Squad Member Summer Lee Says Pelosi Wrong That Harris Should Govern From Center: ‘Progressive Ideals’ Are ‘What Average American Wants’
Squad Member Summer Lee Says Pelosi Wrong That Harris Should Govern From Center: ‘Progressive Ideals’ Are ‘What Average American Wants’
The day Democrats grow a backbone and double-down on progressive policy because it actually works instead of appealing to ignorance is the day Democrats never lose again.
There are some good signs in the party they're moving away from this; notably ignoring a lot of the advice from Hillary Clinton strategists (thank fuck), while also promoting progressive voices on the national stage such as at the convention — AOC, Bernie, Warren speeches. Still, there are remnants of the old that need to go.
Also:
Don't ever shy away from our progressive values. One person's socialism is another person's neighborliness.
Tim Walz
That is a well spoken summery of the current issue with our political system. Thank you for taking the time to write that up and share it.
It is sometimes hard to have faith in the future when we are so inundated with our current issues. To cultivate hope in the future it is key to remember that time marches on and the older generations will always be replaced by a younger generation. I believe if we keep our democracy alive for long enough we do have the potential as a society to right many wrongs that the younger generations have lived under for the past 50 years and if we stay on target with our wants and needs and can put empathy and compassion for our neighbors as a core belief then it is only a matter of time before we get elected representatives in power to start affecting change.
I believe we, as a people, can do better for our future generations and that is why we all must do our civic duty and vote, not just for president but in our local elections, no matter how small, and every election above that. We have the power to change all this and I believe we will in time. It won’t be overnight but it can be within our lifetimes. Small steps matter because right now we aren’t capable of making huge steps but when the big steps forward become attainable we are prepared as a society to take those steps.
Thank you again for your post, stay strong and motivated and we can do this. Remember this isn’t just about you and me but us as a country, as a species and our responsibility to the future generations that will come after us. We can right our past mistakes and keep hope for that future alive. We have a greater voice now than we realize and are already electing people into positions of power to affect this change. We are not in this alone but in this together; not me, Us!
Aw thanks — and wonderfully said, yourself! Indeed despite everything along with much work to do, I feel quite optimistic. It feels as though we're beginning to rip band-aids off that were placed there decades ago and I'm all for it. I should also note that I come from a rural Republican blue-collar family who flipped under Bush's first term... So people can certainly change and I know I can get quite feisty with my rhetoric toward conservatives these days but sometimes it pays to extend an olive branch for some of those still reachable.
IDK if they are shocked at the results. There's a calculation that needs to be made between convincing voters you have their back, while convincing donors that you have theirs, when those groups have irreconcilable differences of material interest. A cynic would say that a politicians job is to convince the voter base and the donor base that you'll protect each from the other.
VP candidates can appear as progressive as they want because at the end of the day they don't really have that much power. I won't believe any real shift is happening towards progressives till we get a presidential candidate talking about more progressive policies. Until then it's mostly them trying to pay lip service to progressive policies while chasing the moderate as the Republicans continue to drag the country to the right. If the Democrats really wanted to get more votes they would stop chasing moderates and try to activate disaffected voters who don't care about voting because from their perspective both parties don't really care about helping them. But then that would get in the way of the donors wants or stop politicians from being able to make lots of money from trading stocks and they would rather lose than give up that.
This can be shortened to:
Democrats have learned to talk like arguing traders on a ME bazaar, with that "munnat" tone, but haven't yet learned to actually bargain like people do in such situations.
The issue is, I'm not sure this is correct. You are presenting Democrats as acting in your interest, just dumb.
I seriously doubt there are people dumber than you and me anywhere close to their leadership. But assuming that they are acting in your interest is unsubstantiated.
Also I hope this
is the day Democrats never lose again.
doesn't mean you want a single-party system.
Soviet newspaper quotes of the kind "our single-party democracy is showing itself to be more efficient than their useless oscillations between Democrats and Republicans" are supposed to be a joke.
Pelosi can fucking go.
She may come off as a darling of the Democrats, but to me, she's just a old boomer who is part of the old guard of politicians who make money being a politician.
I will never forgive the DNC for that. Bernie is salvation. He is pure and impossible to coerce.
I think the establishment knew how much power they would lose and sandbagged him from both sides.
Bernie getting fucked by the DNC was the greatest political blunder in 100 years.
it wasn't the dnc that caused bernie to be completely terrible with voters outside of the northeast and western coasts.
I mean the reason Hillary only ever needed about 30% to win was explicitly the DNC and that same reason depressed turnout for Bernie (super delegates falling in line with party will for Hillary, and announcing their support for her en masse and up front so that Bernie's was already badly losing before the first primary vote was cast, which in turn reduces turnout for him.
As for only selling well on the coasts, I'm in fucking WV and we went 53% for Bernie vs 35% for Hillary which is why Hillary only won WV by one delegate. She got 20% here in the general.
People want progressive ideals as policy, but losing the messaging war for 4 decades has taken its toll.
You cannot associate these policies with an ideology. Just call it common sense. Or the Fuck Billionaires Agenda. Whatever.
You can’t undo decades of media programming by telling people that they would all agree with you if they just paid closer attention. Losing strategy.
They aren't even trying to win the messaging war. Instead of pointing out how unbelievably horrible the republican plan of deporting 20 million undocumented migrants, they capitulated and moved further right on immigration.
People do like the policies though. Even republicans. You might be the one not paying attention.
That's what they said, but suggested calling it something other than what it is to appeal to the American public.
Maybe you night not be the one to paying attention.
Man fuck Pelosi. She's just worried about being unable to insider-trade her privileged position to wealth. If the play's not broken, why would they change a damn thing. Fuck these ghouls!
fuck all these liberals. They are the reason we have devolved into a corporatocracy. They are the reason Trump won
no more throwing enough money at homeless housing to LITERALLY SEND EACH TO COLLEGE, yet still having the homelessness rate rise....
Liberals want more bandaids that make their masters rich Progressives want to tackle root causes once and for all
When Harris wins that is not the end of our struggle. We need to push her to be progressive and actually enact the will of the people.
Judging by her speech as the DNC I doubt she's gonna do anything progressive outside of the price controls she mentioned. All the talk about the border and making sure America has the most lethal military and countering Iran took all my enthusiasm for Harris away.
What center?
Between the Democrats and Republicans? The GOP that wanted to brutalize Pelosi on the steps of the capital? The GOP that laughed when a man with a hammer nearly murdered her husband with a hammer? The GOP that wants to roll back all civil rights to a time before the revolution? The GOP that wants to install a fascist dictatorship?
Or do you mean the center of where the American public stands?
The center of what Americans want is a hell of a lot more progressive than you, Nancy.
The GOP that wanted to brutalize Pelosi on the steps of the capital? The GOP that laughed when a man with a hammer nearly murdered her husband with a hammer? The GOP that wants to roll back all civil rights to a time before the revolution? The GOP that wants to install a fascist dictatorship?
You are ascribing the actions of individuals to the entire group. Not every GOP person is a MAGA person and not every MAGA person would resort to violence like some on January 6th. Please allow for some nuance.
There is no nuance anymore. If you're actively supporting the GOP at this point, you ARE MAGA, and if you support MAGA, you're okay with fascism.
The rest of the GOP came out in strong condemnation of those attacks, right? No equivocating, or pretending they were Democrats, or saying they weren't violent?
Edit: and the Republicans in the Senate voted to remove Trump from office after the House sent them articles of impeachment about this, right?
Not every GOP person is a MAGA person and not every MAGA person would resort to violence like some on January 6th.
And those that don't are silent on the face of it (implicitly condoning the behavior) or are shouted down and pushed out of the party. Don't pretend like the political machine and the voting base don't support this behavior when they keep putting these people back in office.
Don't forget, the GOP was against J6 until they saw the base was for it. Then even the people who could have been in danger said it was ok. So they absolutely support this shit even if they say they don't.
Please allow for some nuance.
In this case, nuance is the excuse used to paper over the support these people have from within the party. Come back when the party machinery and base feel that way, because the individual's "beliefs" are meaningless due to being a nebulous concept that isn't supported by their actions.
Remember, if 10 people are sitting at a table and a Nazi is allowed to sit down, you've got 11 Nazis. And until we see evidence of these beliefs actually being held by a sizable amount of them, I'm not going to pretend it exists outside of their fringe.
He starts the both sides here...
Pelosi needs to go
Pelosi is STILL against stock buying bans for Congress because the “free market is for everyone”, meanwhile they get to decide who participates in said free market with advanced warning on news
Fuck you Pelosi.
Barack Obama had a lot of great ideas, but I think people have forgotten how many times he gave up without a fight. His motto seemed to be, "We can't win, so why try." I really blame him for the demoralized Democratic base that stayed home and allowed Donald Trump's win.
Harris needs to fight for progressive ideals, even if she doesn't always bring home a victory.
Obama lost the House of Representatives in years 3 and 4. And again in years 5 and 6. Then he lose both the House of Reps and the Senate in years 7 and 8. That was the thanks he got for the ACA. He pushed for progress, got it, and the left voters never showed up for more.
You want progress? You need to vote and give Dems consistent and overwhelming victories.
To be clear the ACA was Romneycare...not progress.
Chicken or the egg?
The ACA is a huge black mark on Obama's legacy. Clinton certainly wasn't going to push for universal healthcare. She was just a terrible candidate.
It was just really hard to get excited to pay 1100$ a month for bare bones family insurance. (At the time...it's closer to 2500 a month today).
It is really quite something how Obama almost categorically opted to give up without a fight on virtually every issue. He had to be dragged across the finish line for the ACA and was trying to kill the public option before Lieberman even took that charge up.
The backroom politics of the Obama years should have primed anyone for what came after.
never forget he authorized the extra-judicial drone-bombing of an American child.
Obama is just a character. He is the charming face of the bloodthirsty elite.
Look at his record
If he were not attractive and charming people would be treating him like Pelosi
I'm convinced liberals are really just sneaky centrists. We need to rid the party of neo liberals
He didn't give up, he was all talk with no intent of action.
Pelosi is an old hack who needs to take all of her stock market ill gotten gains and go away.
Why stop at one?
The headline completely mischaracterized what the article (and Lee) said.
Lee is clearly sticking pretty close to the party line, but still emphasizing the appeal of progressive policies. "I have to disagree a bit" is just not the same as saying Nancy Pelosi is wrong.
The article said:
Lee somewhat cautiously said she disagrees “a bit” and that “anecdotal evidence” from around the country indicate it’s better to run “to” not “from progressive ideals.”
And Lee herself said:
I have to disagree a bit. I think that we have data, we have polling, we have anecdotal evidence from American – Americans all over the country, but especially out in Pennsylvania, in a swing state, where we’re not actually asking for our – our candidates to run away from progressive ideals. We’re asking them for – for them to run to them.
Agreed. Her comments were more nuanced than that. And I think what she said was correct. These policies might better come down to how they are framed if we want them to succeed.
Moving to the right and calling it the center is why the "good" party is supporting genocide.
Israel has the equivalent of Donald Trump at the helm right now. And Hamas staged the equivalent of ten 9/11s, handing a deeply unpopular conservative PM an extension on his political power for the foreseeable future.
Netanyahu and Hamas both want this conflict to go on as long as possible. Netanyahu because it lets him keep power, Hamas because they want to use the 2 million people in Gaza as a pawn to shift the world against Israel. Their end goal is to wipe out the 20 million people living in Israel, and their own founders have stated that that's not where it ends. They're not going to stop until the whole world is under an Islamic Caliphate.
Hamas absolutely does not give a damn about anyone living in Gaza. And they'll continue to brainwash and sacrifice the children, either as meat shields when they're young, or as soldiers when they get older. Israel grants asylum to gay Palestinians that escape from Gaza or the West Bank. Sometimes their families will kidnap them, bring them back and behead them.
I don't think it's pure coincidence they go looking for Pride Parades.
Terrorists do terrorist things. If we want this to ever end, realistically the only way to do it would be to kill the Hamas leadership in any way possible and somehow undo 20 years of brainwashing they inflicted on the Gaza population. As for Israel, think how racist the average American living in a border state is. How much worse do you think they'd be if Mexico was shooting rockets at our border towns every few days? Even without the rockets, we've been messing with South America for a hundred years, making sure we'd never have competition on this side of the pond.
Are they racist? Absolutely. We'd be way worse under similar circumstances. Can you imagine what we'd do if Mexico invaded Texas and killed 20,000 people and kidnapped another 4000 and took them as hostages?
The US claimed everything from California to Texas after a war with Mexico. Technically they were here before we were. Should we all pack up and leave too? Why are we expecting folks to do things we'd never do ourselves?
I think Israel not running n apartheid state would do a hell of a lot more to change the minds of Palestinians than anything Hamas says
Israel has the equivalent of Donald Trump at the helm right now.
Which is why they have your support. The rest of your screed of genocide apologia just reinforces this.
caliphate
How do they propose to do that with North America? There's just no way
Israel is the one that was founded on ethnic cleansing, used the peace process to expand it's settlements, and is currently engaged in genocide. Both Hamas and Fatah have agreed to a Two-State solution based on the 1967 borders for decades. Oslo and Camp David were used by Israel to continue settlements in the West Bank and maintain an Apartheid, while preventing any actual Two-State solution
Oslo Accord Sources: MEE, NYT, Haaretz, AJ
The settlements represent land-grabbing, and land-grabbing and peace-making don’t go together, it is one or the other. By its actions, if not always in its rhetoric, Israel has opted for land-grabbing and as we speak Israel is expanding settlements. So, Israel has been systematically destroying the basis for a viable Palestinian state and this is the declared objective of the Likud and Netanyahu who used to pretend to accept a two-state solution. In the lead up to the last election, he said there will be no Palestinian state on his watch. The expansion of settlements and the wall mean that there cannot be a viable Palestinian state with territorial contiguity. The most that the Palestinians can hope for is Bantustans, a series of enclaves surrounded by Israeli settlements and Israeli military bases.
How Avi Shlaim moved from two-state solution to one-state solution
‘One state is a game changer’: A conversation with Ilan Pappe
Some progressive ideals are what the average American wants. Many are still very hard sells. What the Dems need to realize is that the political-junkie conceptions of 'centrist' and 'progressive' mean very little to the 'swing voters' they're trying to appeal to. They don't want a coherent ideological approach. Not that that seems to stop 'centrist' Dem reps from constantly trying to chase policy rightwards.
What are the hard sells? List them
Broadly speaking, higher taxes required to responsibly fund progressive programs.
You have to convince folks they'll get their money's worth.
Particularly rural areas are skeptical, they think they get money taken from them to solve city problems, and even if they might be able to benefit, the program might not be able to reach them.
So you might have decent luck with medicare for all (though there's a huge special interest influencing them against that too), but if you wanted big infrastructure and transit plans, they'll think the government is going to toss money at the cities and do nothing for them. Or worse, they'll be one of the folks that get eminent domained to bulldoze their home to make way for rail connecting two big cities.
Why the fuck is Pelosi still a voice that anyone in the goddamn party listens to? She's been doing nothing but fucking up since she entered Congress. She's literally almost single-handedly responsible for the absolute deterioration of the Democratic party in our government. The only one who outstrips her in that department is Harry Reid.
Pelosi is now irrelevant since she retired and just wants people to listen to her like the rest of the boomers.
She is technically Silent Generation. She's too old to be a Boomer, just like Biden.
She served her purpose by getting Biden to drop out. But now she can go away.
The center that's been pulled to the right of Reagan? Is it that center she means?
If so, she is in fact claiming Harris should govern with traditional Republican policies.
I hope America responds with a roaring NO to that.
If I were American, I'd drag everyone I know to a voting booth to vote for Harris.
I really hope she wins, both for America and the rest of the world.
If the Overton Window is a real thing then there is no "center" just the context of "i am rich don't rock the boat".
Pelosi Thinking TM is why Bernie would never be president.
Beautifully stated. Summer Lee rocks.
lived in her district in PA, voted for her twice
she's never done anything with power, all she does is campaign and go on the news
That's all governing is now though. Prostrate yourself to gather up as much money so you can buy your next election and smuggle enough away to enrich yourself or at least pay for all the nice things you want and then provide sound bites to keep your political party relevant while you rely on the already existing infrastructure that you pray doesn't deteriorate further while you are in office so that you don't have to do anything.
The problem is that it's all been in place for so long that we aren't going to do anything if it costs money or effort and the elder elites of the party set the standard of money being the most important metric for your contributions to the government and party that its all you can focus on.
We are back to positions being mostly an indicator of money and family conmections which is why young power hungry men like the Republican party more simply because the threshold is lowered if you are engrained enough in their political zeitgeist.
The empire is receeding but those in power don't care as long as they get to enjoy the fruit of their parents labor just a little bit longer.
How about they shut they all shut the fuck up and let them run the campaign themselves
All these old politicians needs to retire.
If your too old to do a normal job, you sure as hell shouldn't be making decisions for society...
The "center"from what? The GQP is no longer a valid political ideology, they've gone full cult. I doubt it even still matters if you tell them you will consider their proposals, they will still portray her as the devil. Harris should still do the decent presidential thing and help address their problems like those of the border, like Biden tried to do, but she's obligated to the people and their demands, not their party's.
I thought Pelosi was all about old farts getting out of the way and leaving room for the next generations.
She IS an old fart refusing to get out of the way even though she has (in name only) relinquished control tp one of the 5 or fewer Democrats in Congress who exhibit even more disdain for the Left than she does herself.
She's older than Bernie ffs!
Bernie who, probably partly because he was an elite athlete in his youth and still goes for a run every day, is roughly a decade or two sharper than most people around his age, including Pelosi.
Well they didn’t choose a progressive so…
Now if only they fucking showed up to vote.
Could we vote about bunking her (Wheeling dealing Pelosi) with Trump in Gitmo?
itt; a bunch of people that don't know it takes 2/3rds of a majority to pass anything and that a whole bunch of extremely partisan issues will just sail through congress even though the affordable care act barely made it through.
We don't want the center. Her main selling point is that she is not 80+years old. The bar is that low. Nobody gives a shit about policy at this point, it's gotten that bad. Anything but a geriatric convict.
healthcare pls
The only Americans who count to politicians are the ones who vote, and the ones who vote are more centrist on average than the ones who don't.
What the fuck is a "squad member"
Article makes no mention
People like the popular progressive ideals and they don't like the unpopular ones.
Harris should support a higher minimum wage and not support Medicare replacing private insurance or taking money away from the police.
Not sure why people want to generalize the popularity of some of their positions to the popularity of all positions. If all their positions were super popular there would be more people in The Squad.
Yes, they do want them, but they are too stupid to understand that so you have to lie to them about the medicine. Progressives need to stfu for a second and win the election. Go sit in the corner and seeth with Hasan about how kamala is a genocidal bitch or whatever, see you in November.
Yes neoliberals, let's continue to govern from the center. Because that's worked so well the last forty years as the right has moved the Overton window to the point where we no longer have a left wing party.
I think it's worth mentioning again that all this hope and excitement comes with the first candidates that aren't Boomers.
Let’s win elections by just all becoming republicans and letting the billionaires win! That’s what compromise looks like to these people.
Obama was a boomer?
Generations aren't written in stone, but the Boomers are generally defined as 1946-1964 and Obama was 1961. So younger Boomer.
Boomer generation; 1946 - 1964...
...Obama, born 1961.
So yes, technically he was a Boomer.
I truly see neoliberals as on the right these days.
They want us to be slaves.
The Dems have had control of all 3 House of Reps, Senate, and Presidency for 6 years out of the last 44 years. And you wonder why they're forced to compromise?
Every time they lose (like they've lost for 38 years out of the 44 years), they are forced to compromise and they go to the center to find voters. You want them to not go to the center? Then they need to win first.
I'm happy to see your Ctrl, C, and P buttons are in fine working condition. Do you have a valid argument though?