Would Abraham Lincoln be a liberal Democrat today? (wages, Afghanistan, Feingold)

[Mike from back east]

Half the members in today's GOP would machine gun Lincoln for the Emancipation Proclamation.

[mackinac81]

Originally posted by Mike From Back East
Half the members in today's GOP would machine gun Lincoln for the Emancipation Proclamation.

I know. He did take away slaveholders property, you know. They worked hard to earn those slaves!

[bigskydude]

Would Abraham Lincoln be a liberal Democrat today?

Of course he would ... and while we're at it, Eisenhower would have been considered a lefty too ..

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by bigskydude

Would Abraham Lincoln be a liberal Democrat today?

Of course he would ... and while we're at it, Eisenhower would have been considered a lefty too ..

Even Nixon would be considered as vile as they consider Ted Kennedy; after all, Tricky Dicky got us OUT of a war and WANTED health care for everyone.

[bigskydude]

Originally Posted by clsicmovies

To the poster who said Eisenhower was liberal, NO, he was Republican and deported the illegals, American soverignty was very important to him.

Lincoln as a Republican prevented our nation from being divided. Neither Lincoln nor Eisenhower made deals or trades with other nations that could compromise American soverignty and thus hurt Americans. They were both for business. Lincoln was not like Obama in most ways.

Please ... we must not confuse Liberals with Socialists. A Liberal can and often does support the nation, whereas a Socialist would just as soon care less about the Nation as a whole.

[bigskydude]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Even Nixon would be considered as vile as they consider Ted Kennedy; after all, Tricky Dicky got us OUT of a war and WANTED health care for everyone.

I was so way way tired of the Nixon era ... so much so that I was elated when Jerry Ford got the boot ... at the time ... Carter looked pretty damn good.

[Frankie117]

The premise of the Republican party has remained the same, even as the base of the party has come and gone over the years. It is no secret that Lincoln was a free market Capitalist. He believed in a future for American manufacturing, even if it meant forcing the South (and West) to purchase only Northern goods. Curiously, the same war-related industries that funded much of his presidential campaign made obscene profits from the conflict between the states.

In any case the whole issue could have been solved in the appeals made by South Carolina to the Supreme Court, all of which were promptly rejected. Instead of seeking a peaceful solution, Lincoln called up troops from all of the Northern states, prompting the rest of the South to secede and ultimately leading into a long war of profiteering for Lincoln's cronies. And naturally Lincoln's backtracking promises to big business (especially in regard to sympathy towards the South) immediately after the war probably contributed to his assassination.

And for the record, Lincoln would probably be a solid centrist in today's political climate, although something tells me he would be sitting back shaking his head at what American politics has become. He was a neo-Liberal in terms of economics, which is equivalent to a Conservative economic ideology in modern American politics.

One more thing.. Nixon was a staunch Republican, but there was little he could do besides 'go with the flow'. He disapproved of many of the policies coming out of Congress that he signed, but he swore to ensure agencies created/policies enacted by the Democrats would be carried out strictly by their purpose. The EPA and Amtrak are fine examples.

[KARL_MARX]

Jesus christ you guys need to read

[hawkeye2009]

Originally Posted by reid_g

I never understood conservatives like Newt Gingrich state that the {R} party was the party of Lincoln and say it with pride.There was nothing conservative about Lincoln,one of the tenets that started the civil war was the high tariff that he put on imports.Which hurt the south badly since they traded cotton etc and in exchange bought items from other countries because it was cheaper to do so.Old Abe was basically forcing them to buy from the north.
So raising taxes I would not count that as conservative principle.
Lincoln during the war was a tyrant, he suspended habeas corpas,had member of the media jailed,had a congressman from Ohio jailed and deported,and had federal troops fire upon citizen's protesting the war killing many.
Lincoln put the last nail in the coffin of state rights and was a firm supporter of a strong and tyrannical federal gvt much like we have today.
Lincoln did not care about slavery one way or the other, he basically said if I can keep the states together by releasing all slaves he would do it and if he could keep the states together by releasing none he would do that.He was a big fence setter when it came to that issue, and gave them emancipation because it was expedient for the war and himself.
I know why Newt would say that we are the party of Lincoln it is just bad campaign rhetoric to win black support.And the {R} say he was a great POTUS because he kept the union together but the reality is he tore it apart.
As a conservative I do not worship tyrants and fakes so the way I look at it either party can claim him and would not change my opinion of him one way or the other.

I agree. Lincoln was a Bush type republican- only one in name.

As above, he-

1. increased tariffs
2. was opposed to state's rights
3. was indifferent to slavery
4. suspended constitutional rights
5. killed fellow citizens in draft riiots


I think that Obama has the whole Lincoln personna down.

[Apolitical Info Source]

Most of the posts on this website are simply unfounded, uninformed, and ignorant. The question was which way Abraham Lincoln would lean politically if he were in office today; not which way each individual person replying to this post leans. This is why a majority of these types of Q & A forums are virtually useless as a viable means of obtaining an answer to a very good question, especially in light of our country's current political climate and people searching for answers about their own political identity. Try using facts and information when formulating your response and not just automatically reverting to your particular political views because you don't know the answer. If we do not give those seeking answers the simple facts and allow them the chance to form their own opinion then we are no better than the standard media whom looks to force their agenda down the throats of Americans whether they claim to be "fair and balanced" or "America's most trusted news source".

"I read no newspaper now but Ritchie`s, and in that chiefly the advertisements, for they contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper." - Thomas Jefferson

These forums are here in order to give the everyday Joe a voice and chance to speak his or her mind and avoid having to use mainstream media as the default or go-to product. Let's work a little harder to keep said user contributed outlets accurate and not have to view them today as Jefferson did newspapers over two hundred years ago; a little less opinion and a little more fact relevant to the question being posed. In short, if the question asks something like this one did try to give relevant information pertinent to providing someone looking for a legitimate answer a REAL answer, not which party you belong to and why you think the people in the opposing party are wrong.