The Washington Post, just published a remarkable op ed on
the state defending progressive democrats and attacking the Democratic Party
establishment sort of the opinion column was by Perry Bacon.
A longtime reporter there, it's titled why progressive democrats are losing ground.
Bacon writes the ascendance of more left wing politicians and
policies within the Democratic Party may have paid with real potential that some
progressive advances will be stalled.
Bacon refers to basically four different areas economic policy,
like through the stimulus, social safety net, expanding Medicare, Medicaid,
addressing disparities and discrimination, particularly in law enforcement and
police and also electoral politics.
Bacon notes that big problems emerged in each of these areas last year, and
that the centrist democrats then blamed the left specifically, there was a surge
in murder rates in new york city, the centrist mayor of new york city, the new
mayor blamed a sort of soft on crime effort, but he said by progressives and
saying that police reform was somehow to blame inflation, which went up, which was
being blamed of course on spending the build back better legislation failed.
Some centrist democrats said it's because progressives were demanding too much and
then of course, there were the election races and
gubernatorial races where some democrats lost and you had consultants like
James Carville who are blaming progresses for hurting the Democratic brand.
Well, Bacon rights.
However, these arguments were over simplifications and in some cases they
were outright wrong more than that real world advance were in fact validating
the less arguments child poverty plummeted when the federal government simply gave
families money directly through tax credits in the stimulus, the kind of big
government policy, the left has urged the political struggles of biden and
mcauliffe and Virginia showed as the left has argued that voters won't be satisfied
with a do little Democratic Party, even if it is fairly moderate ideologically and
focused on wooing white swing voters.
The murder rate surged even as police spending either stayed the same or
increased, bolstering the progressive argument that reducing crime will take
more comprehensive strategies than just relying on law enforcement,
making goes on and says.
But despite all of that, the centrist arguments gained traction.
That's partly because the mainstream media, the wealthy and
biden himself are skeptical of progresses and inclined to take the side of
centrist democrats in intraparty writes, wait a second.
Did the Washington post just say that the wealthy, the wealthy take the side of
centrist democrats, and that joe biden does as well.
And they're skeptical of progressives look out for Perry Bacon,
hopefully he will not disappear anyway.
He continues, he says, because these anti left arguments have become conventional
wisdom and democratic circles there, resulting in policy and electoral
defeats for the party's left wing biden started downplaying police reform.
While he and other democrats leaned into pro police rhetoric and funding increases,
most of BBB has been shelled the Federal reserve with the encouragement of
many centrist democrats, is taking aggressive steps to rein in inflation,
that are likely to reduce wages and increase unemployment.
Now, Bacon does include some criticism of progressives, and this is interesting,
he writes, left wing democrats are struggling, in part because they don't
have a formal leadership structure or political strategy.
Bacon says that trouble is brewing for progressives because of
the Democratic Party led by joe biden gets killed in the midterm elections,
joe biden.
The centrist democrats will blame the left wing in the party and
say it's their fault that they ruined the Democratic brand.
But Bacon says all is not lost for progresses.
He concludes with quote, while more centrist democrats have greater power and
money, many of the party's most compelling ideas and
figures come from its left wing, the left arguments that the party's
political strategy is outdated have been validated by biden's struggles.
This was in the Washington Post, remarkable.
>> Yeah, so it is really damning that we're doing a breaking
news story on the Washington post,
actually printing a progressive point of view and were startled by it.
Like, I mean, and the hilarious thing is of course,
the right wing is called mainstream media liberal media for
the last 40 50 years, and and they've totally internalized.
Yeah, we're liberal, you're not anywhere near liberal.
That's why when,
when there's actually a left wing points made that are based on facts.
Absolutely indisputable facts.
It's like shocking that it has appeared in the mainstream media, like the Washington.
Okay, so, you know, in terms of perry Bacon's conclusions,
there's a couple of things that I don't fully agree with.
I think it's a little bit too pessimistic about progressive chances and
he's right that we're gonna get blamed for everything no matter what happens, but
that doesn't mean that we're down and out, but we definitely need to come back,
that's for sure.
And certainly in Washington, that is indisputable.
And and then he he says at the end that that that
triangulation is a thing of the past.
Yeah, I mean, it should be, but it isn't, I mean, joe biden is triangulation 101.
And if you talk to not just Democratic leadership, but
almost anyone within the Democratic party structure.
In Washington, every one of those fools would tell you that triangulation is still
the right idea.
They would still tell you that there should be somewhere between republicans
and democrats, and they should kiss the asce of republicans.
And just today, on the contraception vote nancy, Pelosi mentioned her republican
friends two or three times, they voted against contraception and she's still
calling him my republican friends and she beseeched them to vote for the bill.
Of course, almost none of them did.
So but what I love about the articles, facts that were in there.
So Joe Biden is not a progressive.
I mean, just really, really simple facts.
We fought tooth and nail against him in the primary because he has been, you can
call it moderate conservative, corporate establishment democrat his whole life.
No one in the world thinks that he's progressive, but they're like you.
But in Washington, every other piece and this is an opinion column.
The ones that are supposed to be objective will write it as if well,
biden's obviously having trouble because, he went too far left and
the democrats became too progressive.
You're like Joe Biden, Joe Biden who just having lunches with Strom Thurmond.
And how much he used to love that right to far left on which planet now
that they're not even trying to be honest, outside of Perry Bacon.
And so and and just simple things like, he said the left got blamed for
terry mcauliffe's lost.
But terry mcauliffe is the most establishment democrat you'll ever find.
It's that that's just a fact.
There's no question about that fact.
And yet in Washington, they live in an alternate reality,
not the trump one that there's a second alternate reality where deeply unpopular
establishment democrats are only losing because they listen to progressives.
Well, one last one, David, as you pointed out, the only real progressive
policy that they implemented was a child tax credit within the covid relief bill.
And that was the most popular policy.
They passed by a lot.
And that's also in the polling.
So the one time they went left the country loved it.
So what did they do?
They immediately cut it off and went back to right wing and they lost all of
their popular and I got to ask you about the bit of criticism of progress.
>> Is that Perry Bacon put in, he said that again, left wing democrats
are struggling in part because they don't have a formal leadership structure or
political strategy.
What do you make of that?
>> That is overwhelmingly true.
It's the truest thing ever written.
And so here I'm telling you as a criticism of progressives.
And so normally leaders would do planning,
they would do infrastructure, etc.
And Bernie Sanders has been very good about endorsing other progressives and
putting a spotlight on them and trying to help them in his own way.
But whether it's him or Elizabeth Warren or others, they have not been very good
about building infrastructure, it's kind of every person for themselves.
Oftentimes, progressives don't even endorse other progressives in primaries
because they're afraid of being yelled at by other democrats in Washington.
Look, I've got a plan, but but I think I'm the only one and
that is really damning random talk show host shouldn't be the only
person on the progressive side with a coherent plan to regain power