Progressive Politics

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What can we do to get a progressive in the White House? (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 days ago by abbotsbury to c/progressivepolitics

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Like what are the practical steps to take? Stuff like universal healthcare isn't even a controversial policy. How do we form a voting bloc around that?

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I’ll give you three paths:

Option 1: It’s not so much about getting a progressive in the White House, it’s about getting a significant majority in the legislature. LBJ was not considered a progressive when elected, yet he signed many progressive objectives into law. Get a decent power base in the legislature and any moderate president worth half their salt will sign the stuff into law.
Option 2: Get Progressives in the cabinet and then utilize the order of succession. Arguably the most progressive person in recent history that we’ve had in the White House was Henry Wallace, he was VP in FDRs 3rd presidency and then became secretary of commerce in the 4th and as part of Truman’s cabinet. He was a known communist apologist. At one time, he was a heartbeat away from being president.
Option 3: The Snapback to normalcy. Just a theory, but for whatever awful reason, as soon as America elects one party or the other, they essentially get buyers remorse the next election. Not always, but fairly often. So, America could elect someone so awful, who cuts back so many popular programs, and enacts so much of their own agenda that Americans find unpalatable. Add to that a raise in taxes and a bad economy during the election cycle, and maybe, just maybe a progressive demagogue would have a fighting chance. Of course, the opposite is just as likely to occur for another 4 or 8 years first, so when using this option, be careful what you wish for.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

Someone else said it well on another thread, but essentially; life keeps getting harder/worse for regular people regardless of which party is "in power". So if a Dem is in charge, the next election goes to a Republican, then when things get worse, the next election goes to a Dem, then things get worse and it goes back to a Republican... Etc