All progressives, even progressive moderates such as myself, share the desire to carve out a better life for those who are less fortunate. In fact we all share many of the objectives of the far left. The main difference is in how we set out to accomplish those goals. The key to the moderate progressive strategy is acceptance of political reality.
Democrats and progressive independents make up a minority of the US electorate. Those on the far left make up a minority of Democrats and progressive independents, a minority of a minority then. Together we must convince the independents in the middle, those who might vote for either Democrats or Republicans, to vote for Democratic candidates on a national level who will implement needed reforms.
Those voters who decide elections in key states in this country have an aversion to the politics of both the far left and far right. Therefore, to be successful in moving towards our objectives we need to nominate Democratic candidates who can capture the support of those voters who decide elections on a national scale, especially in those states and Congressional districts that usually decide who controls the White House and the two houses of Congress.
Regardless of our personal feelings on the matter, it is political reality that candidates who support so called ”radical” progressive measures are not acceptable to the voters who decide which party controls the levers of power in Washington and who appoints and confirms members of the Supreme Court, and consequently whether liberal or conservative views will prevail on a national level.
Consequently the Democrat electorate usually nominates moderate progressives for President and for Congress in key swing states and districts. Those on the far left often prefer candidates who more closely represent their more aggressive progressive views so they are tempted to vote for fringe candidates such those of the Green Party. However, those who understand political reality resist that urge because they know that even together all Democrats and progressive independents represent a minority of voters and we must stick together in order to elect candidates who will get things done in Washington.
Of course, there will be a small number of progressives for whom being true their presently unattainable political ideals is more important than getting of anything practical nature done. Like those of the far right, their political views are set in stone and they view those who are more moderate in their political views with the same animosity as their political enemies. Fortunately they are only a tiny sliver of the electorate. On the other hand, by not voting for Democratic candidates they occasionally manage to hand the reins of the government to those who are most antagonistic towards their views and objectives.
This political situation may not last for ever. Younger voters are more liberal than usual and remarkably, at least for now, seem to be resisting the normal tendency to grow more conservative as they grow older. So there is hope for a future when the younger generations become more reliable voters. However, until then we must deal with the political realities as they now exist.
Cajun (Rick Guilbeau)
Sorry Rick butthe facts about voters are incorrect:
Republican Voters
The number of registered voters for the Republican Party is approximately 38.8 million. And much like its opposing parties, these numbers are competitive when compared against the Independent and Democratic parties. Republican voters can also lay claim to having seven red states as of the last Presidential election.
Democratic Voters
The Democratic voters have historically held an edge over Republican voters, and recent data shows that this data is still holding true. The number of Democratic voters is reported to be around 49 million. The Dems also carried the lion’s share of registered voters in States that asked voters to declare affiliation, with 36 percent of voters declaring Democratic affiliation.
What might be most surprising about those figures is that the second-largest reporting party affiliation was the Independents, not the Republicans. That leads us to the next question regarding the number of registered voters by party.
Independent Voters
The number of people who identify with and declare themselves as Independent voters is second next to Democrats. What might be surprising to many people is that the overall number of people who claim affiliation with the Independent party is usually more than those who declare themselves as either Democrat or Republican.
The other impressive figure for those who declare as Independent voters is that 31 percent turn out for those states that asked for party affiliation declarations. This, of course, doesn’t mean there will be an Independent uprising, but it does reveal the balance among the parties.
6th paragraph:
“everything”
should be,
“anything”.
It is clearly obvious why younger voters are not turning conservative . It is no mystery.
Back in the day, young people in Anerica could work hard and achieve some degree of wealth and ownership (house, esp).
This led to some adopting conservative views as they got older.
I saw it happen to my own “boomer” generation, as they voted for Reagan, and by doing so, DENIED future generations of the livable social democracy they themselves had grown up under.
They became charmed by tax cuts instead, and the resulting safety net cuts, to disastrous results over the long run.
IMO, the anger directed at “boomers” by young people today is largely deserved, at least by the boomers who turned so conservative.
I get it—–When folks have something to protect (i.e. economic security), many folks will turn more conservative in a kind of protective reaction.
But nowadays, vast numbers of young people, many of whom work very hard, hold large college debts, work for relatively low wages, and hold little hope of ever owning much of everything.
Impoverished people will have little interest in turning conservative to protect things they never had the opportunity to earn, as past generations had.
……………………………………………………………………
BTW, As far as Progressive policies go, most poll very well among the American people:
excerpt:
“The policy most associated with the “progressive” agenda, Medicare for All, earns 70% support among Americans, despite relentless trash talking by “serious” people.
Americans are united in demanding aggressive action to slash prescription drug prices. Ninety percent of all Americans – and 91% of Republican voters – want to empower Medicare to negotiate drug prices (a policy that could easily reduce prices by 40% or more). Nonetheless, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are split over an aggressive plan to empower Medicare to negotiate and authorize generic competition if drug companies refuse to agree to reasonable prices. Democratic opponents of the bolder measure want to appear “reasonable” – yet nine out of 10 Republicans support a more audacious approach!
Two-thirds of all Americans favor expanding Social Security – not just maintaining it, but expanding it. Republicans favor the concept by a 2-1 margin.
A strong majority of Americans favor doubling the minimum wage to a living wage of $15 an hour. Seven out of 10 Republican voters favor raising the minimum wage.
Three-quarters of voters favor breaking up the Big Banks by reinstating the Glass-Steagall law that separated commercial banking from more speculative activity like investment banking. Two-thirds of Republican voters favor that approach.
Three-quarters of Americans say the tax system favors the rich and has too many loopholes. Three-quarters say that the wealthiest and large corporations should pay more in taxes. More than six in 10 Republicans agree. Sixty percent of Americans favor a wealth tax on those with more than $50 million in assets.”
From:
https://www.citizen.org/news/progressive-policies-are-popular-policies/#:~:text=Consider%20not%20the%20conventional%20wisdom,talking%20by%20%E2%80%9Cserious%E2%80%9D%20people.
Part of the difficulty with getting progressive policies through the system is the constant ant-left rhetoric that pervades US corporate media, and is even heard in the Democratic Party at times.
Also, the Democratic Party’s corporate donor$ keep up the anti-progressive pressures from within the party’s inner leadership. That leadership gets certain perks (campaign donations, insider trading info, jobs for relatives, etc)that keep them in support of the big donor$’ favored policy stands.
Of course the GOP is far worse than the Dems in terms of being dominated by corporate interests.
But, IMO, the Democrats are going to have to pull back somewhat from their corporate wannabe overlords in order to bring back at least some of the social democracy American workers had via the New Deal/Great Society, in spite of the corporate worlds’ hatred of those policies.