Democratic Party (United States)
From Wikinvestor
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world.
The Democratic Party traces its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalists in 1792. However, the modern Democratic party truly arose in the 1830s, with the election of Andrew Jackson. Since the division of the Republican Party in the election of 1912, it has consistently positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party in economic issues and libertarian on some social matters. The economically activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced American liberalism, has shaped much of the party's economic agenda since 1932. Roosevelt's New Deal coalition usually controlled the national government until the 1970s.
In 2004, it was the largest political party, with 72 million voters (42.6% of 169 million registered) claiming affiliation.[6] An August 2008 estimate is that 51% of registered voters, including independents, lean toward the Democratic Party and 38% lean toward the Republican Party.[7] Since the 2008 general elections, the Democratic Party is the majority party for the 111th Congress; the party holds an outright majority in the House of Representatives and the Democratic caucus (including two independents) constitutes a majority in the United States Senate. Democrats also hold a majority of state governorships and control a plurality of state legislatures.
The party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 election was Senator Barack obama of Illinois and the nominee for Vice President of the United States Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. Barack Obama is currently President-elect of the United States after winning the November 4, 2008 election. He will be the 16th Democrat to hold this office.
