3 Reasons Why Progressives Are So Frustrated

Really, it’s pretty simple.

If I may be so bold, I believe I can sum up, in three main points why progressives are so frustrated right now:

  1. They are on the short-end of a left-progressive vs. Third Way ideological divide with the leadership of the American center-left coalition;
  2. In attempts to not be on the short-end of #1, and persuade the coalition rank and file to join them, they face a massive organizational deficit against the coalition leadership;
  3. Finally, if progressives look to split with the coalition in response to #1 and #2, more often than not they just end up getting squashed for it.

Full explanation on the flip side.

The ideological / policy divide within the Democratic coalition. The roots of the frustration arises from an ideological divide within the party pitting the progressive left, which seeks to use the public sector for public ends, versus the centrist, Third Way, New Democrat approach of using a subsidized and regulated private sector to achieve public ends.  Ed Kilgore nailed this ideological difference in his recent essay Taking Ideological Differences Seriously:

Full Story 3 Reasons Why Progressives Are So Frustrated | PEEK | AlterNet.

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