I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of the Progressive community as we prepare for the coming transition to a new administration in Washington, DC. In my adult life, I’ve witnessed two significant transitions from Republican to Democratic administrations - Ford to Carter and then, more than a decade later, from Bush (1) to Clinton. There is no way of predicting if we will see another such transition this year, but it’s certainly possible. What I noticed in those prior experiences was how difficult it was for progressives to maintain their voice in the process. Friends and fellow travelers were jumping into the new regime’s many roles and jobs, and it became hard for folks to criticize them.
The right has had a better experience in this regard with their many, well-heeled independent think tanks and research outfits. They have readily criticized their friends in whatever new administration if they moved away from recommended policies. There is a lesson in this for progressives. We must think about the longevity of important voices outside the halls of government. For instance, I pray that a new administration doesn’t recruit Bob Greenstein (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) to be Treasury Secretary or head of OMB (both of which he would be brilliant at) for the simple reason that he is the best independent voice on tax and budget policy. And, Larry Michel at EPI (Economic Policy Institute) plays a similar role on labor and economic policy. We have so few effective advocates at a national policy level, and we need to treat them like the national treasures they are, and THAT means that we need to support their work effectively for the long term.
The Democracy Alliance was formed with this premise in mind. While some would argue that it hasn’t completely fulfilled its original vision, it has come a long way in the right direction. Several of us agreed to constitute their new “investment committee” with the charge of looking into the future and trying to discern what will be needed in 2009 and beyond. An interesting challenge, as it won’t be until November of this year that we even know what the landscape will be in Washington. Nonetheless, the importance of stepping back, looking at what is likely to be, and then formulating some ideas about what the most important elements of a continuing “progressive infrastructure” will be could not be a more crucial task.
Do you all have any ideas for this? What do you think of as the most important organizations or voices that promote progressive policy? How can they be encouraged to maintain their independent role over the coming cycle?
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