Changes

The American South had a long tradition of electing conservative Democrats to office, including in Presidential elections until they broke from the Democrats in 1964 to vote for [[Barry Goldwater]], the Republican nominee.  From 1948 to the 1970s an even more conservative wing of the party, mostly from the South, was called "Dixiecrats".  The Dixiecrat wing of the party has been essentially defunct since the 1970s and many of them, such as [[Strom Thurmond]] and [[Jesse Helms]], were early converts to the [[Republican Party]], foreshadowing a long trend of conservatives leaving the Democrats and joining the Republicans that continued through the 1980s and 1990s.

The American South had a long tradition of electing conservative Democrats to office, including in Presidential elections until they broke from the Democrats in 1964 to vote for [[Barry Goldwater]], the Republican nominee.  From 1948 to the 1970s an even more conservative wing of the party, mostly from the South, was called "Dixiecrats".  The Dixiecrat wing of the party has been essentially defunct since the 1970s and many of them, such as [[Strom Thurmond]] and [[Jesse Helms]], were early converts to the [[Republican Party]], foreshadowing a long trend of conservatives leaving the Democrats and joining the Republicans that continued through the 1980s and 1990s.

Today there are several caucuses of people with conservative views in the Democratic Party.  These conservative Democrats often find themselves at odds with the liberal majority of their party.  The Blue Dog caucus in the House was organized in 1994 by conservative Democrats who believed the liberal wing of the party had "choked blue" conservative voices in the party.  There is also a [[pro-life]] caucus within the Democrats called [[Democrats for Life of America]] currently led by [[Nat Hentoff]], a pro-[[Second Amendment]] caucus called [[Amendment II Democrats]] which supports [[gun rights]], and even a minority-held position within the [[environmentalist]] and [[organized labor]] movements opposed to illegal [[immigration]] into the United States on environmental or job protection grounds, although it should be noted that these voices have been all but shut out by the current leadership of those movements.<ref>Briggs, Vernon.  ''Immigration and American Unionism''.  Cornell University Press, 2001.</ref> <ref>Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz.  ''The Environmental Movement's Retreat from Advocating U.S. Population Stabilization (1970 - 1998): A First Draft of History''.  Journal of Policy History, (ISSN 0898-0306) Vol 12, No 1, 2000</ref>

Today there are several caucuses of people with conservative views in the Democratic Party.  These conservative Democrats often find themselves at odds with the liberal majority of their party.  The Blue Dog caucus in the House was organized in 1994 by conservative Democrats who believed the liberal wing of the party had "choked blue" conservative voices in the party.  There is also a [[pro-life]] caucus within the Democrats called [[Democrats for Life of America]] currently led by [[Nat Hentoff]], a pro-[[Second Amendment]] caucus called [[Amendment II Democrats]] which supports [[gun rights]], and even a minority-held position within the [[environmentalist]] and [[organized labor]] movements opposed to unregulated [[immigration]] into the United States on environmental or job protection grounds, although it should be noted that these voices have been all but shut out by the current leadership of those movements.<ref>Briggs, Vernon.  ''Immigration and American Unionism''.  Cornell University Press, 2001.</ref> <ref>Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz.  ''The Environmental Movement's Retreat from Advocating U.S. Population Stabilization (1970 - 1998): A First Draft of History''.  Journal of Policy History, (ISSN 0898-0306) Vol 12, No 1, 2000</ref>

The [[Democratic Leadership Council]] is occasionally referred to as "conservative" but it has some liberal views on both social and economic issues.  It includes among its ranks [[Bill Clinton]], [[Bill Richardson]], and [[Hillary Clinton]].

The [[Democratic Leadership Council]] is occasionally referred to as "conservative" but it has some liberal views on both social and economic issues.  It includes among its ranks [[Bill Clinton]], [[Bill Richardson]], and [[Hillary Clinton]].