Fighting Leftist Perfectionism in 2022

A year ago, the Democrats took the throne. They won the presidency, the House of Representatives, and – thanks to an adverse vote from Vice President Kamala Harris – the Senate, opening the way, many thought, to a New Deal 2.0. The establishment of the centrist Democratic Party, the party’s progressive wing and suffrage advocates appear to be on track to accomplish some of their most cherished goals.

And then reality hit. A signature element of President Biden’s agenda, the Rebuild Better bill, has become stuck in the Senate diary. COVID cases and inflation soar, and Biden’s approval rating drops to alarming lows 33 percent. In response, some disillusioned progressives and suffrage activists are threatening to jump out of the coalition that elected a United Democratic government in 2020.

Some are even talking openly about running for a radical challenger against the president in 2024. Corbin Trent, former communications director for Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) , was unusually blunt in his remarks to the press earlier this month. Biden is “really unpopular”, Trent groused. “He’s as old as he is young. He’s barely functional, unless we’re counting the umpires or whatever where we’re using the scoreboard in baseball. And I think he is. He’ll probably be eliminated midterm. People will smell opportunity, and DC is flooded with people who want to be president.”

Normally, few people would care about such side-to-side controversies, but this was no ordinary time. The growing threat from former President Donald Trump’s loyalists – meaning the majority of Republicans are elected – to fundamental democratic institutions requires a united hand among party members. Democrats and anyone willing to work with them to put the needs of the country first. If the left can cooperate with that coalition, they can get much of what they want in the long run. However, if some refuse, everyone loses.

Against this backdrop, Biden’s full defense of his voting rights in Atlanta last Tuesday came at the right time. Announcing efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election and further subvert the election, he urged the passage of two voting rights bills that are languishing in the Senate and even hinting at indicates support for repeal of the violation (a plan of his party, Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, will likely still rule out.)

This, Biden said, is “a defining moment” in history. “Will you fight voter suppression? Yes or no?” Biden asked. “Will you stand for democracy? Yes or no?”

By making a call for suffrage reform in a place sacred to the historic civil rights movement, Biden has created an opportunity that the entire Democratic coalition will use wisely. Well, this speech probably came about six months late. Yes, Biden has probably spent too much time on his failed legislative agenda. Yes, suffrage activists have a reason incredulous until Biden adds action to his words.

The opportunity, however, was real – and necessary, as the two camps of the liberal coalition stood staring at the founding of the Democratic Party. Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher’s take of Biden’s speech clearly identifies what is at stake: “Hopefully what you’ll see starting today and moving forward is the White House and the entire Democratic machine campaigning and fight for the number one issue of Black voters right now. If they do that, I think they’re better positioned for the midterms. If they don’t, they’ll be in trouble.”

Really they are. Consider the dozens of voter barriers erected by state legislatures controlled by the Republican Party. And a growing number of Trumpist state election officials are poised to overturn the unsatisfactory election results. And the radical command of the constituencies deliberately fails to decentralize libertarian voters. There would be more to this if the Democrats broke out.

To avoid such steps toward authoritarianism, progressives and voting rights advocates must be persuaded to offer common ground with the central establishment. Admittedly, not much wave of hands from outsiders like me would convince them. Either way, their grievances and frustrations with the party are real and legitimate, and should not be ignored. But they maybe restrain their frustration with the pace and character of change within the Democratic Party to allow themselves to do what has to be done.

One chorus may have been inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s famous (and possibly apocryphal) quote: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” What if, instead of waiting for the White House to go their own way, the voting rights organizations offered themselves as the main actors in the Biden administration’s efforts? The pressure on the streets, plus the tug-of-war in the deserted halls, plus the strength and background of the bully podium may be enough to put voting rights first.

Representative Cori Bush (D-Mo.) And Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Who Organized town meeting Last Thursday to call for the repeal and passage of voting rights bills, steps have been taken in this direction, as have activists like Martin Luther King III and the organizers of a march for suffrage in Washington, DC, on Martin Luther King Jr Day. This is good, but more needs to be done. ONE great number of than.

Almost as important as the passage of the suffrage law as a result of the midterm elections, and this is where progressive cooperation with Democratic centrists can prove useful. most useful. Radical campaigning resources will be a powerful factor for Democratic candidates. As true believers, progressives become effective foot soldiers, if nothing else.

But the dissenting, divisive talk so pervasive in progressive circles risks undermining the effectiveness of this organizational power. It reduces the turnout of progressive voters, who are already much less likely to vote in the midterm races. To ensure democracy and Democratic governance, progressives will need to tone down this rhetoric by 2022.

That does not mean tossing progressive idealism for sentimental centralism. It is meant to be an attitude modeled on that of longtime suffrage activist Stacey Abrams. “I’m not talking about hope,” she speaks in an interview this past fall. “I believe in determination. Hope feels good, but I’m not optimistic or pessimistic. I’m determined.”

Determination is exactly what the entire Democratic coalition needs right now. The long-term solution to every problem facing the leftists in America is exactly what Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) goes on to suggest: Elect more libertarians to Parliament. It’s annoying to hear that advice from him, but it’s the truth. And it’s time for the left to get to work.