Diana, Princess of Wales

. Boxer, D-Calif.".

. Barbara L. James Burke Roche, later 3rd Baron Fermoy. Sen. Actor Oliver Platt is more closely related; both he and Diana, Princess of Wales are descendants of Frances Work, a late 19th-century American heiress who was briefly the wife of the Hon. Boxer (D-CA)" or, in Associated Press style, "U.S.

It was much publicized that her ancestry included links to individuals such as Hollywood screen legend Humphrey Bogart (who was her 7th cousin), and poet Edmund Spenser, the author of The Faerie Queen [11]. Barbara L. Prior to her marriage, much research was done into Diana's lineage by genealogists. Sen. These appointments ceased to be valid when Diana divorced the Prince of Wales in 1996. senator from California may be referred to as "U.S. The style "Princess Diana" was incorrect at all times of her life, though often used by the public and the media. For example, Barbara Boxer, a Democratic U.S.

Buckingham Palace dismissed Costner's claims as unfounded. When identifying an elected representative, the single letter "D" is used to denote a Democrat, followed by a hyphen and an abbreviation of the locale he or she represents. After her death, the actor Kevin Costner, who had been introduced to the Princess by her former sister-in-law, Sarah, Duchess of York claimed he had been in negotiations with the divorced Princess to co-star in a sequel to the thriller film The Bodyguard, which starred Costner and Whitney Houston. The abbreviation "Dems" is sometimes used to refer to members of the Party, but unlike "GOP", it is generally not acceptable in formal contexts, such as the text of news articles. Rowland about a fictionalised version of the twentieth century as it might be seen a thousand years from now. In order to avoid the arguably positive connotation of the word "democratic", Republicans will occasionally use "Democrat" as the adjective form, but this is relatively rare and generally regarded as incorrect. Heliograph Incorporated produced a roleplaying game, Diana: Warrior Princess by Marcus L. The usual adjective used in connection with the party is "Democratic", e.g., "Democratic Party" or "Democratic candidates", whereas members of the party are "Democrats".

Amidst considerable (and predictable) outcry, the idea was quickly dropped. See List of state Democratic Parties in the U.S. In 2003, Marvel Comics announced it was to publish a five-part series entitled Di Another Day (a reference to the James Bond film Die Another Day) featuring a resurrected Diana, Princess of Wales as a mutant with superpowers, as part of Peter Milligan's X-Statix title. However, two of its state Party organizations have different names due to historical mergers and state politics, the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party. Diana was ranked third in the (2002) Great Britons poll sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the British public. In most states the Democratic Party is simply known as the "Democratic Party". He stated that Diana "has in common with a minefield the following: relatively easy to lay but extremely difficult, expensive, and dangerous to get rid of." When there was a backlash concerning his quip he said he thought, "it was funny.". (Years of birth and death are indicated.).

In 1999, a little more than a year after her death, the journalist Christopher Hitchens made a vulgar, derogatory and controversial comment about her while on a cruise ship. (Years of birth are indicated.). A permanent memorial, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain was opened in Hyde Park in London on 6 July 2004, but it has been plagued with problems and has been declared off-limits to the public at least twice for repairs. [ref5]. The concrete wall at the edge of the tunnel is still used as an impromptu memorial for people to write their thoughts and feelings about Diana. The Senate did not vote on either proposal. The messages of condolence have since been removed, and its use as a Diana memorial has discontinued, though visitors visit and still leave messages at the site in her memory. Reid convinced the Democratic Senators to vote more as a bloc on some important issues, something which forced the Republican majority to abandon its push for Privatization of Social Security and instatement of the so-called "nuclear option" to end judicial filibuster.

As a temporary memorial, the public co-opted the Flamme de Liberté (Flame of Liberty), a monument near the Alma Tunnel, and related to the French donation of the Statue of Liberty to the United States. When the 109th Congress convened, the Democratic Senators chose Harry Reid of Nevada as their leader and Richard Durbin of Illinois to replace Reid as their Assistant Minority Leader. Some even suggested making Diana a saint, stirring much controversy. Dean also asserted, of the issue of bipartisanship, that "there are some things we can support the President on", but that the Democrats' should oppose the President's agenda "when he's wrong." [ref10]. Numerous manufacturers of collectibles continue to produce Diana merchandise. Dean sought to move the Democratic strategy away from the establishment of Washington, DC, and bolster support for the party's state and local chapters. In the years after her death, interest in the life of Diana has remained high, especially in the United States of America. These debates were reflected in the 2005 campaign for chair of the Democratic National Committee, which Howard Dean won over the objections of many party insiders.

Researchers suggest that this was caused by the "identification" effect, as the greatest increase in suicides was by people most similar to Diana: women aged 25 to 44, whose suicide rate increased by over 45% [10]. [ref9] In What's the Matter with Kansas?, commentator Thomas Frank wrote the Democrats needed to return to campaigning on economic populism. During the four weeks following her funeral, the overall suicide rate in England and Wales rose by 17%, compared with the average reported for that period in the four previous years. Rethinking the party's position on gun policy became a matter of discussion, brought up by Howard Dean, Bill Richardson, Brian Schweitzer and other Democrats who had won governorships in states where Second Amendment rights were important to many voters. A visitors' centre allows visitors to see an exhibition about her and walk around the lake [9]. One topic of discussion is the party's policies surrounding reproductive rights, especially abortion. Diana, Princess of Wales is buried at Althorp in Northamptonshire on an island in the middle of a lake called the Round Oval. Some have suggested moving towards the center to regain seats in the House and Senate and possibly win the presidency in 2008.

Tradition was defied when the guests applauded the speech by Diana's brother, Lord Spencer, who bitterly attacked the press and indirectly criticised the Royal Family for their treatment of her, although Lord Spencer himself had years earlier refused Diana permission to use a cottage at Althorp as a sanctuary due to his fears about press intrusion into his family home. In this situation, some prominent Democrats - including the party's leaders - began to rethink the party's direction, and a variety of strategies for moving forward were voiced. The service was televised live throughout the world, and loudspeakers were placed outside so the crowds could hear the proceedings. Since then, many Democrats have voiced serious concern over the future of their party. Outside Westminster Abbey crowds cheered the dozens of celebrities who filed inside, including singer Sir Elton John (who performed a re-written version of his song Candle in the Wind). Overall, President Bush increased his percentage among Hispanics by 9 percent, from 35 in 2000 to 44 percent in 2004. Mourners cast flowers at the funeral procession for almost the entire length of its journey. In 1996, President Clinton won 72 percent of the Latino vote and in 2000 Al Gore won 65 percent of the Latino voters, however in 2004 John Kerry only received 55 percent of the Latino vote.

At the urging of Downing Street, what was to be a recorded piece became a live broadcast, and the script was revised by Alastair Campbell to be more "human". Another aspect of the Democratic Party's defeat in 2004 was the apparent loss of overwhelming popularity the party once had with Hispanic voters. The Queen, who returned to London from Balmoral, agreed to a television broadcast to the nation. Representatives to force a Congressional debate on the issue when the 109th Congress first convened and in such propose working together to fix problems with the election system. "Where is our Queen? Where is our Flag?" asked The Sun. Barbara Boxer of California and several Democratic U.S. The Royal Family's rigid adherence to protocol was intepreted by the public as a lack of compassion: the refusal of Buckingham Palace to fly the Union Flag at half mast provoked angry headlines in newspapers. Sen.

The reaction of the Royal Family to the death of Diana caused unprecedented resentment and outcry. presidential election controversy and irregularities) The controversies led U.S. More than one million bouquets were left at her London home, Kensington Palace, while at her family's estate of Althorp the public was asked to stop bringing flowers, as the volume of people and flowers in the surrounding roads was causing a threat to public safety. (see 2004 U.S. People in India watched the funeral, even as mourning started to sweep over their country following the passing of Mother Teresa the day before. In Florida, Bev Harris discovered garbage bags full of ballots on which votes had been switched. Diana's death was greeted with extraordinary public grief, and her funeral at Westminster Abbey on 6 September drew an estimated 3 million [8] mourners in London, as well as worldwide television coverage. [ref8] Some voters, especially in Ohio, have alleged that votes in Ohio and other states were illegally suppressed and mistabulated in favor of the Republican candidate, resulting in substantial uncertainty about the actual outcome.

Also, the underpass at the Place de l'Alma is known as an accident black spot; it is on a stretch of high-speed road but only has limited visibility ahead in places; and there are square-shaped pillars in the central reservation which could lead to collisions. [ref7] A commonly accepted argument is that the Republicans ran in opposition to gay rights and used state ballot initiatives against same-sex marriage to attract more so-called "values voters" to vote. Rees-Jones, the only survivor, had his seat belt on. [ref6] Some suggested that the Democrats had received too negative a public image and that Republicans exploited that image. Rumours and conspiracies theories aside, it is clear that Diana, Dodi and Paul were not wearing seat belts when the car crashed. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has asserted that Kerry lost because he did not do enough to reach out to rural citizens. The release of these pictures caused uproar in the UK, where it was widely felt that the privacy of the Princess was being infringed, and spurred another lawsuit by Mohammed Al-Fayed. Sen.

Later in 2004, US TV network CBS showed pictures of the crash scene showing an intact rear side and an intact centre section of the Mercedes, including one of a unbloodied Diana with no outward injuries, crouched on the rear floor of the vehicle with her back to the right passenger seat — the right rear car door is completely opened. U.S. John Burton, said (in an interview with The Times) that he attended a post-mortem examination of the Princess's body at Fulham mortuary, where he personally examined her womb and found her not to be pregnant. [ref5]. In January 2004, the former coroner of The Queen's Household, Dr. Bush, "met the call of duty" in the aftermath of 9/11). Other motivations which have been advanced for murder include suggestions Diana intended to convert to Islam, and that she was pregnant with Dodi's child. [ref4] Others said that the Democrats did not have an inspiring story to tell (whereas Republicans touted that their candidate, Pres.

This was apparently based on the grounds that the Duke abhorred the idea of his grandsons potentially having Muslim or half-Arab siblings. In these arguments, the platform adopted at the 2004 Democratic National Convention is sometimes cited; three partisan insiders authored it and mostly vaguely addressing a minimal number of issues across its 56 pages, and with only passing mentions of women's rights, gay rights, environmental protection and other issues that were previously consistent strongholds of the Democratic Party. Fayed, for his part, stands by his belief that the Princess and his son were killed in an elaborate conspiracy launched by the SIS (MI6) on the orders of the "racist" Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Some argued that the Democratic Party had lost Clinton's "vision thing," and lacked clear policies or alternatives. In the Scottish courts, Mohamed Al-Fayed applied for an order directing there be a public inquiry and is to appeal against the denial of his application. Following the elections of 2004 was debate of why and how the Democrats lost. The families of Dodi Fayed and Henri Paul have not accepted the French investigators' findings. However, the Democrats lost the governorship of Missouri and a legislative majority in Georgia - which had once been a Democratic stronghold since Reconstruction.

No official DNA test has been carried out on the samples, and Henri Paul's family has not been allowed to commission independent tests on them. In the end there were 3,660 Democratic state legislators across the nation to the Republicans' 3,557, and Democrats gained governorships in Louisiana (after a statewide election in 2003), New Hampshire and Montana. Some maintain this strongly indicates the samples were tampered with. Also, for the first time since Barry Goldwater of Arizona won his first election to the Senate, the Democratic leader of the Senate lost reelection. The samples were also said to contain a level of carbon monoxide sufficiently high as to have prevented him from driving a car (or even from standing). Republicans gained four seats in the Senate and three seats in the House of Representatives. [7]. Kerry narrowly lost both the popular and electoral vote.

This initial analysis was challenged by a British pathologist hired by the Fayeds; in response, French authorities carried out a third test, this time using the medically more conclusive fluid from the sclera (white of the eye), which confirmed the level of alcohol measured by blood and also showed Paul had been taking antidepressants. Bush and the Republican Party, the Democrats were not victorious nationally. The French investigators' conclusion that Henri Paul was drunk was made largely on the basis of an analysis of blood samples, which were stated to contain an alcohol level that (according to Jay's September 1997 report) was three times the legal limit. Despite strong campaigning and the faltering image of George W. Although the official investigation found Diana had died as a result of an accident, there are a significant number of conspiracy theories that she was assassinated. That year, Democrats generally campaigned on surmounting the jobless recovery, exiting Iraq, and their own proposals for policies on counterterrorism. On 6 January 2004, an inquest into the death of Diana opened in London held by Michael Burgess, the coroner of The Queen's Household. Bush's administration to find weapons of mass destruction, mounting combat casualties in Iraq, and the lack of any end point for the War on Terror were also issues in the American national elections.

In November 2003, Christian Martinez and Fabrice Chassery, the photographers who took photos of the casualties after the crash, and Jacques Langevin, who took photos as the couple left the Ritz Hotel, were cleared of breaching French privacy laws [6]. By 2004, the failure of George W. The investigators concluded that the crash was an accident brought on by an intoxicated driver attempting to elude pursuing paparazzi at high speed. Howard Dean of Vermont and Senatorial candidate Erskine Bowles of North Carolina) began to refine their positions on free trade and some even question their past support for it. The driver of that vehicle has never come forward, and the vehicle itself has not been found. In 2003-2004, with layoffs of American workers occurring in various industries due to the "shipping of jobs abroad," some Democrats (including John Kerry, ex-Gov. In 1999 a French investigation concluded the Mercedes had come into contact with another vehicle (a white Fiat Uno) in the tunnel. John Kerry, though, received the nomination because he was widely seen as more "electable" than the often blunt Dean.

The car was certainly travelling much faster than the legal speed limit of 50 km/h (30 mph), and faster than was prudent for the Alma underpass. Clark and, in particular, Dean both had immense grassroots support. It was later announced the car's actual speed on collision was about 95-110 km/h (60-70 mph), and that the speedometer had no needle as it was digital. Howard Dean of Vermont, another opponent of the war and a critic of the Democratic establishment, was the frontrunner leading into the Democratic primary elections. Initial media reports stated Diana's car had collided with the pillar at over 190 km/h (120 mph), and that the speedometer's needle had jammed at that position. Ex-Gov. ..... Wesley Clark, an opponent of the war in Iraq, was the frontrunner for the nomination.

They left with her body 90 minutes later. For a time, Gen. the Prince of Wales and Diana's two sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, arrived in Paris to collect Diana's body. The Democrats began fielding Presidential candidates as early as 2002 Dec., when Gore announced he would not run in 2004. At around 2.00 p.m. [ref3]. After their visits, the Anglican Archdeacon of France, Father Martin Draper, said commendatory prayers from the Book of Common Prayer. In considering that most Americans had become more concerned about corporate crime and other economic issues, the election was preceded with widespread debate over how and why the Democrats lost.

Later that morning, Chevenement, the French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, the wife of the French President, Jacques Chirac, and the French Health Minister, Bernard Kouchner, visited the hospital room where Diana's body lay and paid their last respects. Also, while Democrats gained governorships in New Mexico (where Bill Richardson was elected), Arizona (Janet Napolitano) and Wyoming (Dave Freudenthal), other Democrats lost governorships in South Carolina (Jim Hodges), Alabama (Don Siegelman) and, for the first time in more than a century, Georgia (Roy Barnes). At 5.30, her death was announced at a press conference held by a hospital doctor, Jean-Pierre Chevènement (France's Interior Minister) and Sir Michael Jay (Britain's ambassador to France). House of Representatives and three seats (Georgia as Max Cleland was unseated, Minnesota as Paul Wellstone died and his succeeding Democratic candidate lost the election, and Missouri as Jean Carnahan was unseated) in the Senate, failing to regain the majority in the House and losing their majority in the Senate. Two hours later, at 4.00 that morning, the doctors pronounced her dead. The Democratic Party lost a few seats in the U.S. Despite attempts to save her, her internal injuries were too extensive. With job losses and bankruptcies across regions and industries increasing in 2001 and 2002, the Democrats generally campaigned on the issue of economic recovery.

[5]. Bush signed it into law. Diana was freed, alive, from the wreckage, and after some delay due to attempts to stabilize her at the scene, she was taken by ambulance to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, arriving there shortly after 2.00 a.m. In the wake of the financial frauds of Enron and other corporations, Congressional Democrats were integral in pushing for and developing a legal overhaul of business accounting with the intention of preventing further accounting fraud; Congress unanimously approved it and Pres. Trevor Rees-Jones was severely injured, but later recovered. The Democrats were split over the 2003 invasion of Iraq and increasingly expressed concerns about both the justification and progress of the War on Terrorism and the domestic effects including challenges to civil liberties and privacy from the USA PATRIOT Act. Dodi Fayed and Henri Paul were both declared dead at the scene of the crash. Daschle pushed for his party to approve what are arguably two of the most controversial and inflammatory (to opponents) measures the Senate has ever approved: the USA PATRIOT Act and the invasion of Iraq.

As the casualties lay seriously injured in their wrecked car, the photographers continued to take pictures. All but one Congressional Democrat voted with their Republican colleagues to authorize President Bush's 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. It swerved to the left of the two-lane carriageway and collided head-on with the thirteenth pillar supporting the roof, then spun to a stop. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the nation's focus changed to issues of national security and increasing isolation of the United States as the sole remaining and increasingly proactive superpower. At the entrance to the tunnel, their car struck a glancing blow to the right-hand wall. Tom Daschle of South Dakota continued to lead the Senate Democrats with an agenda of compromise. Shortly after midnight on 31 August, their Mercedes-Benz S 280 entered the underpass below the Place de l'Alma, pursued in various vehicles by nine French photographers and a motorcycle courier. Sen.

Late in the evening of Saturday 30 August, Diana and Fayed departed the Hôtel Ritz in Place Vendome, Paris, and drove along the north bank of the Seine. Jim Jeffords (Vermont) changed party affiliation from Republican to independent, which effectively returned majority privileges back the Democratic Senators. On 31 August 1997 Diana was involved in a car accident in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris, along with her romantic companion Dodi Fayed, their driver Henri Paul, and Fayed's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones. However, that changed when Sen. [4]. The Democratic Senators went from the majority in the 106th Congress to a split minority in the 107th Congress. Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said that landmines remained "a deadly attraction for children, whose innate curiosity and need for play often lure them directly into harm's way". Winning either Florida or New Hampshire would have given Gore enough electoral votes to win the presidency.

The United Nations appealed to the nations which produced and stockpiled the largest numbers of landmines (China, India, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States) to sign the Ottawa Treaty forbidding their production and use, for which Diana had campaigned. In Florida, Nader received 97,000 votes; Bush defeated Gore by a mere 1,000. As of January 2005, Diana's legacy on landmines remained unfulfilled. They pointed to the states of New Hampshire (4 electoral college votes) and Florida (57 electoral college votes), where Nader's total votes exceeded Governor Bush's margin of victory. Introducing the Second Reading of the Landmines Bill 1998 to the British House of Commons, the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, paid tribute to Diana's work on landmines:. Some election observers blamed the Nader candidacy for Gore's defeat. She is widely acclaimed[2] for her influence on the signing by the governments of the UK and other nations of the Ottawa Treaty in December 1997, after her death, which created an international ban on the use of anti-personnel landmines. On election day, Gore won the popular vote by just over 500,000 votes, but lost in the Electoral College by four votes.

Her interest in landmines was focused on the injuries they create, often to children, long after the conflict has finished. Many such critics also opposed Gore on the basis of votes he had made while serving in Congress, which seemed to indicate that he had been anti-abortion, anti-gun control, and anti-tax, views which he later reversed. (Mine-clearance experts had already cleared the pre-planned walk that Diana took wearing the protective equipment.) In August that year, she visited Bosnia with the Landmine Survivors Network. Bush, the candidate of the Republican Party, clearly disagreed on issues such as abortion, tax cuts, gun control, environmentalism, foreign policy, public education, support for trade unions, alternative energy research, global warming, and affirmative action, some critics -- Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader in particular -- asserted that Bush and Gore were too similar because they held the same views on free trade, the "War on Drugs," a refusal to eliminate what critics have called corporate welfare, reductions in government-provided social welfare, and defense spending. The pictures of Diana touring a minefield, in a ballistic helmet and flak jacket, were seen worldwide. Although Gore and Governor George W. Perhaps her most widely publicised charity appearance was her visit to Angola in January 1997, when, serving as an International Red Cross VIP volunteer [1], she visited landmine survivors in hospitals, toured de-mining projects run by the HALO Trust, and attended mine awareness education classes about the dangers of mines immediately surrounding homes and villages. Having previously upset many members of his party's liberal wing by voicing his full support of the North American Free Trade Agreement and a 1996 welfare reform bill that, some claimed, destroyed the welfare system, Gore was seen by some as further antagonizing the left in his selection of Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut as his running mate.

Her contribution to changing the public opinion of AIDS sufferers was summarised in December 2001 by Bill Clinton at the 'Diana, Princess of Wales Lecture on AIDS', when he said:. In the 2000 presidential election, the Democrats ran then-Vice President Al Gore, a founding member and former chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council. In April 1987, the Princess of Wales was the first high-profile celebrity to be photographed touching a person infected with the HIV virus. This party believed that centrist Democrats were not safeguarding progressivism in government. Starting in the mid-to-late 1980s, the Princess of Wales became well known for her support of charity projects, and is credited with considerable influence for her campaigns against the use of landmines and helping the victims of AIDS. The far-left Green Party emerged as a vehicle for resentment against the Democrats in the 2000 election. These tapes have not been broadcast in the United Kingdom. Democrats challenged the validity of such critiques, citing the important Democratic role in pushing progressive reforms in many states and localities.

The tapes were in the possession of the Princess during her lifetime; however, after her death, her butler took possession, and after numerous legal wranglings, they were given to the Princess's voice coach, who had originally filmed them. Some liberals and progressives felt alienated from the Democratic Party, which they felt had become unconcerned with the interests of common people. In 2004, the American TV network NBC broadcast tapes of Diana discussing her marriage to the Prince of Wales, including her description of her suicide attempts. In addition to its perceived abandonment of labor unions, Democratic candidates' acceptance and use of large sums of corporate donations for campaign finances; the inconsistency of some Democratic officeholders (including Democratic leaders) on environmental, financial, laboral and other issues that were core to the party; and the D.N.C.'s, D.L.C.'s and N.D.N.'s acceptance of monied interests, all unintentionally contributed to a negative public image of the Democratic Party in some people's eyes. However, at that time, and to this day, Buckingham Palace maintains, since the Princess was the mother of the second and third in line to The Throne, she remained a member of the Royal Family. When the New Democrat movement attempted to move the Democratic agenda in favor of a more centrist approach, prominent Democrats from the moderate and conservative factions (such as Chairman Terry McAuliffe) assumed leadership of the party and its direction. The Princess lost the style Her Royal Highness, and became Diana, Princess of Wales, a titular distinction befitting a divorced peeress. Those on the left of the party were dismayed at this agreement as well.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were separated on 9 December 1992; their divorce was finalised on 28 August 1996. Labor unions, which had been steadily losing membership since the 1960s, found they had also lost political clout inside the Democratic Party: Clinton enacted the NAFTA free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico over the strong objection of the unions. After her separation from Prince Charles, Diana was involved with married art dealer Oliver Hoare and, lastly, heart surgeon Hasnat Khan. President Bill Clinton, who defeated the incumbent President Bush in 1992, implemented a balanced federal budget and welfare reform, traditionally Republican causes. (Theoretically, such an affair constituted high treason by both parties.) Another alleged lover was a bodyguard assigned to the Princess's security detail, although the Princess adamantly denied a sexual relationship with him. In the 1990s the Democratic Party re-invigorated itself, in part by moving to the right on economic and social policy. She later confirmed (in a television interview with Martin Bashir) the affair with her riding instructor, James Hewitt. This includes organized labor, educators, environmentalists, supporters of civil rights, progressive taxation proponents, gays, lesbians, blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Native Americans, supporters of gun control, pro-choice groups and other opponents of the social conservatism favored by many Republicans.

Charles resumed his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, whilst Diana became involved with James Hewitt and possibly later with James Gilbey, with whom she was involved in the so-called Squidgygate affair. With the Party retaining left-of-center supporters as well as supporters holding moderate or conservative views on some issues, the Democrats became generally a catch all party with widespread appeal to most opponents of the Republicans. Both the Prince and Princess of Wales spoke to the press through friends, accusing each other of blame for the marriage's demise. In response to these losses, the Democratic Leadership Council worked to move the Party more towards the ideological center. In the mid 1980s her marriage fell apart, an event at first suppressed, but then sensationalised, by the world media. Bush. It has also been suggested that she suffered from borderline personality disorder. W.

In the same interview in which she told of the suicide attempt while pregnant with Prince William, she said her husband had accused her of crying wolf when she threatened to kill herself. Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis also lost in 1988 to Reagan Vice-President George H. It has been suggested she did not, in fact, intend to end her life (or that the suicide attempts never even took place) and that she was merely making a 'cry for help'. The 1980s are often seen as the era in which the old New Deal coalition finally collapsed as Reagan handily defeated former Vice-President (under Carter) and Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale, a New Deal stalwart, in 1984. In one interview, released after her death, she claimed that, while pregnant with Prince William, she threw herself down a set of stairs and was discovered by her mother-in-law. After the election of Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1980, Democrats who supported many conservative policies were called "Reagan Democrats." Many in the so-called "Reagan Democrats" faction of the party eventually joined the Republican Party. She had previously suffered from bulimia nervosa, which recurred, and she made a number of suicide attempts. In 1980, Carter lost after one term to Ronald Reagan.

After the birth of Prince William, the Princess of Wales suffered from post-natal depression. Mistrust of the administration, complicated by a combination of economic recession and inflation, sometimes called "stagflation", led to Ford's loss in 1976 to Democrat Jimmy Carter, a former governor of Georgia. The Prince and Princess of Wales had two children, Prince William of Wales on 21 June 1982 and Prince Henry of Wales (commonly called Prince Harry) on 15 September 1984. Ford soon pardoned Nixon. Upon her marriage, Diana became Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales and was ranked as the most senior royal woman in the United Kingdom after the Queen and the Queen Mother. Thus, when Nixon resigned, Ford became the first President in the nation's history to have been neither elected President nor Vice-President. Diana was the first Englishwoman to marry an heir-apparent to the throne since 1659, when Lady Anne Hyde married the Duke of York and Albany, the future King James II. After Agnew resigned, Nixon appointed Gerald Ford a Republican House Member from Michigan as his replacement.

Parker Bowles and her husband, a godson of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) and an estimated 1 billion television viewers around the world. Prior to that, his Vice-President, Spiro Agnew had been forced out by a separate scandal. The wedding took place at St Paul's Cathedral in London on Wednesday 29 July 1981 before 3,500 invited guests (including Mrs. Nixon, because of the Watergate scandal, had been forced to resign the presidency in 1974. Parker Bowles had been dismissed by Lord Mountbatten of Burma as a potential spouse for the heir to throne some years before, reportedly due to her age (16 months the Prince's senior), her sexual experience, and her lack of suitably aristocratic lineage. By 1976, however, things had changed dramatically. Mrs. McGovern was defeated in a landslide by incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon, the former winning only Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.

Buckingham Palace announced the engagement on 24 February 1981. In 1972, the Democrats nominated South Dakota Senator George McGovern as the party's presidential candidate on a platform which advocated, among other things, withdrawal from Vietnam and a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans. Reportedly, the Prince's former girlfriend (and, eventually, his second wife) Camilla Parker Bowles helped him select the 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer as a potential bride, who was working as an assistant at the Young England kindergarten in Pimlico. Defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey's electoral votes came mainly from the Northern states, marking a dramatic shift from the 1948 election 20 years earlier, when the losing Republican candidate's electoral votes were mainly concentrated in the Northern states. Diana fulfilled all of these qualifications. The degree to which the Southern Democrats had abandoned the party became evident in the 1968 Presidential election when every former Confederate state except Texas voted for either Republican Richard Nixon or independent George Wallace, the latter a former Southern Democrat. In order to gain the approval of his family and their advisors, including his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten of Burma, any potential bride had to have an aristocratic background, could not have been previously married, should be Protestant and, preferably, a virgin. Southern Democrats took notice of the fact that 1964 Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater had voted against the Civil Rights Act (an unusual departure from his previous support for such legislation), and in the presidential election of 1964, Goldwater's only electoral victories outside his home state of Arizona were in the states of the deep south.

Nearing his mid-thirties, he was under increasing pressure to marry. The Republicans began their Southern strategy, which aimed to woo the conservative Southern Democrats. The Prince's love life had always been the subject of press speculation, and he was linked to numerous women. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Prince of Wales briefly dated Lady Sarah Spencer, Diana's older sister, in the 1970s. The party's dramatic reversal on civil rights issues culminated when Democratic President Lyndon B. Her maternal grandmother, the Dowager Lady Fermoy, was a longtime friend of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. On the other hand, African-Americans, who had traditionally given strong support to the Republican party since its inception as the "anti-slavery party", shifted to the Democratic party due to its New Deal economic opportunities and support for civil rights.

Diana's family, the Spencers, had been close to the British Royal Family for decades. Over the next few years, many white Democrats in the "Solid South" drifted away from the party. Diana was a talented amateur pianist, excelled in sports and reportedly longed to be a ballerina. Senator, would later join the Republican party). At age 16 she briefly attended Institut Alpin Videmanette, a finishing school in Rougemont, Switzerland. When Harry Truman's platform displayed support for civil rights and anti-segregation laws during the 1948 Democratic National Convention, many Southern Democratic delegates split from the party and formed the "Dixiecrats", led by South Carolina governor Strom Thurmond (who, as a U.S. Diana was educated at Riddlesworth Hall in Norfolk and at West Heath School (later reorganized as the New School at West Heath) in Kent, where she was regarded as an academically below-average student, having failed all of her O-level examinations. The New Deal Coalition began to fracture as more Democratic leaders voiced support for civil rights, upsetting the party's base of Southern Democrats.

A year later, Lord Spencer married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, the only daughter of the romance novelist Barbara Cartland, after being named as the "other party" in the Earl and Countess of Dartmouth's divorce. This resolution later passed during the 1948 national convention as part of a larger resolution endorsing civil rights. On the death of her paternal grandfather, Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, in 1975, Diana's father became the 8th Earl Spencer, and she acquired the courtesy title of The Lady Diana Spencer. After considerable debate, the resolution failed by a single vote. During her parents' acrimonious divorce over Lady Althorp's adultery with wallpaper heir Peter Shand Kydd, Diana's mother sued for custody of her children, but Lord Althorp's rank, aided by Lady Althorp's mother's testimony against her daughter during the trial, meant custody of Diana and her brother was awarded to their father. In 1924 at the Democratic national convention, a resolution denouncing the white-supremacist Ku Klux Klan was introduced. Partially American in ancestry — a great-grandmother was the American heiress Frances Work — she was also a descendant of King Charles I. This united voter base allowed Democrats to control the government for much of the next 30 years.

The Honourable Diana Frances Spencer was born as the youngest daughter of Edward Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and his first wife, Frances Spencer, Viscountess Althorp (formerly the Honourable Frances Burke Roche). His policies soon paid off by uniting a diverse collection of Democratic voters called the New Deal Coalition, which included labor unions, minorities (most significantly, Catholics and Jews), liberals, and the traditional base of Southern whites.
. Roosevelt's New Deal programs focused on job-creation through public works projects as well as on social welfare programs such as Social Security. . (Thirty years later, the party did find itself largely divorced from its southern conservative wing, but with much less satisfaction at the result than Roosevelt might have anticipated.). To her admirers, Diana, Princess of Wales was a role model — after her death, there were even calls for her to be nominated for sainthood — while her detractors saw her life as a cautionary tale of how an obsession with publicity can ultimately destroy an individual. However, Roosevelt's attempt to purge the party of its conservatives failed when all five senators won re-election despite Roosevelt's efforts.

During her lifetime, she was often referred to as the most photographed person in the world. Frustrated by the conservative wing of his own party, Roosevelt made an attempt to rid himself of it; in 1938, he actively campaigned against five incumbent conservative Democratic senators. From the time of her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in a car accident in 1997, Diana was arguably the most famous woman in the world, the pre-eminent female celebrity of her generation: a fashion icon, an ideal of feminine beauty, admired and emulated for her high-profile involvement in AIDS issues and the international campaign against landmines. After winning re-election in 1936, Roosevelt claimed a mandate and embarked on an ambitious legislative program he termed the "New Deal." He was stymied, however, by an alliance of Republicans and conservative Democrats. Her bitter accusations of adultery, mental cruelty and emotional distress visited upon her by her husband riveted the world for much of the 1990s, spawning biographies, magazine articles and television movies. Roosevelt won a landslide victory in the election of 1932, campaigning on a platform of "relief, recovery, and reform". Though she was noted for her pioneering charity work, the Princess's philanthropic endeavours were overshadowed by a scandal-plagued marriage. The stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression set the stage for a more interventionist government and Franklin D.

She was generally called Princess Diana by the media despite having no right to that particular honorific, as it is reserved for a princess by birthright rather than marriage. That reign was interrupted in the election of 1912 when Theodore Roosevelt's independent Bull Moose candidacy split the Republican vote, giving Woodrow Wilson a popular plurality and victory in the electoral college, but Republican Warren Harding regained the White House in the election of 1920. From her marriage in 1981 to her divorce in 1996 she was styled Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales. Bryan, perhaps best known for his "Cross of Gold" speech delivered at the 1896 convention, waged a vigorous campaign attacking Eastern monied interests, but lost to Republican William McKinley in an election which was to prove decisive: the Republicans controlled the presidency for 28 of the following 36 years. Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, née Spencer) (1 July 1961–31 August 1997) was the first wife of HRH The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales. In the presidential election of 1896, widely regarded as a political realignment, Democrats favoring Free Silver defeated their conservative counterparts and succeeded in nominating William Jennings Bryan for the presidency (as did the agrarian Populist Party). The Light Dragoons, Colonel-in-chief. Tilden in the election of 1876.

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires), Allied Colonel-in-chief with Margrethe II of Denmark. In the election of 1884, Grover Cleveland, the reforming Democratic Governor of New York, won the Presidency, a feat he repeated in 1892, having lost (but won the popular vote) in the election of 1888 (as had Samuel J. The 13/18th Royal Hussars, Colonel-in-chief (until 1992). Though Republicans continued to control the White House until 1885, the Democrats remained competitive, especially in the mid-Atlantic and lower Midwest, and controlled the House of Representatives for most of that period. Royal Australian Survey Corps, Colonel-in-chief. Once Reconstruction ended, and the disenfranchisement of blacks was re-established, the region was known as the "Solid South" for nearly a century because it reliably voted Democratic and there was, in many places, effectively only one party, there being no significant Republican presence. The Princess of Wales's Own Regiment, Colonel-in-chief. The Democrats were shattered by the war but nevertheless benefited from white Southerners' resentment of Reconstruction and consequent hostility to the Republican Party.

The Royal Hampshire Regiment, Colonel-in-chief (until 1992). From 1856 onward, the Democratic Party's main opposition has come from the modern Republican Party. Diana, Princess of Wales (28 August 1996–death). During the war, Northern Democrats fractured into two factions, War Democrats, who supported the military policies of President Abraham Lincoln, and Copperheads, who strongly opposed them. Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales (29 July 1981–28 August 1996). As a result, the Democrats went down to defeat with the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln, a link in the chain of events leading up to the Civil War. The Lady Diana Spencer (9 June 1975–29 July 1981). presidential election, 1860).

The Honourable Diana Spencer (birth–9 June 1975). Democrats in the Northern states opposed this new trend, and at the 1860 nominating convention the Party split and nominated two candidates (see U.S. In the 1850s, following the disintegration of the Whig Party, the Democratic Party became increasingly divided, with its Southern wing staunchly advocating the expansion of slavery into new territories, in opposition to the newly founded Republican Party, which sought to prohibit such expansion. From 1833 to 1856, the Democratic Party was opposed chiefly by the Whig Party. The Jacksonian "Democratic-Republicans" soon became known as simply "Democrats," and the Democratic Party was formed from the Andrew Jackson-led "Democratic-Republican" faction of the old Republican Party.

The coalition that Jackson built was the foundation of the subsequent Democratic Party. Following his defeat in the election of 1824 despite having a plurality of the popular vote, Andrew Jackson set about building a political coalition strong enough to defeat President John Quincy Adams in the election of 1828. The Presidency of Andrew Jackson, however, destroyed the unity of the Party, with the forming the Democratic-Republican faction, opposed by the National Republicans, led by John Quincy Adams. After the disintegration of the Federalist Party, the Democratic-Republicans were the only major party in American politics.

(Today, this party is usually referred to as the "Democratic-Republican Party" to avoid confusion). The Democratic Party's origins lie in the original Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1794. Senate races (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee), gubernatorial races (Democratic Governors Association), and state legislative races (Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee). House races (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee), U.S.

The Democratic Party also has fundraising and strategy committees for U.S. The current chair of the DNC is Howard Dean. This structure can be considered the counterpart of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Republican state and local organizations. counties (though in some states, Party organization lower than the state-level is arranged by legislative districts).

state and most U.S. There are similar committees in every U.S. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Democratic political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) provides national leadership for the United States Democratic Party.

For more information on how American political parties are organized, see Politics of the United States.. Democratic campaign rhetoric is full of symbolic references to these achievements.". Year after year, the Democrats took ideas that were considered impractical and converted them into programs considered to be necessities by many Americans. Cohen of Philadelphia, said, "One cannot fully understand Democratic policy proposals unless one understands the past.

A Democratic activist over the last four decades, and a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, State Representative Mark B. citizens, progressive taxation, and an internationalist foreign policy). Kennedy), programs (Social Security, minimum wage, Medicare) and goals (expanded health insurance, greater incomes for average U.S. Roosevelt, John F.

The Democratic Party draws on its history of politicians (Franklin D. In the media, Democrats (and states which consistently vote Democratic) have relatively recently been depicted as blue, while Republicans, and the states in which they dominate, as red. From 1995 until 2004 there was some confusion among voters, as the Democratic ticket was marked with the Statue of Liberty, and it seemed that the Libertarians were using a donkey. Missouri Libertarians instead used the Liberty Bell until 1995, when the mule became Missouri's state animal.

This meant that when Libertarian candidates received ballot access in Missouri in 1976, they could not use the Statue of Liberty, their national symbol, as the ballot emblem. For the majority of the 20th Century, Missouri Democrats used the Statue of Liberty as their ballot emblem. This symbol still appears on Kentucky and Indiana ballots. In the early 20th century, the traditional symbol of the Democratic Party in Midwestern states such as Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Ohio was the rooster, as opposed to the Republican eagle.

The DNC's official logo, pictured above, depicts a stylized kicking donkey. Since then, the donkey has been widely used as a symbol of the Party, though unlike the Republican elephant, the donkey has never been officially adopted as the Party's logo. On January 19, 1870, a political cartoon by Thomas Nast appearing in Harper's Weekly titled "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" for the first time symbolized the Democratic Party as a donkey. Keeping that in mind, there are several ideological groups widely recognized within the modern-day Democratic Party:.

It should be noted that defining the views of any "faction" of any political party, especially a major political party in the United States, is difficult at best, and that any attempt to apply labels within a single political party is no more effective than the application of broad labels to political parties as a whole. The following will give readers a summary of the position expressed in the platforms that the Democratic Party adopted in 2000 and 2004. However, it is important to give researchers and other readers a general idea of a particular party's position on the issues. Some members may disagree with one or more plank of his or her party's platform.

There is always debate within either American major political party. The principles and values of any political party - especially one as factional as the Democratic Party - are difficult to define and apply generally to all members of the party. . (See that article for a full discussion of the various meanings of the term).

it is often referred to as the more "liberal" party. In the U.S. parties, the Democratic Party is to the left of the Republican Party, though its politics are not as consistently leftist as the traditional social democratic and labor parties in much of the rest of the world. Of the two major U.S.

Ten states are divided legislatures. The party also trails in state legislaturesas the Republican Party controls 31 legislatures and Democrats control 19. Senate, House of Representatives, and among United States Governors. The Party is currently (as of 2005) the minority party in the U.S.

The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States. senator from Ohio. Young (1889–1984), U.S. Stephen M.

senator from Texas. Ralph Yarborough (1903–1996), U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. Harris Wofford, U.S.

senator from New Jersey. Harrison Williams, U.S. Doug Wilder, (1931) Governor of Virginia, candidate for Democratic nomination for president, current independent Mayor of Richmond, Virginia. senator from Minnesota.

Paul Wellstone (1944–2002), U.S. representative from Arizona, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Morris "Mo" Udall, U.S. senator from Massachusetts, candidate for Democratic nomination for president.

Paul Tsongas (1941–1997), U.S. Senator in history (from South Carolina), later became a member of the Republican Party. Strom Thurmond (1902–2003), the oldest serving U.S. Taney (1777–1864), Chief Justice of the United States.

Roger B. senator from Georgia. Herman Talmadge (1913–2002), U.S. senator from Missouri.

Stuart Symington (1901–1988), U.S. senator from Mississippi. John Stennis (1901–1995), U.S. senator from Alabama, nominee for Vice President of the United States.

John Sparkman (1899–1985), U.S. senator from Illinois, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Paul Simon (1928–2003), U.S. senator from Tennessee.

Jim Sasser, U.S. senator from Georgia. (1897–1971), U.S. Russell Jr.

Richard B. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), First Lady. senator from Michigan. Don Riegle, U.S.

senator from Connecticut. Abraham Ribicoff (1910–1998), U.S. Sam Rayburn (1882–1961), Speaker of the House. senator from Wisconsin.

William Proxmire, U.S. senator from Rhode Island. Claiborne Pell, U.S. senator from Rhode Island.

John Pastore, U.S. Tip O'Neill (1912–1994), Speaker of the House. Frank O'Bannon (1930–2003), Governor of Indiana. senator from Georgia.

Sam Nunn, U.S. senator from Maine, nominee for Vice President of the United States, United States Secretary of State. Edmund Muskie (1914–1996), U.S. senator from New York.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927–2003), U.S. senator from Utah. Frank Moss (1911–2003), U.S. senator from Oregon.

Wayne Morse (1900–1974), U.S. senator from Maine. George Mitchell, U.S. senator from Ohio for 18 years.

Howard Metzenbaum, U.S. representative from Massachusetts for 43 years, Speaker of the House. McCormack (1891–1980), U.S. John W.

senator from Arkansas for 34 years. John McClellan, U.S. senator from Minnesota, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Eugene McCarthy, U.S.

senator from Montana for 24 years, Senate Majority Leader for 16 years. Mike Mansfield (1903–2001), U.S. senator from Louisiana for 39 years. Long (1918–2003), U.S.

Russell B. senator from Louisiana, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Huey Long (1893–1935) Governor of Louisiana, U.S. Hamilton Lewis (1863-1939), Senator from Illinois and first Whip of the United States Senate.

J. senator from Ohio for 12 years, Governor of Ohio for eight years. Frank Lausche (1895–1990), U.S. Richard Lamm (1935), Governor of Colorado from 1975 to 1987.

senator from New York, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. attorney general, U.S. Kennedy (1925–1968), U.S. Robert F.

Barbara Jordan (1936–1996), Congresswoman from Texas. senator from Louisiana for 25 years. Bennett Johnston, U.S. senator from Washington for 30 years, candidate for Democratic nomination for president.

Henry "Scoop" Jackson (1912–1983) U.S. Cordell Hull (1871–1955), Secretary of State. senator from Florida for 26 years. Holland (1892–1971), U.S.

Spessard L. senator from Arizona for 42 years. Hayden (1877–1972), U.S. Carl T.

senator from Colorado, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Gary Hart, U.S. senator from Tennessee for 18 years. (1907–1998), U.S.

Albert Gore, Sr. senator from Ohio for 24 years, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. John Glenn, U.S. Representative from Missouri, former House Minority Leader, candidate for Democratic nomination for president.

Dick Gephardt (1941), former U.S. senator from Arkansas for 29 years. William Fulbright (1905–1995), U.S. J.

senator from Kentucky for 25 years. Wendell Ford, U.S. senator from North Carolina for 20 years. Sam Ervin (1896–1985), U.S.

senator from Mississippi for 36 years. James Eastland (1904–1986), U.S. senator from Missouri for 27 years; nominee for vice president in 1972 (resigned from ticket). Tom Eagleton, U.S.

Supreme Court justice for 36 years. Douglas (1898–1980), U.S. William O. Daley (1902–1976), mayor of Chicago, Illinois.

Richard J. senator from California for 24 years, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Alan Cranston (1914–2000), U.S. Mario Cuomo (1932), former Governor of New York.

Senator from Georgia. Max Cleland, (1942), former U.S. Champ Clark (1850–1921), Speaker of the House. senator from Idaho for 24 years, candidate for Democratic nomination for president.

Frank Church (1924–1984), U.S. senator from Florida for 18 years, governor of Florida. Lawton Chiles, U.S. ambassador to India.

Dick Celeste, Governor of Ohio, U.S. senator from Nevada for 24 years. Howard Cannon, U.S. Jane Byrne, first female mayor of a major city.

senator from North Dakota for 32 years. Burdick, U.S. Quentin N. senator from Arkansas for 24 years.

Dale Bumpers, governor of Arkansas, U.S. Pat Brown (1905–1996), Governor of California, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Supreme Court. Louis Brandeis (1856–1941), associate justice of the U.S.

senator from Texas, nominee for Vice President of the United States, United States Secretary of the Treasury. Lloyd Bentsen, U.S. senator from Indiana for 18 years, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Birch Bayh, U.S.

Bruce Babbitt, Governor of Arizona and United States Secretary of the Interior, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Reubin Askew, Governor of Florida, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. senator from New Mexico for 24 years. Clinton Anderson, U.S.

Carl Albert (1908–2000), Speaker of the House for six years (1971-1977). Mark Warner (1954), governor of Virginia. Tom Vilsack (1950), governor of Iowa, chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council. Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles, California.

Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of New York, candidate for governor of New York. congresswoman from New York, Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee. Louise Slaughter (1929), U.S. Al Sharpton (1954), civil rights activist, candidate for Democratic nomination for president.

senator from New York, chairman of Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Charles Schumer (1950), U.S. Bill Richardson (1947), governor of New Mexico, former Energy Secretary. Harry Reid (1939), Senate Minority Leader from Nevada.

Nancy Pelosi (1940), House Minority Leader from California. Martin O'Malley, mayor of Baltimore, candidate for governor of Maryland. senator from Illinois. Barack Obama (1961), U.S.

congresswoman from Georgia. Cynthia McKinney (1955), U.S. Norman Mineta (1931), Secretary of Transportation, only Democrat in the Bush cabinet. senator from Vermont.

Patrick Leahy (1940), U.S. congressman from Ohio, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Dennis Kucinich (1946), U.S. senator from Massachusetts, candidate for Democratic nomination for president.

Ted Kennedy (1932), U.S. Jesse Jackson (1941), civil rights activist, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. senator from Iowa, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. Tom Harkin (1939), U.S.

senator from Wisconsin. Russ Feingold (1953), U.S. senator from North Carolina, candidate for Democratic nomination for President, Democratic Vice Presidential nominee 2004. John Edwards (1953), former U.S.

senator from Illinois, Senate Minority Whip. Richard Durbin, (1944), U.S. Howard Dean (1948), former governor of Vermont, candidate for Democratic nomination for president, current chair of the Democratic National Committee. senator from South Dakota, former Senate Minority Leader.

Tom Daschle (1947), former U.S. Daley (1942), mayor of Chicago, Illinois. Richard M. congressman from Michigan.

John Conyers (1929), U.S. senator from New York, former First Lady. Hillary Clinton (1947), U.S. Wesley Clark (1944), former NATO commander, candidate for Democratic nomination for president.

senator from West Virginia, former Senate Majority Leader, candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. Robert Byrd (1917), U.S. Jerry Brown (1938), mayor of Oakland, California, former governor of California, candidate for Democratic nomination for president. senator from California.

Barbara Boxer (1940), U.S. senator from Delaware, candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. Joseph Biden (1942), U.S. senator from Indiana.

Evan Bayh (1955), U.S. The Democratic Freedom Caucus is the current example of this faction. foreign policy. They oppose the "War on Drugs," preventive law, protectionism, corporate welfare, immigration restrictions, governmental borrowing, and an interventionist, war-centered U.S.

Civil libertarians often support the Democratic Party because its positions on such issues as civil rights and separation of church and state are more closely aligned to their own than are the positions of the Republican Party, and because the Democrats' economic agenda may be more appealing to them than that of the Libertarian Party. Barack Obama, a newcomer, Jesse Jackson, and John Conyers are prominent leaders. Democratic African-American leadership coalesces around the Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights activists and is generally considered liberal in outlook. African-Americans - This minority group votes consistently for Democratic Party candidates in the 85 to 90% range, and as such can be considered a faction in the party.

Former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt was a leading supporter of Labor's agenda in Congress. Organized Labor - As a key source of political contributions, volunteers, and field organizing expertise, labor unions hold significant sway in the Democratic Party. Zell Miller, a former Democratic Senator from Georgia, actually spoke in favor of President Bush at the 2004 Republican convention. Southern Democrats - Socially conservative southern white Democrats, previously a key element in the Democratic coalition, are increasingly rare, many having lost, or opting not to run, in the 1994, 2002, and 2004 elections.

Progressive Democrats of America - The supporters of Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign also started an organization to press their ideas after the election, although it is not restricted to Kucinich supporters. [1] [2]. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).The CPC advocates universal health care, fair trade agreements, living wage laws, the right of all workers to organize into trade unions and engage in strike actions and collective bargaining, the abolition of significant portions of the USA PATRIOT Act, the formation of a Department of Peace, the legalization of gay marriage, strict campaign finance reform laws, a complete pullout from the war in Iraq, a crackdown on corporate crime and what they see as corporate welfare, an increase in income tax on the wealthy, tax cuts for the poor, and an increase in welfare spending by the federal government. Barbara Lee (D-TX), and Rep.

John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Rep. Well-known members include Rep. It is the single largest Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives, although it currently has no members from the Senate.

Congress. Congressional Progressive Caucus - The CPC is a caucus of progressive Democrats, along with one independent, in the U.S. It has strong ties to veterans of Paul Wellstone's campaigns. It targets specific campaigns it sees as important.

Its strategy puts emphasis on training large numbers of organizers to work at the grassroots level. 21st Century Democrats - political organization active since 2000 in assisting candidates it describes as "progressive" or "populist" in winning elections. Critics contend that the DLC is effectively a powerful, corporate-financed mouthpiece within the Democratic party that acts to keep Democratic Party candidates and platforms sympathetic to corporate interests and the interests of the wealthy. The DLC hails President Clinton as proof of the viability of third way politicians and a DLC success story.

The founders believed the Democratic Party needed to reform their political philosophy if they were to ever retake the White House, a goal which had eluded the Democrats since the 1976 election of Jimmy Carter. Moderate party leaders founded the DLC in response to the landslide victory of Republican candidate Ronald Reagan over Democratic candidate Walter Mondale during the 1984 Presidential election. The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) - An influential non-profit organization that advocates neoliberal positions for the United States Democratic Party. Dean's internet campaign.

Many Deaniacs became politically active and contributed financially to other progressive candidates because of Gov. His campaign organization, "Dean for America," became a new group, Democracy for America, which advocates progressive policies. Supporters of Howard Dean, a failed candidate for the party's 2004 presidential nomination, currently serves as chairman of the Democratic National Committee and is a leading opponent of the New Democrats group. Though formally a New Democrat, Hillary Clinton is generally considered more liberal than the DLC.

Clinton Democrats - Political journalists often speak of the political advisors and allies surrounding Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton as a kind of faction, though such individuals hardly have a unified ideological leaning. The name appears to be both a reference to several well-known Louisiana paintings featuring blue dogs, as well as a reference to the old "yellow dog" Democrats having been "choked blue." Oddly, blue is the color chosen by the media to represent Democrats. They have acted as a unified voting bloc in the past, giving its thirty members some ability to change legislation. The Blue Dog Democrats - A congressional grouping of fiscal and social conservatives and moderates, primarily southerners, willing to broker compromises with the Republican leadership.

Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa is the current chairman. The group was founded and continues to be led by Al From. The organization became particularly prominent during and after Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. The New Democrats - A grouping of centrists, formally organized as the Democratic Leadership Council.

Most notable of these is the National Firearms Act of 1934 (signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 1939 Gun Control Act (also signed into law by FDR), the 1968 Gun Control Act (introduced by Senator Dodd and heavily endorsed by Senator Edward Kennedy), the Brady law of 1993 (signed by President Bill Clinton), and the Crime Control Act of 1994 (signed by Bill Clinton). Gun Control: The Democratic Party has supported and introduced various gun-control measures over the last 100 years. A stand on abortion rights is sometimes more influenced by religious or personal beliefs than by political party preference. (See Democrats for Life.) It should be noted that not all Democratic party members are pro-choice; Democratic Senate minority leader Harry Reid, the party's ranking Congressional leader, is anti-abortion.

However, in the platform adopted in 2000, the Democrats stated a respectful inclusiveness of Democrats who feel differently about the issue. (NAF Abortion Facts) Their proposal (in 2000 and 2004) for public policy on termination of pregnancy is for abortion to be "safe, legal and rare" - namely, keeping it legal by rejecting laws that include governmental interference in any individual matter, and reducing the number performed by promoting both knowledge of reproduction and incentives for adoption. In September 1993 Congress rewrote the Hyde Amendment to allow for federal funding of abortions. Many Democratic politicians include in this right practical access to abortion through government subsidies.

Wade to surgical termination of pregnancy. This includes access under Roe v. Wade. Thus as a matter of privacy and gender equality, women should be allowed to control their fertility and child bearing, including access to termination of pregnancy, in accordance with Roe v.