What are the two main political parties?
Democratic Party The Democratic Party is the oldest political party in the United States. Broken off from the Democratic-Republicans party in 1912, it positions itself left of the Republican Party in economic and social matters. It has been historically influenced by a) the economically left-leaning activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and b) the civil rights movement of the 1960s. At the time of the last election, in 2004, it was the largest political party with 72 million voters claiming affiliation. Since the 2006 midterm elections, the Democratic Party is the majority party in Congress. Republican Party The Republican Party is often referred to as the Grand Old Party or the GOP. Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, the Republican Party rose to prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. Today, the Republican Party supports a conservative platform. It is currently the second largest party with 55 million r
