Well, when I said the Democrats were on the far end of the center-right globally, I obviously was referencing to Europe/Canada, etc. Sticking to liberal democracies here. The Democrats, since Clinton, tend to be pro-business, pro-growth, pro-balanced budgets. This is in sharp contrast to the past. The Democrats also do not aggressively, if at all, battle for any kind of welfare state or safety net. A large part of that is because America has a different culture than the rest of the world, like you said, and are hostile to such things. The definitions of left and right are not universal. That said... I in no way see the Democrats as being on the left or even center-left at all. In my eyes there is NO left in American politics (electable left, that is).