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Was the socialist impulse present in the antebellum, antiabolitionist, Democratic Party?

I haven't done the research, but it's my gut feeling there wasn't much difference in the TWO parties until, say, the New Deal. I couldn't begin to lay out what their platforms were in the 40's to the early 50's. It's just an impression but I believe Dims and Pubbies would both be what we conservatives consider patriotic back then; statesmen even. Did the socialisms of the New Deal strike the Dims' fancy or were they not on board until the late 60's - early 70's?

Based on conversations LS and I have had, there was still an antagonistic press re New Deal policies, BUT they may not have been the dominant press then. Just how loud were the conservative media voices? Were they a minority press even then? Is this when our media cheerleaders pulled up lame ;^) So many questions...

I confess an inability to see how those meaning changes could have ocurred without a predominant impetus from the PR establishment.

Agreed. In fact one of the tools of the Goebbelist is word manipulaton and especially labeling. The short cousin to the juicy sound bite. Doesn't matter if it's made from whole cloth, and it usually is. Abortion RIGHTS anyone? "Affirmative Action"? Our constitution is a living document? Anyway, good points.

FGS

"Based on conversations LS and I have had, there was still an antagonistic press re New Deal policies, BUT they may not have been the dominant press then. Just how loud were the conservative media voices? Were they a minority press even then? Is this when our media cheerleaders pulled up lame?"<

Interesting comments, FGS...
Newspaperman HL Mencken was a lifelong Democrat, (and an atheist) but he could not stand FDR, and constantly railed against the New Deal.

I've read that was his Waterloo...

"Constitution for the New Deal" by H. L. Mencken

Consider this quote by Mencken:
"The New Deal began, like the Salvation Army, by promising to save humanity. It ended, again like the Salvation Army, by running flop-houses and disturbing the peace."~ H.L. Mencken

It's also humorous to read what Mark Twain 1835-1910 (Samuel Clemens) thought of the press, (and journalism in general):

"Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper." ~Mark Twain

"I am not an editor of a newspaper and shall always try to do right and be good so that God will not make me one." -Mark Twain

"In the real world, nothing happens at the right place at the right time. It is the job of journalists and historians to correct that."~Mark Twain

"A journalist is a reporter out of a job." -Mark Twain

"Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR. That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse."-~Mark Twain~