Who Moved?

A recent article in the Washington Post examines how whites have left the Democratic Party in favor of the Republicans. It attributes a lot of this movement to polarization within the parties. Southern conservatives used to be welcome in the Democratic party but these days they align with the Republicans. The same is true in reverse with Northern intellectuals who have left the Republicans to become Democrats. All of this is well and good, but I take issue with one phrase, "As most whites shift rightward, they perceive the Democratic Party to be shifting leftward".

I'm continually amazed that anyone can fail to see how far the Democratic Party has moved in the last decade. Here are some examples:

• In 2008, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were both against gay marriage.
• Both candidates were for a moderate rise in the minimum wage.
• Clinton was running as a return to her husband's administration and policies.
• Obama made fun of Clinton's health care plan because it included an individual mandate.

How have things changed since then?

• No one who is against gay marriage is allowed in the Democratic Party.
• There is a vocal wing in the party for raising the minimum wage to $15/hour - more than doubling it.
• in 2016 Bernie Sanders was mainly running against the major achievements of Bill Clinton
• ObamaCare had an individual mandate.
• There is a vocal wing in the party that is for Medicare for all and free collage
• A socialist made a strong challenge to Hillary Clinton. Granted he calls himself a "democratic socialist" but he also took his honeymoon in Soviet Moscow
• A number of honest-to-god Marxists won primaries
• A majority of Democrats distrust capitalism and would prefer socialism
  

Serious, socialists and Marxists are now accepted in the Democratic Party and people are still saying that the shift is only perceived?