A friendly congressman called me yesterday to complain about progressives-- particularly young ones-- not pulling together behind Pelosi and Biden. I reminded him what primaries are all about and he asked if I thought all the "energetic young people"-- who he doesn't think know anything (he said that)-- would accept Biden as the nominee if he wins the primary. I told him that most Democrats probably will, although I think Trump will be able to persuade many African-Americans to sit on their hands rather than vote for the racist Biden will be painted as. I also told him that many of the "energetic young people" don't identify as Democrats per se and that they might be excited about Bernie or Elizabeth Warren for reasons that have little to do with the Democratic Party. That seemed to make him uncomfortable and he said he had to catch a plane and would call when he got too DC. He hasn't.Too many professional Democratic politicians-- Biden, Hoyer and Pelosi being stand-outs-- have allowed themselves-- sometimes over the years--to be inculcated with Republican, or conservative world views, for "the energetic young people" to be able to relate to them. This week Robert Reich explained some of the lies conservatives spout. Listen closely and see if these aren't lies you also hear from conservative Democrats-- or see conservative Democrats voting for them.Conservative Democrats like Biden claim to be "progressives" when it suits their campaign narratives. Just yesterday, the New York Post ran a piece on crooked centrist Andrew Cuomo screaming about how he's the left. He sounded just like Biden:
Gov. Andrew Cuomo railed against progressives activists as talkers rather than doers and proclaimed “I am the Left!” in New York when asked if he backed the wrong horse in the contentious Queens District Attorney Democratic primary race.Cuomo-- the de facto head of the Democratic Party-- backed establishment candidate Queens Borough President Melinda Katz over democratic socialist public defender Tiffany Caban, who was endorsed by lefty firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.“What do you make of this whole thing, did you bet on the wrong horse? You’ve been saying you’re a progressive for a long time now, does that put you in a bad spot?” WAMC host Alan Chartock asked.“I am, I believe I am the most progressive, or one of the most progressive leaders in the state. It depends on how you define progressive and that my friend should be the discussion in this Democratic presidential primary. What does that mean progressive?” Cuomo shot back.“How do you define progressive? By pontification? By rhetoric? By aspirational goals with no realistic plan or knowledge or analysis?” he said.But when asked if he’s taking shots at other lefty Democrats such as Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens), Cuomo said, “No, I am the left. I am the left!”“Who says the progressives are more progressive than other progressives? You know what I mean?”Caban, initially declared the victor, now ranks behind Katz by a slim margin of 16 votes, forcing the Board of Elections to begin a hand count of 91,000 ballots.
When Pelosi left the progressive movement to pursue congressional leadership, it would have been pretty hard to make a case that she wasn't-- like Biden-- a real progressive. He never was. She was. But the progressive movement is not static; it continues to evolve. Bernie has. Elizabeth Warren has. Nancy Pelosi hasn't. Not even a little. She's not even close to being a progressive any longer. She's an establishment conservative now and isn't capable of realizing it.
