Peter Cunningham

The Wall Street Journal has declared that the era of progressive politics is over all across the world. Citing the rise of right-wing parties in Europe, in unlikely places like Canada, and, of course, right here at home, they have concluded that the twin forces of weak economic growth and record immigration have effectively destroyed progressive politics.

In making this point, they ignored one very obvious counter-example. Notoriously macho, hyper-Catholic Mexico has a newly-elected Jewish female President with a long history of left-leaning politics. It’s also hard to argue that events in Syria are part of the populist right-wing trend though it’s a little premature for progressives to celebrate.

It bears remembering that Trump only won by a point-and-a-half. It wasn’t a landslide—it was a mudslide, and it will all wash away just as soon as people realize that he and his billionaire friends not only won’t deliver for them but will gleefully screw them over.

It was somewhat frustrating to see lifelong Democrat turned right-wing think tanker Ruy Teixeira sum up the problem in the following way: “Working-class people are just pissed off—about immigration, about all the culture war stuff, and the relatively poor economic performance that has shaped the working-class experience in the 21st century.”

We all understand that working class people are pissed off, but let’s also acknowledge that the unhappy “working class experience in the 21^st Century” owes much to conservative policies like tax cuts that favor the wealthy, endless wars costing trillions of dollars, and price-gouging from big business. I doubt Teixeira believes it’s all the fault of Democrats spending to restore manufacturing and address climate change.

All that said, however, it’s beyond debate that the progressive brand is deeply tarnished. We have taken on the baggage of elites for getting cozy with donors from Wall Street, Silicon Valley and big business. And we were way too slow to respond on inflation and immigration.

But there is still much about us that can and should appeal to working class voters from supporting workers, women and people of color to safety net programs that lift millions out of poverty. Still, we need a simple strategy. Consider this: in our politics, we focus exclusively on bread-and-butter issues—jobs, housing, health care, education and retirement—and once we win, govern fairly, boldly and justly on all issues—from promoting diversity and protecting free speech to holding police accountable for misconduct.

Too often, progressives run on issues that are important to slivers of the public like homelessness, for example, while neglecting to affirm their commitment to the issues that touch many more lives. Homelessness directly affects under one percent of the population. On the other hand, housing affordability affects almost everyone: renters, new homeowners paying high-interest rates and more mature homeowners paying high property taxes, as well as the homeless.

There is nothing disingenuous about focusing on the big issues when running for office and dealing with the other ones while in office. I worked for Rich Daley in Chicago and, as mayor, he did many things to signal progressive bona fides like starting a Department of Environment, marching in the annual Gay Pride parade, beefing up set-aside programs for minorities and women, and funding arts programs. But his politics during his historic 22-year reign were squarely based on keeping the city safe and livable. During the 1991 recession, his message was simple: “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.”

Yes, Democrats lost the 2024 election, but it would be a greater tragedy if we abandoned our principles for the sake of politics. We are not going to become anti-immigrant just because Republicans succeeded in demonizing them. Team Trump is already retreating from their promises to deport millions of people because everyone with a brain knows we need immigrants for a strong and growing economy—whether they are computer whizzes and doctors or small business owners and agricultural workers. We don’t have to moralize about immigration. It’s a bread-and-butter issue. Similarly, we don’t have to moralize about diversity. As any HR director can tell you, it’s also a bread-and-butter issue.

So, let’s reset the brand for sure. Grateful as I am to Speaker Pelosi and President Obama for their brilliant leadership, the next generation of Democratic leaders should look and sound more like John Fetterman, Gretchen Witmer and Andy Beshear. Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester lost but they performed heroically for three full terms in the Senate and showed Democrats how to thrive and lead in red states.

The headlines will change two years from now if Democrats dominate the midterms and will change even more as hateful, right-wing politics collapses of its own ugly weight. In the meantime, progressives with a platform and a voice should reaffirm their commitment to the bread-and-butter issues that matter to most people so that when it’s time for them to vote again, they will remember who is on their side. All the other stuff is important, but we can’t do anything about them unless we win elections.