Is A True Progressive Agenda Possible?
'Twas a busy and wacky weekend, working on a musical project for a friend and other sundry tasks. So nothing really new to rant on this morning, except the anticipation of the District 3 Democratic Party convention this coming weekend. The buzz is that there actually may be enough delegates committed to Howard Dean to be viable; that is, have an official presence at the state convention. Remember, Dean has “suspended his campaign,” but has not yet released his delegates.
At the county conventions, there was considerable pressure for the Dean people to join up with John Kerry, but a number of county Dean delegations decided to pool their numbers with other candidates for the purpose of influencing party principle. In Polk County, for example, Dean delegates elected at the precinct caucuses aligned with people who were committed to Dennis Kucinich.
For the record, at the county convention your correspondent advocated joining with Kerry in a sea of party unity. But that was before it became known that the Presumptive Democratic Party Nominee was strongly indicating Clintonesque center-right leanings (see “The Call of the Bratwurst” published on this blog on Saturday).
So in the interest of full disclosure, I freely admit to flip-flopping on this issue of whether to insist on a progressive agenda — which some argue will attract dormant Dems who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 and sat out 2002 — or to abandon progressivism entirely to back a center-right Kerry, who will try to appeal to the great uncommitted.
What happens if we do this? Would progressivism permanently die in this country, or just take a holiday till things right themselves? How long might that holiday last (see the unending “war on terrorism”)? Is a truly progressive agenda of national health insurance, actual oversight of megabusiness, gay civil unions and however more you can add — ever possible for this country? We'll examine these issues in the days ahead.
Contact Ira Lacher here.
Blog For Iowa 
I don't think we are faced with an either/or situation. I will support Kerry as the Democratic Party nominee and the only person who may be able to get Bush out of office. And getting Bush out of office is an important thing, even if I can't fully support all of the record and positions of his opponent.
But, we HAVE to keep pushing for a more progressive agend in our own legislature and congress. That is why I am continuing to support DFA and why I am so excited about DFIa. And, why I attended Camp Wellstone a few weeks ago, support MoveOn and Truth and Hope, etc. We need a balance to the DLC, which has pushed our party to the right and continues to think it is a good idea to give the store away to big money interests. We need a Democratic Party that stands again for working people and our interests.
Simply supporting Kerry will not accomplish a realignment of our party. And continuing to support Dean through the national convention doesn't hurt Kerry in any way. Everyone knows he will be the nominee and Governor Dean has endorsed him. So, keeping the Dean commitment just sends a message, and like minded-people, to the national convention. It is a win/win situation.
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Is a true pregressive agenda possible? That is the question that faces us all in the progressive community. The answer is yes. If you stay in the fight. The answer is no. If you bail out by not voting or worse by not staying involved in this struggle.
If we stay involved in campaigns for elected offices from the county courthouse to the Whitehouse. We have a great opportunity to shape the debate in so many ways. By being in the campaign we can have an influence as to how our candidates stand on different issues. How do we do that? We quite simply hold their feet to the fire so to speak. Remember they work for us, we don't work for them. The only thing we are accountable for is that we do the best job possible for them in regards to phone calling, door knocking, and other campaign volunteer duties and tasks at hand.
We quite simply lose out by staying in the spectator section. Democracy is not a spectator sport. We can not just be a cheering section. We have to be on the playing field and display leadership. That's where we can win. By being leaders we can have great influence.
Most importantly. We have to define ourselves and our ideals and not let the other side fefine us. The worst place we can be is in a perpetual defensive position. I have heard so many times from people that they wish so and so would get involved or so and so would run for this office or that office. My propostion to you is this. Be the person you have been waiting for in the now. Si se puede.
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Ira,
I enjoy your column (!) and find it interesting that you once advocated joining with the Kerry folks. I'd rather stay home. LOL I think some Dean supporters (not all, of course) are not loyal to the Democratic Party and will easily be turned off by Kerry's DLClike tendencies. Me, for instance. Most of these Dean people will still vote for Kerry (Bush is a disaster!) but we need them to do more than that. I see Deaners going through the convention process as a way to engage these marginal Democrats in the many activities of the Democratic Party that will appeal to them. And there are many ways to help Kerry indirectly, for example voter registration, or GOTV efforts, or direct anti-Bush actions. Just like the DLC provides a home in the Democratic Party for moderate Republicans, DFIA will provide a home in the Democratic Party for Greens, peace activists, and more traditional Democrats who are more pro-labor than pro-corporations.
Alta Price
altaprice@mailblocks.com
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There are many ways to be progressive. One, you should make sure you are advancing ideas & values that will benefit the majority of people not just a confined few. For example, if a bridge across a large river in your area is being proposed, should it just be for cars, buses, semis, etc? Or, should consideration to these vehicles as well as pedistrian/bicycle pathways AND railways etc. be part of the plan?…Two, will local citizen involvement be truly part of the process and not just done as a pat on the head?…Third, are you prepared to spend endless hours devoted to further your end?…Fourth, are you ready to undertake unconventinal methods, daring to undo restraint?…Then it is now time for you to progress!
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Alta, I'm beginning to think that the best strategy for Dean people is to support Kerry like hell with the resources we developed during the primaries — internet registration and donation, etc. — and gently urge him once he's elected that he owes us with progressives in the Cabinet, particularly in Interior, Commerce. Labor, State and Defense. And that there's always 2008 to consider . . .
— Ira
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We Dean supporters/progressives have to do what we feel we can live with. Openly and outwardly supporting Kerry is a place many of us will never go. I don't think any “gentle urging” would get Kerry to do anything – too much fierce tugging from all those special interests on all sides. A lot of us don't trust him and will not work for him because it's hard to be productive while you're gagging. He has demonstrated that he can be bought and what he stands for is what the highest bidder wants. Kerry will have to benefit from our general GOTV efforts, I'd say. Not too much more specific than that. My two cents.
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