Progressives Vs. Moderates: In Defense of Progressives
by Drew Kalsto, Lasalle-Peru Township High School
When the words Moderate and Progressive come to mind, many Americans sigh at the prospect of the Democratic Party. As many politicians put it, the party has expanded into a tent where different ideologies can live under one main idea: Progress. Any Democrat is running on the principles of modernizing as time goes on, whether that bar be on the floor, or high in the air, there are no real conservative Democrats in office (besides possibly Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has won his Senate races by being a Conservative Democrat.) However, during the last four years especially, the Republican party has managed to not only weaponize the Democrat’s platform, but also pit the two sides of the party against one another. These two sides are generally referred to as the Progressives and the Moderates. Let’s just clear up something really quickly: Barack Obama is not a progressive. Bernie Sanders is a progressive. Nancy Pelosi is not a Progressive. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is. Many Americans can often be confused by the title ‘Progressive’ because many politicians claim to be Progressive, when they are in fact, at best, Moderate-Liberals. So yes, while Obama was all about making change, he didn’t push for Medicare for All, and other Progressive policies. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, is often attributed to be the face of the Progressive Movement. He came in second in the Democratic Primaries twice, ironically enough, behind two Moderates. Now that the difference between Moderate-Liberals and actual Progressives has been defined, let’s talk about what separates them, and how that is handing Republicans more victories than most would think.
The war between Progressives and Moderates has always been in politics, but recently, it’s seen an amplification like no other. That being, that it has now been defined as such: a war of sorts. Before, it was usually just a difference of ideologies. Now, it’s difficult for Bernie Sanders to have a word without being referred to as a Radical-Socialist. Times have changed, and both parties have gotten particularly more dangerous in the way politics are conducted. And it all seemed to start to rumble with a progressive from New York’s 14th District, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a bartender who, after being pushed by her friends and a group titled Justice Democrats, decided to run against incumbent Joe Crowley (D) for that district’s house seat. For most of the campaign season, she was mocked at both a small national scale, and even in the home district. Many believed that there was no chance a new-faced, Progressive could unseat such an established member of Congress. But Cortez persisted, met with her district’s residents, went door to door campaigning, held open-forums, and slowly built a movement from the ground up. And on June 28th, she managed to unseat Crowley with over 15 points. This win was a national upset that sparked conversation, launching the Democratic-Socialist into the spotlight. And while the right and moderate-left began to weaponize AOC and others alike, this set a precedent moving forward. The Progressive Party was rising, and demonstrated a key skill needed to survive: the ability to win.
However, this win has also caused a lot of ruckus from both sides of the aisle. This being attributed to the fearful rhetoric used to paint Progressives as horrible politicians and people. For example, in the Georgia Senate Debate, Republican Kelly Loefler repeated “Radical Liberal” thirteen times throughout the debate. This is because it’s become very easy and effective for the Republican Party to throw stick words to drive more voters to the Conservative side. They even called Joe Biden a Radical Leftist. He’s not! Joe Biden is about as centrist as one could get. Yet, Donald Trump still got 74,000,000 votes over Biden on the national scale, and Georgia’s senate races were too close to call, so it was obviously somewhat effective. Fearful rhetoric is something that many students, including myself, have discussed in AP Language and Composition, and the ruling from our class was how dangerous fearful rhetoric is to politics. It has turned an industry dedicated to serving the people into a trash talk workplace, filled with untrue statements and fallacies.
Republicans are expected to contribute to this narrative, considering they created it, but it’s not just Conservatives pushing these ideas of radicalism from the Progressive side. It’s Moderate Democrats too. Just take Joe Manchin, the Democratic Senator from West Virginia. Recently AOC and himself got into an argument over ‘Defund the Police’, AOC claiming it was a policy demand, while Manchin remarked that it was a socialist plan that would ruin the country. Other Moderate Democrats have used this to drive voters to moderate candidates, or even to the Republican party. And the most frustrating part of this whole battle between Progressives like AOC and Moderates like Nancy Pelosi is that the Moderates are so stubborn in their views, they cannot admit that they are actively causing issues for the party as well. All House seats lost in the 2020 election were Moderate Democrats. And yet, the Progressives got blamed for it because of their policies. In 2016, Hillary Clinton’s loss has been attributed to Bernie Supporters not turning out. Progressives were once again blamed. But have the Moderate Democrats ever stopped to consider that the constant support of Moderate Candidates in the Primaries like Biden and Clinton could be one of the problems? Or the fact that they refuse to vote with Progressive Policy while Progressives like AOC have constantly voted for Moderate Legislation? Moderate Democrats claim to be the middle ground, but refuse to work with Progressives, and in turn, completely sacrifice the ability to change America for the better.
In good news, however, the days of Moderates dominating the Democratic party is slowly dying. Although many Moderates will claim that’s not true, an overwhelming support of Progressive policies has swept America, and the younger generations have been shown to support candidates like Bernie Sanders over the likes of Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. According to DataforProgress.com, “In 2019, 52 percent of millennials agreed the government should guarantee healthcare and 38 percent said no.” Millennials have been significantly more liberal on issues, but let’s turn the attention to Generation Z. Pew Research notes, “Surveys conducted in the fall of 2018 (more than a year before the coronavirus outbreak) among Americans ages 13 and older found that, similar to Millennials, Gen Zers are progressive and pro-government, most see the country’s growing racial and ethnic diversity as a good thing, and they’re less likely than older generations to see the United States as superior to other nations.” And if that doesn’t convince Moderates that their base and place in government is in trouble, look at who placed second in the Democratic Primary in both 2016 and 2020: Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democratic Socialist pushing for policies such as Medicare For All, Tuition Free Public College, Green New Deal, etc.
Though every single major issue in this country has been solved by Progressives, including abolishment of institutions like slavery, the Establishment managed to take over the political landscape. But that is coming to an end slowly but surely, and for good reason. Moderates make good progress, don’t get me wrong. However, this is still a country of immense wealth disparities, and a country rooted in racism and bigotry. Yet, Moderates refuse to condone to Progressive policies such as a Universal Healthcare, Tuition Free Public College, and the Green New Deal. They claim it simply can’t be done, when in reality, it very much can. Every other industrialized nation has a Universal Healthcare, and it can be paid for by taking the money a citizen would pay to Blue-Cross, Blue-Shield, and transitioning it into a payroll tax, which would save Americans thousands of dollars a year. A Yale Study additionally found that America could offer two-year severance to those affected by the shift. Tuition-Free Public College could be paid for by a transaction tax on Wall Street, eliminating the student-loan debt issue all together, and allowing more Americans to contribute to our economy. And the Green New Deal is majorly misrepresented by both Moderates and Republicans, that being that it would cost America more money than needed. On the contrary, America doesn’t really know how much it will cost, but to put it simply: The deal would look to solve every single problem connected to the climate crisis and the paradigm shift it’d take to solve it. So, obviously, it’s going to cost money. Yet, I find it odd that when there’s talk of policy to save the planet or bailout everyday Americans, it gets called ‘too expensive’, but at the same time, America has the funds to give around 1 trillion dollars to a military fighting wars in the Middle East over oil, the very same thing that is killing our planet.
To summarize, the ideologies of Moderates and Centrism are dying because they are not moving fast enough. We cannot afford to allow Republicans and conservatives time to catch up with policies that could and would save lives. Instituting a Universal Health Care could save millions from dying or going into debt. Instituting a Tuition-Free Public College would relieve generations and allow adequate education and opportunities. Moderates aren’t the enemy, however, which should be made clear. They have their faults, but they are also committed to the basic principles of progress. They just tend to attempt to appeal to Republicans instead of actually passing effective legislation. And that isn’t to say that Moderates haven’t done anything for this country, because they definitely have! Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act insured millions, but the main point is that we, as a developed and modern nation, can do better. And the way we do so, is by believing the idealistic, progressive agenda.
