CP: That's true. What's really twisted is the term has been co-opted and bastardized by centrists, [former Pennsylvania Rep.] Joe Hoeffel among them. For a very long time, he was shilling for Casey and calling Casey a progressive. This went on for months on end until people started yelling at Joe - really, literally shouting him down. Finally, he let go of using that term, because he had so completely distorted it and turned it inside out. It's not unlike George Orwell's 1984 or even the French revolutionary Robespierre, who literally turned ideas on their heads and gave rise to modern revolutionary thinking. It's a sham, a lot of people who present themselves as progressives... Joe Hoeffel still does; he still presents himself as a progressive and he still supports Bob Casey. It's a sham and it's a shame.
I guess the answer to your question is, Is there a place for progressives in the Democratic Party? Well, if the party is to have a future, there sure as hell better be a place for progressives. There has got to be a place.
I actually talk quite a bit - as a historian, but also because I think it's a good reminder - about Harry Truman and how he ran for president in 1948. I think he was actually outflanked on the Left by Henry Wallace. But Harry Truman did run as a progressive Democrat in 1948: He ran on full employment and on living-wage legislation. He ran on single-payer health care. He was the first modern civil-rights president. And he ran on a foreign-policy strategy, alliance building, that ultimately enabled the United States to prevail in the Cold War. This is the [Democratic] party that won even when the country was conservative - because the country really was in a conservative mindset in 1948; the Republicans had come back to control the Congress, the country was trying to get back to normalcy and trying to put the world and World War II behind them. Still, Truman was able to tap into the base and he was able to keep the base of the party together by fighting on the very values and principles that tie us together today. Constitutinal rights, rights that people are going to be able to have a quality existence and quality education and housing and employment, a living wage and all those other principles he espoused. That's who the Democratic Party is when it's at its best.
It's not simply that there needs to be a place for progressives in the party. I would turn that question around and say now is the time for progressives to lead the Democratic Party out of the woods and back into majority control in the House, in the Senate, in the presidency, the federal courts and the Supreme Court. The only way to get it back is for progressives to be bold, to be courageous, to stand up and fight like hell. Because the Republicans are taken over by radicals determined to consolidate not all power, but absolute power. That's what they're about, Republicans. They want to crush our democracy. And the only way to get it back is to fight like hell. And people are responding to that message wherever I travel around the state. People want that so bad: They want their party back. They want to be proud of their party. They want to know that their party is going to stand up and fight in Washington, DC, and is not going to hand over the keys to the kingdom to the Republicans, that we're not going to engage in this process that I call appeasement. Because that's what the Democrats are doing.
Article comments
1 - Dave De Vetter
I truly believe that Chuck Pennacchio is our only hope of beating Santorum in November. He will actually represent the people's interests instead of giving in to the corporations and righ-wing religious extremists. I hope everyone who reads this visits his site and contributes to his campaign or signs up to volunteer (even if you don't live in PA, there's much you can do). We're an all volunteer campaign fighting for the future of democracy.
2 - Austin
that site is www.chuck2006.com
3 - Natalie Davis
Chuck's name in the essay, as does the Pennacchio button graphic, links to the campaign Web site.
4 - Brenna Lorenz
If you have a chance to hear Chuck speak, absolutely do go. He will have you jumping out of your seat ready to do battle. You can't imagine how wonderful it is to hear a candidate talk sense!
When people ask him tough questions, he doesn't hedge, waffle, change the subject, flinch or dodge. He answers head-on, decisively. He's going to make mincemeat of Santorum.
This man is a true leader.
5 - Natalie Davis
Yes, Chuck is a principled, empowering presence. And a straight shooter. But the fact remains that the Democratic powers that be, including a lot of the major Democratic blogs (Kos, MyDD, etc.) are pushing the centrist-conservative Casey. That makes it crucial for progressives to spread the word far and wide throughout Pennsylvania: Casey is nothing more than a pale image of Santorum. He does not support the basic issues so crucial for Pennsylvania and that represent core Democratic values. I understand that people are used to caving in to the right wing; they're accustomed to bending over for the conservatives and losing for their self-degradation. But come on - a progressive can win and god knows, a change is needed YESTERDAY. It's time for a real progressive, a real people's candidate. If Santorum is destined to win (and I maintain that he is NOT), isn't it better to lose standing tall rather than on one's knees? Casey is the candidate for the acquiescent, the cowardly, the weak. Pennacchio is the candidate for the courageous, for those who want power to rest in the hands of the PEOPLE rather than the fatcat, money-motivated pols. Spread the word.