As the Democratic Party evolves, so do its heroes.
Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson have fallen in estimation, as four state branches of the DNC have renamed their Jefferson-Jackson Dinner events to avoid unflattering historical associations, according to The Week.
Andy McGuire, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, which renamed the dinner last weekend, says the change reflects the values of the modern Democratic Party. He claims those are “inclusiveness, diversity and equality.”
As both former presidents owned slaves, and Jackson is known for his less-than-comfortable treatment of Native Americans, the party wanted to de-emphasize those connections.
The New York Times places this shift in the Democratic Party on its identity. The “Democrats’ shift from a union-powered party organized primarily around economic solidarity to one shaped by racial and sexual identity.”
The decline in American unionism has caused the Democratic Party to craft a new center. The reliance on union money and rhetoric around the common man has given way to other concerns about racial equality, identity issues, and the shifting economic reality in the United States.
As older Democrats age out of the party and younger candidates take over, the shift in emphasis of the party is bound to continue, but how smoothly the change will be is unforeseen.
