Anti-Progressive Take on Election Doesn’t Hold Water

DNC & DCCC: “Why are you talking to me this bullshit?”

This is all I have to say to Establishment Democrats and Republicans who have the nerve to suggest Progressives “nearly cost the Democrats the election” of 2020 –

Progressives Carried the Water

CNN and other news outlets called the election in Pennsylvania for the Biden-Harris ticket on the morning of November 7. Around 1 pm eastern time, Republican John Kasich was on CNN. What he said simply did not – and does not – hold water:

“Democrats need to make it clear to the far left, that they almost cost (Biden) this election… One Democrat told me, at some point if they’d have been more clear (sic) in rejecting the hard left, they’d have appealed more to Americans.”

Like Escobar said.

Bullshit.

I’ll tell you who carried millions of cubic meters of water to hand this election to Biden-Harris: 

Progressives.

We made calls, wrote letters, held rallies and marched, all of which kept people engaged and focused. Then we voted for Biden, not because we’re overly thrilled about his legislative experience, incrementalist approach or basic bring-decency-back platform, but to get rid of a totalitarian wannabe and stop losing ground on critical issues.

Our work and our votes made the difference.

Progressive candidates did well in congressional races, too, yet Establishment Dems want to blame progressives for the loss of a dozen seats in the House.

Please…

Take a Look in the Mirror

Two days prior to Kasich’s bloviating appearance on CNN, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Congressional Democrats and party operatives spent two hours on an election post-mortem conference call. 

Moderates like Rep. Cheri Bustos from Illinois spent the time blaming Progressives for the party’s pathetic showing. 

And make no mistake. The election of 2020 was an ass-whooping for Establishment Dems, regardless of how middle-of-the-roaders want to spin it.

Despite running against the record and abhorrent behavior of the most despicable human being in the history of U.S. governance, Democrats, under the guidance of the DNC and DCCC, lost at least eight seats in the House and will have only the slimmest of majorities to work with come January. 

As for the Senate, Democrats had been bragging about how many seats they’d flip, but that didn’t happen, either. Republicans held a 53-47 majority before the election, and so far Democrats have gained only one seat. If they win both Georgia run-offs there’ll be a 50-50 tie, with advantage to Democrats thanks to the tie-breaking vote of soon-to-be Vice President Kamala Harris. 

But Georgia’s still a big IF.

Besides, it wasn’t progressives who lost seats or attempts to unseat incumbents. Progressive leader and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez stated it clearly: “Progressive policies do not hurt candidates,” she said. “Every single candidate that co-sponsored Medicare for All in a swing district kept their seat. We also know that co-sponsoring the Green New Deal was not a sinker.” 

The fact is the Establishment failed.

And now they’re trying to hoist the blame onto Progressives.

The Left Made It Right.

People on the so-called “far-left,” or “radical left,” as moderates like to label anyone who isn’t a middle-of-the-roader, powered Biden’s victory. 

Without Progressives and the movements we pushed from late 2016 into spring and summer 2020 and on through election, as well as black, indigenous and other people of color, Americans would be making the der führer salute for at least four more years.

Black Lives Matter, in particular, galvanized voters of color. While it would be wrong to suggest all Black people support BLM, or that every Black person is a progressive, it is true that, as the Associated Press pointed out, “Black voters made up 11% of the national electorate, and 9 in 10 of them supported Biden.” That includes support from 90 percent of black women and 79 percent of black men.

On top of that, members of the Sunrise Movement came out because of the climate crisis, the imminent threat to human survival it represents and the current administration’s attacks on anything that could make a difference. MoveOn and Justice Democrats members supported liberal and progressive candidates up and down their states’ ballots, as well.

The left is right. Time to deal with it, Establishment Democrats.

It Would Be Funny If It Wasn’t So Damn Serious

“Get Shorty” is an outstanding comedy, which seems sort of appropriate, but… 

While it’s mildly humorous watching Establishment Dems attempt to blame Progressives for their own shortcomings, there’s nothing remotely amusing about winning elections but not winning solutions to real problems. It makes zero sense to win elections but continue to…

• Lose our planet.
• Stand by as working people go bankrupt due to medical bills.
• Have the highest incarceration rate in the world, with people of color disproportionately imprisoned. 
• Watch women be treated as second-class citizens.
• Enrich the 1% at the expense of everyone else.
• Ad nauseam.

Besides, many progressive priorities enjoy wide support. As just one example, 69 percent of voters support Medicare for All. 

And watch out. Millennials and Gen Zers will soon be the primary voting generations; they’re not going to stand for this incremental crap.

So, please.

Stop talking to me this bullshit.

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