Bold Progressives
by digby
As the exciting prospect of an Obama presidency after eight long years of Republican rule begins to look as if it might actually happen, progressives must remember the words of another Democratic president:
FDR was, of course, a consummate political leader. In one situation, a group came to him urging specific actions in support of a cause in which they deeply believed. He replied: I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it. He understood that a President does not rule by fiat and unilateral commands to a nation. He must build the political support that makes his decisions acceptable to our countrymen. He read the public opinion polls not to define who he was but to determine where the country was – and then to strategize how he could move the country to the objectives he thought had to be carried out.
To that end, online progressives are organizing around this concept:
Anyone with common sense will vote for Barack Obama and Democratic congressional candidates this November. But it’s time for citizens to fight back and take this pledge — will you join in signing it?
“In 2009 and beyond, I will be part of the movement that pushes Democrats to be bold progressives — and that helps pass a bold progressive agenda into law.”
What does taking the pledge mean? It means that when Democratic “leaders” tell Americans we must settle for watered-down solutions while bold back-benchers in the House or Senate are pushing strong progressive alternatives, we will clamor for those bold alternatives together until they are passed into law.
What else does it mean? It means we will turn those bold back-benchers into leaders. Just as grassroots progressives fueled Howard Dean’s election as Democratic National Committee chair and pushed aside insiders who wanted more of the same, we will make sure that Democratic “leaders” are the ones who actually show bold progressive leadership.
What else does it mean? It means we will no longer just write checks to the Democratic Party and assume they know how best to spend it. We’ll give our money to bold progressive candidates — bypassing the influence of corporate lobbyists and entrenched Democratic insiders who are used to picking the winners and using their purse strings to make bold progressives in Congress fall in line.
The netroots and grassroots going to take FDRs advice and make them do it.
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