About a month ago I looked at how the Republican Party had changed, in terms of its values agenda and tone. Well, the Democratic Party has changed as well, though not nearly as much.

The Democratic Party has for decades advocated progressive values — racial equality, economic opportunity, social tolerance, women’s and LBGTQ+ rights, and multiculturalism.

Not surprisingly then, the party’s issue agenda has invariably included civil rights, environmental protection, gay rights, increased spending on domestic programs, tax reform, protecting health care and Social Security, affirmative action, and what has become known as reproductive rights.

Issues

Jobs, domestic spending, and manageable interest rates have always been high priorities for Democrats. From time-to-time, Democrats have moved a bit to the left or back toward the center on economic issues, depending on who is in the White House and what the economy looks like. Remember, it was Bill Clinton who said that “the era of big government is over” in his 1996 State of the Union address.

Many women, turned off by the GOP’s tone and positions, have come to prefer the Democrats, which created a significant gender gap. The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade made that gender gap larger and more decisive in elections.

While Democrats were the party of organized labor, the union rank and file bucked the leadership at least twice — in 1980 when many union members became Reagan Democrats, and more recently, when a significant number of union members became attracted to Trump and his message that immigrants were stealing American jobs.

Traditionally, Democrats have been concerned about free trade, though Republicans also appear increasingly skeptical of that general approach to trade. 

Demographics 

While the GOP has become the party of a single political leader, Donald Trump, the Democratic Party has for the most part remained a party of constituencies and interest groups. Since the Franklin Delano Roosevelt coalition of the 1930s and 1940s was formed, Blacks, Latinos and Jews have constituted the backbone of the Democratic Party, as have white Catholic ethnics.

The Democrats, who once attracted support from working-class whites and many blue-collar workers, suddenly found themselves getting the votes of many college-educated whites. Turned off by Republicans’ angry, vindictive tone, these Democrats were attracted to the Democratic Party’s tone, which seemed more reasonable, measured, and tolerant.

For example, the Philadelphia suburbs of Montgomery County, Delaware County, Bucks County and Chester County, which once voted reliably Republican, have now become a key part of the Democrats’ blue wall in Pennsylvania.

Elsewhere, Virginia and Colorado have gone from toss-up states to leaning Democratic because of changes in key suburbs. And West Virginia, which once was reliably Democratic, has switched to the GOP because of issues like guns and jobs.

As the Democratic Party has become more progressive and more secular, it has lost much of its support in rural America. It is now trying to win at least some of those voters back, though that is difficult given the clout of evangelical, rural America.

Worried about courts, bureaucracy, and Trump’s support on Capitol Hill, Democrats have recently shown considerable concern about our public institutions and their ability to preserve democracy.

National security and defense

On other issues, the most dramatic changes almost certainly have involved national security and defense.

Until recently, Democrats have generally been cautious about flexing American military muscle internationally. Instead, they were more committed to spending on new domestic programs than on new weapons systems. In any choice of “guns or butter,” Republicans chose guns while Democrats chose butter.

But as the GOP has embraced Trump’s “America First” agenda — which tilted toward isolationism — the Democratic Party became more committed to national defense, new weapons systems and working with our allies.

While the Republican Party was historically strongly anti-Soviet, the party hasn’t been equally tough on Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin. Instead, it has been Democrats who are more committed to defending Ukraine and blocking further Russian expansion.

Not all Republicans have been weak, committing to support Ukraine or defending NATO. Some more “traditional” Republicans have supported President Joe Biden’s call for more money for Ukraine. And some of the most progressive Democrats have been hesitant to spend to defend Ukraine and Israel, one of America’s closest allies.

But Trump and his allies have threatened NATO and America’s alliances, while Biden, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and most of the Democratic establishment have supported Ukraine and American interests in Eastern Europe.

While the GOP is now hardly recognizable from the Republican Party of 2000 or 1980, the Democrats have changed much less. They have moved left and right from time to time, but their basic values and tone remain intact. That’s a refreshing conclusion considering the chaos on the other side of the aisle.