The Rise of Labor Party USA

Why a "Labor" Party would replace the Dems

First off, I'm new here, although I'm a longtime lurker.

I agree that the Democrats didn't firmly become the center-left party in the U.S. until FDR and the New Deal. However, even prior to FDR, Democrats did generally have a more working-class and immigrant base, which would likely be the base for a Labor Party.

The most likely outcome for this would have to come in the late 19th/early 20th Century. You'd have to have the Populists essentially replace the Democrats at the federal level, then perhaps butterfly out the Communist Revolution in Russia and maybe even butterfly away American involvement in the First World War. Without the "Red Scare," and without the splits in the American Socialist party, you perhaps get the Populists and Socialists to amalgate in the 1920s as a left-of-center "Labor Party."

My guess, however, is that today they would essentially be where the Democrats are today ideologically, though perhaps somewhat closer to unions.
 
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