Attention Fellow Progressives: The ‘Political Revolution’ has Already Begun

As in any election season, there is tension within the Democratic Party between those who focus on what they deem is currently possible and those whose proposals are more aspirational.

This tension has been characterized as a dispute between centrists, moderates and mainstream liberals vs. progressives.

Many mainstream Democrats fear that nominating a presidential candidate from the left wing of the party risks losing to Trump, and hold out for a candidate that can unite liberals with moderates and independents.

The so-called progressive base has what they feel is a good argument as well: that recent Democratic policy has been too timid and compromised, and has failed to generate the excitement in order to “fire up” the progressive base and win a national election, particularly one where the incumbent cynically uses populist rhetoric to pander to and peel off a crucial margin of what would normally be natural Democratic allies.

There is also the undeniable fact that, after eight years of Republican obstructionism under a Democratic president, and an increasingly extremist and exclusionary Republican administration, appeals to bipartisanship ring hollow.

And, with so much at stake, appeals to incremental progress seem wanting.

This tension played out in the 2016 Democratic primary.  Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign message called on us to build upon the progress and momentum achieved under President Obama.

In contrast, her primary opponent Senator Bernie Sanders thundered about a “rigged system” and called for a “political revolution" to upend existing political arrangements.

The call for revolution or systemic structural change from a Democratic candidate struck some at the time as problematic and misguided; the vast majority of Democrats was pleased with President Obama's performance while guiding the country through a historic crisis and wanted to see it continue.

Then, as now, Bernie Sanders risked alienating pro-Obama Democrats and liberals, particularly African Americans who are fiercely loyal to him.

Also, what’s really vexing, and even tone-deaf, in all this talk denigrating mainstream Democrats as timid or compromised apologists of the "status quo," is that the eight years under President Obama have in many ways truly been revolutionary.

Consider that under President Obama we:

• Put an end to the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive wars;
• Finally, after decades of trying, institutionalized the idea that healthcare coverage merits a collective effort and that the wealthy and those who profit from the healthcare sector have an obligation to contribute through progressive taxation;
• Chose diplomacy over the “Bush Doctrine” of belligerence, preemptive wars and unilateral militarism;
• Broke the unholy alliance between Detroit and Big Oil in getting U.S. automakers – voluntarily – to double fuel mileage over the next decade;
• Forced BP to fund a multi-billion dollar damage pool in the aftermath of the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill, avoiding a decades-long Exxon-Valdez court battle and corrupt low-ball settlement;
• Protected more than 550 million acres of land and marine resources from development, through the creation of national parks and utilization of the Antiquities Act on behalf of conservation;
• Put in place overdue pollution limits for power plant smokestacks, which are major sources of air toxins like mercury, as well sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which lead to smog, soot, and acid rain pollution;
• Established regional Climate Hubs and several initiatives to help farmers, ranchers and rural communities combat climate change and adapt to extreme weather, and a landmark agreement with Mexico providing greater flexibility in the management and restoration of the Colorado River, which allowed the river to reach the sea for the first time in decades;
• Enhanced fuel efficiency and pollution standards for vehicles. Consumers are saving money at the same time that we're reducing greenhouse gas emissions, our communities are breathing cleaner air, and auto manufacturing in America is resurgent. Cars were put on a path to average over 50 miles per gallon;
• Enacted the [first major environmental law in two decades, passed with bipartisan support, fixing our broken chemical safety system;
• Banned drilling in the Arctic;
• Got Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest private employer, to commit to getting half of its energy from renewable sources;
• Enacted the most stringent banking regulations in 75 years, and now have the authority to break up failing financial institutions if their collapse poses a risk to the broader economy;
• Got big banks to pay over $100 billion in fines and penalties, undergo annual stress tests, make out a living will to ensure that in the event of their failure they can be dismantled without threatening the financial health of the broader economy, limit their own proprietary trading, and face scrutiny and accountability by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was set up to root out fraud and abuse and has already recovered billions from fraudulent banks and other financial institutions;
• Got the banks out of the student loan business and freed up billions of dollars for student loans;
• Encouraged dozens of cities and several states to raise their minimum wage after Congress refused to raise the federal minimum wage;
• Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” allowing gays to openly serve in the military, and ensured that marriage equality is now the law of the land in all 50 states;
• Prohibited insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions and imposing annual or lifetime caps that limit coverage for patients;
• Required insurance companies to cover contraception;
• Capped profits for health insurance companies;
• Got 31 states and the District of Columbia to expand Medicaid under the ACA – after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down mandatory expansion – and provide coverage to 11 million low-income Americans, including 4.5 millions citizens with a Republican governor;
• Gave millions of people the economic security of knowing they won't be bankrupted by medical bills;
• Boosted renewable energy;
• Got almost 200 countries -- including China, the world's largest carbon polluter – to pledge to address climate change;
• Eased travel restrictions and normalized relations with Cuba to mark the end of the Cold War in the Western Hemisphere, relieve isolation for Cuban citizens, marginalize hardliners, strengthen the hand of reformers, and undercut attempts by Russia and Venezuela to forge wider hemispheric links;
• Extended favorable trade conditions upon 11 member countries that exhibit enforceable, verifiable labor and human rights standards and environmental protections – a first among international trade agreements, and meant to liberalize these countries and “globalize” human and labor rights and environmental protections by outlawing human trafficking, cracking down on forced and child labor and other human rights violations, raising environmental and labor standards; allowing labor unions, a guaranteed minimum wage, and a free, open and unrestricted Internet – by linking expanded economic opportunities with the world’s largest economy with adherence to and support of the liberal Western values that the U.S. has historically upheld; and
• Led the world’s other great powers to forge an international agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program to peaceful purposes – without firing a single shot.

Already, medical inflation has slowed more than any time in the past 50 years, 90 percent of US citizens have healthcare coverage, the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap has been shrunk, and the actuarial life of Medicare has been extended by more than 15 years – less than a decade since President Obama signed the ACA.

As part of the stimulus, we committed $90 billion into clean energy – an unprecedented amount of funding into wind, solar, and other renewables – energy efficiency in every form; advanced biofuels; and electric vehicles, of which there are now more than one million on America’s roadways.

All of this was accomplished in the aftermath of the worst financial collapse of our lifetimes, and the first truly global economic collapse in the world’s history, during which President Obama had to negotiate with the most powerful American banks and the Federal Reserve, as well as other major foreign financial institutions and central banks in an effort to stabilize the financial sector as part of a wider effort to revive the economy.

And yet, even though the collapse started here, the U.S. has recovered faster than any other developed nation and has created more jobs than all the others combined.

And President Obama had to do this in a toxic, polarized political atmosphere, without cooperation from Congress for most of his term in office and without the political carrots provided by earmarks.

Unfortunately, to some these efforts were not enough.

And 2016 marked the most bitterly divisive and polarized Democratic primary season since 1968, and these divisions were exploited and exacerbated by a Russian military intelligence operation exploiting our open society, social divisions, and social media platforms, and then amplified by domestic political networks fueled by secret, unregulated contributions.

And the result was the election of Donald Trump, quite possibly the most unfit, unqualified and corrupt president in the nation’s history.

And because of that devastating loss, so much of that recent progress is now at risk under an administration that has overturned or undermined consumer protections and regulations designed to protect the public from predatory business practices and the environment from pollution and profiteering, that has exacerbated inequality, limited redress for the disenfranchised, the powerless, the struggling, and for racial, ethnic, religious and sexual minorities, and also alienated longtime allies and security and trading partners.

So now, as we approach an election just as consequential as the one in 2016, the choice before us is simple: Can we unite and find common ground with those who share our goals, who are just as committed to progress and accountability, but who might differ slightly on tactics and strategy and the pace of change?

Or will we continue to eat our own and once again allow ourselves to be divided and demoralized?