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If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members of?

What political party do you think most of the Founding Fathers would join?

  • Democrat

    Votes: 4 7.8%

  • Republican

    Votes: 8 15.7%

  • Libertarian

    Votes: 21 41.2%

  • Green

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 18 35.3%
  • Total voters
    51
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

TheLastIndependent said:
Thye Constitution was indeed a liberal document. It was very liberal at the time, actually. Those were the democrats of old. Since FDR, the Dems and Republicans flopped sides of view.
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Yes. They "magically" switched sides. Has there ever been a more unrealistic argument in the history of political debate.

Anyway. It doesn't matter anymore.

The notion here is not about who was what. It is about what party the founding father would be today. I think they would be a new party. Boston tea party that is. And decided that this sham of a first past the post, 2 party system with legal methods of corruption and bribery needs to be refreshed with the blood of patriots. And grow back stronger.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

one would have to look at the disagreements they had in the 1700s and amplify that by the time that has passed since then. my guess is that they would be distributed between all of the parties, and some would be independents.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

This idea that the 'Founders' (I hate that catch-all term) would be particularly disturbed by our modern form of government is amazing. The Federalists especially were just as bureaucratic in their mindset as the modern Democrats; they simply didn't have as broad a range of governing options at the time. But their entire ideology was centered around the notion that the Federal government sets the national agenda, including its economic agenda (the "American System" of economics). The Federalists, after all, were trying to emulate the mercantilist policies that they had perceived to be successful in monarchical Europe.
 
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Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

The Constitution party. Though, I'd hope they'd recognize how radically different the country is from when they wrote it.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

digsbe said:
I don't think the Founders were uniformed in their thinking and if they had to join one of the parties today I highly doubt they would all join the same one.
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Well, I believe Mason would be like "Didn't I tell you about the dangers of a party system?" And then proceed to leave the country.

I do find it odd that a bunch of white, slave owning rich folk who refused to let women, slaves and non-land owning males to vote would have an easy time fitting in any party.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

Smeagol said:
If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would they be members of?

As is would be easily expected, societies change over time. In America we no longer have slavery. We honor the heritage of the Native Americans. We pay taxes in more ways than we can count on our fingers; federal income, SS, inheritance, state income, state sales, capital gains, special taxes on alcohol and tobacco, etc. We have public state operated schools where Christianity is banned except under certain conditions and I could go on.

In reading up on the Founding Fathers I often ask myself which political party would they most likely join and why. What do you think?
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Christianity is banned? :rofl
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

Hahaaha, who voted Democrat? That wouldn't be the case in a billion years.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

American said:
Hahaaha, who voted Democrat? That wouldn't be the case in a billion years.
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Que? The economic views of the first two Presidents were much more in line with the modern Democrats, to the extent that the first Adams wanted to nationalize all canals in the nation. This idea that all of 'the Founders' were radical minarchists is an uneducated, ahistorical pipe-dream.

Now, none of them would be comfortable in a pro-civil rights Party. But, economically, the Federalists were little different from modern Democrats in principle. Ever heard of a little thing called the 'Whiskey Rebellion'? It was the first tax revolt in American history, waged principally against the closet-Federalist Washington Administration and Secretary Hamilton.

In fact, if the Federalists were able to get over the cultural baggage of the eighteenth century - and they were the more 'socially conservative' Party, being an organization mainly for High Church Anglicans - they'd probably feel their economic principles were more closely represented by modern Democrats.
 
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Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

TheLastIndependent said:
Thye Constitution was indeed a liberal document. It was very liberal at the time, actually. Those were the democrats of old. Since FDR, the Dems and Republicans flopped sides of view.
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It was considered radical but considering the documents it was based on I don't know if I would call it radical.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

The American Revolution was a revolt against Tyranny by the already freest people on earth for all intents and purposes. They would study the history from then to now and reach their new conclusions based upon what time had told them IMHO.....well except Ben Franklin who would move to Hollywood, have his own TV show, and lay around the pool at the Playboy mansion.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

It doesn't matter because Democrats and Republicans are each going to say that the 'Founding Fathers' would have joined their respective party, but it really doesn't matter because- and here's the crazy part- all the 'Founding Fathers are fuc-ing dead so who cares what party they would or would not have been in?
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

i find this question very weird on multiple levels

well not the question i take that back but the answers


1.) well i do agree it be interesting i really dont care because its 2012 and this isnt the same world
2.) why are so many people giving ONE answer? even in their day the founding fathers were NOT alike so trying to put them in ONE party is ridiculous. they would be in different parties not one.
3.) if we could bring them back from the past I believe it would take them years o even catch up to the realities of 2012 if their heads didnt simply exploded.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

No one can fully own them. Nevertheless, here's what I would guess.

The Democratic-Republicans would be leaning toward the Libertarians.

The Federalists would lean toward a new Party or a faction within either the Democratic or Republican Party. They were more interested in big government, the investor class of citizens, a distrust of democracy, and federal promotion of internal improvements (infrastructure building).
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

TheDemSocialist said:
None. The Founding Fathers were not in favor of "factions" (AKA political parties)
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Yes they were. They were publicly against it, but they themselves promoted the behavior. The ones that stuck toward not doing it were the Adams', both John and John Quincy.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

Rainman05 said:
Yes. They "magically" switched sides. Has there ever been a more unrealistic argument in the history of political debate.
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Magic? No. It was that FDR offered liberal (very liberal actually) in the 30's. That drew the more liberal minded voters and it continued to stay that way. Around the same time, the Republicans started to become more and more conservative.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

No question Libertarian.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

wolfman24 said:
It was considered radical but considering the documents it was based on I don't know if I would call it radical.
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It isn't seen as radical now. At the time, however, it was radical. No other nationn, except for arguably Poland, created a government in which the people decided who would rule. That was blasphemy to the Divine Right monarchs of the period. Now it's just everyday life
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

TheLastIndependent said:
It isn't seen as radical now. At the time, however, it was radical. No other nationn, except for arguably Poland, created a government in which the people decided who would rule. That was blasphemy to the Divine Right monarchs of the period. Now it's just everyday life
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cut and paste. BOO. if you would have noted my whole quote you would have seen words similar to "based on previous documents in history it was not that radical. WHich is was not. Magna Carta, Virgiinia and Massachusetts 'Constitutions" and other documents in time.

Even the concept of a government ruled by the people was not that radical. Ancient Greece, England, etc.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

They'd probably have to form their own party, and call it the "Let's show some Common Sense Party".
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

TheLastIndependent said:
Magic? No. It was that FDR offered liberal (very liberal actually) in the 30's. That drew the more liberal minded voters and it continued to stay that way. Around the same time, the Republicans started to become more and more conservative.
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wierd... because the democrats were still the ones who were anti-civil liberation movement till well into the 1960's... and it was the republicans who were.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

Rainman05 said:
wierd... because the democrats were still the ones who were anti-civil liberation movement till well into the 1960's... and it was the republicans who were.
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Again with the ahistorical bleating.

This is true only in the South. In the North, a greater percentage of Democrats voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than did Northern Republicans.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

Rainman05 said:
wierd... because the democrats were still the ones who were anti-civil liberation movement till well into the 1960's... and it was the republicans who were.
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Except the Dems still drew the liberal vote for fiscal reasons...
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

specklebang said:
As white slave owners and millionaires, they would go Republican all the way.

Look at how many amendments and changes to their convenient constitution we've had to make just to get part way to decency.
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Well 10 of the amendments were in the bill of rights. And some of the amendments have just plainly been horrific failures (16,17,18,21,26).
Only 13, 14, 15, 19 had major impacts.
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

First off, let me admit that I was being a bit of a trollette (thats a good natured troll) in my comment.

But in fairness, can you imagine how different our laws of today - the newest ones - will be in relation to someone living in the year 2212. I'm reading a long series (The Disappeared: A Retrieval Artist novel: Kristine Kathryn Rusch: 9780615458564: Amazon.com: Books) which is based on the legal structure of a future alliance between humans and other space-faring races and the complexities of honoring each others vastly different codes, laws and moralities. I makes me realize that they founders did a hell of a job based on what they knew at the time. Who could imagine a black skinned person as a full fledged human (similar to the book in that clones have a second grade status and can be fast grown for parts).

We have many amendments ahead of us as time goes by and when our future selves review this period in tikmme, they might be asking the future version of the OP.








ReformCollege said:
Well 10 of the amendments were in the bill of rights. And some of the amendments have just plainly been horrific failures (16,17,18,21,26).
Only 13, 14, 15, 19 had major impacts.
Click to expand...
 
Re: If the Founding Fathers were alive today, what party would most they be members o

specklebang said:
First off, let me admit that I was being a bit of a trollette (thats a good natured troll) in my comment.

But in fairness, can you imagine how different our laws of today - the newest ones - will be in relation to someone living in the year 2212. I'm reading a long series (The Disappeared: A Retrieval Artist novel: Kristine Kathryn Rusch: 9780615458564: Amazon.com: Books) which is based on the legal structure of a future alliance between humans and other space-faring races and the complexities of honoring each others vastly different codes, laws and moralities. I makes me realize that they founders did a hell of a job based on what they knew at the time. Who could imagine a black skinned person as a full fledged human (similar to the book in that clones have a second grade status and can be fast grown for parts).

We have many amendments ahead of us as time goes by and when our future selves review this period in tikmme, they might be asking the future version of the OP.
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I'm not sure what that has to do with anything? Think of government as a building.The constitution is the blueprint, a golden standard, which maximizes individual freedom and is supposed to provide checks and balances against a powerful government (although this is being eroded as we speak). Our government has evolved many times over 200 years, not because the blueprint changed, but because the materials the government has had to work with has changed. I see no reason why we should ever have to get rid of the blue print, when it has served us so well for over 200 years. The present day materials are what need to be changed.
 
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