Charting a Progressive Path

Robert Reich posted this before the election. We know, of course, that President Obama has passed the center and is racing for the far rightwing, but the rest holds true:

Why are Democratic presidents so much more easily intimidated by the "move to the center" rhetoric after midterm losses than Republican presidents?

Because Democrats think in terms of programs, policies, and particular pieces of legislation. It's easy to reverse course by compromising more and giving up on legislative goals. Bill Clinton never mentioned the words "health care reform" after the 1994 midterms.

Republicans think in terms of simple ideas, themes, and movements. It's far harder to reverse course on these (look what happened to the first George Bush when he raised taxes), and easier to keep them alive: Republican presidents just continue looking for opportunities to implement them.

Republicans are also more disciplined (ask yourself which party attracts authoritarian personalities and which attracts anti-authoritarians). This makes it easier for them to stay the course. Their base continues to organize and fulminate even after midterm defeats. Democrats, on the other hand, are less organized. Electoral defeats tend to fracture and dissipate whatever organization they have.

Republicans are cynical about politics from the jump. Political cynicism fuels them. Democrats are idealistic about politics. When they become cynical they tend to drop out.

Message to Obama: Whatever happens November 2, don't move to the center. Push even harder for what you believe in.

Message to Democrats: Whatever happens, keep the courage of your conviction and get even more active.

This article by Katrina vanden Heuvel and Robert L. Borosage in The Nation makes the fundamental error of assuming Obama wants liberal progress, which he does not. But the last third has good advice for what we can do without a president leading:

Progressives also need to rethink their own strategies moving forward. A majority for progressive reform can still be forged but only with a revival of bold vision, populist energy and independent organizing. Barack Obama provided a vehicle for that energy in 2008, but progressives had paved his way. We stopped Bush when he sought to privatize Social Security. We built the movement that opposed the Iraq War and brought Democrats their majority. We provided the drive for a transition to renewable energy and leadership in the green industrial revolution. Those successes gave an African-American freshman senator the sense that there was something big happening, something he could tap into. It is vital to rekindle this independent energy. To allow the corporate-funded Tea Partyers to capture the populist anger at Wall Street bailouts and special interests is simply political malpractice.

We're headed into a period of defensive struggles—against cuts to Social Security, unemployment insurance, education and Head Start; against the continuation of two wars and increases in military spending; against the climate change know-nothings. Progressives must fight these battles, but we should also be prepared to challenge the limits of the debate.

We need a broad mobilization for jobs, a call to rebuild America that challenges trickle-down economics, special-interest politics and the divide-and-conquer strategies that are destroying America's middle class. That requires mobilizing working families, the unemployed and citizens of conscience to challenge both the cautious White House and the conservative Congress.

This can be complemented with an inside-out strategy, defined not by the White House but in conjunction with progressive members of Congress. In this election, the House Progressive Caucus lost only three seats, while the Blue Dogs lost thirty, leaving Democrats smaller but more liberal. In the minority, they have no chance of passing legislation. But acting collectively, the Progressive Caucus could reinforce movement protests, defining choices with a bright line, exposing how conservatives cater to corporate interests over the common good, while putting forward an alternative direction. Outside organizing could help magnify and broadcast this agenda—insisting on withdrawal from Afghanistan, exposing the climate deniers while pushing for green jobs, detailing the reforms needed to take back our politics from corporate money and interests.

The rear-guard battle against cuts to the social safety net could be reinforced by a poor people's campaign that ends the shameful silence about poverty. Legislators should join the vibrant movement for immigration reform in pressuring the White House to act administratively, while confronting Republicans with the prospect of losing Latino voters for a generation. This effort should be complemented with a push to recruit true progressive champions and finance and staff their campaigns.
Progressives should gear up to run in the primaries of the seats just lost—while putting Democrats on notice that we are prepared to challenge those who stand in the way.

With Washington more and more gridlocked, citizens must move. Americans fear this country is headed into decline, while their government caters to special interests that feed off their tax dollars. They are searching for answers that conservatives cannot supply. A majority for progressive reform can still be forged. But it will require independent action to revive the energy and, yes, the hope that the past few years have squandered.

What have you done today to advance the liberal agenda?