After losing the White House again to President-elect Donald Trump, progressives are at odds with each other over how to hone their message to voters.
There is little disagreement that things need to change. The Democrats' latest campaign strategy has become ineffective, and Mr. Trump returns to Washington with his party in full control of Congress.
But there is no consensus on what the left should do next.
One camp argues that the future is economic populists, groups that put economically disadvantaged voters of all demographics at the forefront. They believe that if Democrats prioritize class warfare over culture wars on the national stage, fewer people will defect and they will have a chance to win again.
The other group of progressives believes there is room to consider some top priorities in a different order of importance. They believe their wing can emphasize all aspects of identity politics while simultaneously defending democracy, the rule of law, and a brighter economic future.
“The idea that economic populism is actually the patriotic line is very good,” said Pete D'Alessandro, a former senior campaign aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders, R-Iowa. .
Some argue that this difference is very subtle. Progressives agree that class and identity intersect, and that there is a deep belief that no group should be sacrificed at the expense of another.
But fault lines have emerged within progressive circles over the order and scale of their respective agendas, with the debate unfolding as Trump takes office and Democrats prepare to govern and reorganize their party in the minority. I have a feeling that this is likely to happen.
Adult Sanders progressives have begun their own autopsy since November. Vice President Harris wants to preempt various narratives that place economic realities low on the list of reasons why she lost to Trump. Our Revolution, a grassroots group formed after Sanders' first presidential campaign, polled 12,000 progressives and found that 91% said, “The party has long supported a multiracial workforce.'' I have ignored class.”
The poll of progressive respondents found that “the focus is on Republicans like Cheney and celebrities who are misguided by the disdain for working people, the failure of the Democratic Party, the slow transition from Biden to Harris, and the misdirection of the campaign.” “This was the main reason for our defeat.”
Mr. Sanders has gone his own way after Ms. Harris' loss in the race, seeking to shift the conversation among progressives back to the economic frictions played out in exit polls that partly explain Mr. Trump's victory. . He has used legacy media, from cable news to the New York Times, to make the case for why a working-class agenda should be at the core of the Democratic Party's DNA.
In a recent debate, the senator stressed that identity is inherently linked to the struggles of different segments of the working class. “We can say, 'We fight for an America without prejudice' — it's an ongoing fight. We've made progress, but we still have a long way to go,” Sanders said this week on The Daily's podcast. He spoke at
“But at the same time, we can also defend the working class of this country, which, by the way, is predominantly African-American, Latino, and female,” he emphasized. did. “It's going both ways. That's a winner.”
Dominant Sanders allies (who agree that progressives are in a search phase for new young leaders) also have been harshly pushing the idea that the makeup of the electorate that supported Trump is inherently biased. criticizing.
“Some Democratic pundits say, 'The problem is that all President Trumps are racists and sexists and homophobes.'” Well, some of them think so. There are definitely people out there, and that's true. Most of them don’t,” Sanders said. “The vast majority of them are working class people and we have to talk to them from a clear and straightforward economic perspective.”
Stevie O'Hanlon, director of communications for the Sunrise Movement, said the key problem is that “most Democrats have failed to present themselves as credible spokespeople for workers.”
“For the first time in years, a Democratic candidate lost the vote of households with incomes under $100,000 and gained votes of households with incomes above that. “This is the price of decades of policy and rhetoric from Democratic leadership that has allowed them to claim to be the champions of the Democratic Party,” O'Hanlon told The Hill.
While Mr. Sanders is making that case externally, other leftists who share his worldview are tailoring their messages to their own personal brands. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D.Y.), a staunch Sanders ally and member of the “Squad,” removed her pronouns from her bio on social platform X this week.
“I think it's a small thing,” said one person familiar with Ocasio-Cortez's messages.
Still, the use of pronouns as personal pronouns has been widely adopted among progressives on Capitol Hill who believe issues of gender identity are important to the Democratic Party's drive for inclusivity. Liberals have made room for communities that have faced unfair discrimination, including the LGBTQ population, to contrast with Republicans.
Amid widespread Democratic losses, progressives have added the first openly transgender lawmaker to their running mate, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Delaware). He offered his unique perspective at a press conference with Congressional Progressive Party leadership.
“What I was hearing was that the American Dream was becoming increasingly out of reach and inaccessible,” McBride said of his candidacy in Delaware's only congressional district. “It was,” he said. The district spans major cities, suburbs and rural areas, and extends into the Philadelphia media market.
McBride said being in that market exposed voters to Trump and the Republican Party's attempts to divide them over gender and identity, an approach that ultimately didn't work. “I did not misrepresent my identity, but my identity was not a secret,” she said. Millennial Rep. X's bio simply reads: We are committed to serving all Delawareans. ”
“When people can't pay rent or food, they look for someone to hold them accountable,” O'Hanlon said. “Trump and far-right politicians have been telling people to blame immigrants, transgender people, and people of color. That was a core part of President Trump's final message: 'Kamala Harris is more of an I care about that.” Democrats need to stand strong against these attacks and work overtime to show they are fighting to serve the people. ”
As groups focus on economic populism grow, other groups in the progressive movement are also taking a more direct interest in the problems that may arise under the Trump administration. They see threats to the judiciary as imminent, and some believe they can be minimized before the next president takes back the Oval Office.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) acknowledged that many college-educated, wealthy liberals emphasize cultural issues, but she outlined a vision for a Democratic Party rooted in bulletproof democracy.
Warren: “While we are still in charge of the Senate and the White House, we must do everything we can to protect our democracy.'' I wrote it in a new editorial. in time. “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must use every minute of the year-end session to confirm federal judges and key regulatory agencies, none of whom the next president can remove.”
The Progressive Change Movement Committee, aligned with Warren, circulated a petition titled “Let's Defend Democracy Wherever We Can,” calling for support for key legal structures.
Warren is poised to take on a high role within the Senate minority, promising to uplift “working families” as the Democratic leader on the Banking Committee.
The Massachusetts senator is also pushing for policies for low-income Americans, but her use of the word “family” does not necessarily identify Sanders with the family unit for working-class people. This is slightly different from his rhetoric.
Some populist progressives argue that this would be an easy bridge between the two camps, but both sides argue that the drivers of income inequality are the nation's collective concentration of wealth and the influence of corporations seeking to maintain the status quo. We already agree that it is a rule of force.
“I’m not really worried about them,” D’Alessandro said of the two approaches. “I'm more worried that the pendulum will swing too far in the other direction and we'll see more politicians like Buttigieg and Ritchie Torres, Republicans of the '70s.”
“I think it's easier to argue with Warren and others because it's a matter of tactics. Nobody's saying don't support those things,” he said. “It's about what you lead with. If we fight each other over tactics, corporate Democrats like the ones I mentioned will fall through the cracks.”
