and unaided.

Was the failed policy the one where Presidents would only have sex with their wives in the White House?

"wives" ??? Ummm is Mitt Romney back in the race?