A Progressive Fed Up with Progressive Leadership

I'm a Progressive. I volunteered for the Obama campaign and I loved it. I supported Obama because I thought he had great character. I still think he has great character and I still have faith in the President, but I'm also fed up with Progressive leadership.

We won Congress in 2006 and we won the Whitehouse in 2008. We had everything we needed to promote Progressive values in the government. During the campaign and when he first took office, Obama really spoke passionately from core, Progressive values I believe in. He talked about investing in "Main Street" instead of "Wall Street". He said, "yes, we can". It was inspiring.

But now, I feel like he and other Progressive leaders have laid down and taken it from the Conservatives. If we have the Whitehouse and we have Congress, how is it that we still haven't gotten health care reform passed? Conservatives are marching with signs calling us "Socialists". Of course, we know it's poppy cock. We're capitalists who also believe in a level playing field so that people can have equal opportunity. We also believe in wise investments in American society and the American family. We also believe in empowering people to be all they can be in our capitalist economy. The problem is that it's false to say that "Socialist" is a lie. We need to face the fact that it's their perspective just as our perspective is that a lot of their ideas are "Fascist". So, rather than blaming Conservatives for "lying" about us, I think we need to take a stand and express our perspective.

But, I feel like Progressive leaders are failing to respond to Conservatives. Gone are terms like "main street" and "yes we can". They've been replaced by tediously picking over what they keep calling the "truth" about their policies. Their policies are fine, but little they say these days explains why people should feel passionately about their policies.

I feel like they're missing the point with all this policy-babble. The point is that the Conservatives disagree with Progressive policies! That's why Conservatives are on the march. We may hate to admit it, but Conservatives are doing a good job of promoting their agenda. We Progressives, of course, disagree about whether their agenda is good. Many of us hold the conviction that it's horrible. But, even so, we'd still have to admit that Conservatives are doing a great job of promoting a horrible agenda. They lost the Whitehouse, they lost Congress, and yet their still winning. They must be doing something to win and Progressive leaders must be doing something wrong.

What's wrong, I feel, is expressing our Progressive values: values like empathy, we're all in this together, empowerment and investment in society and the family. We also believe in the freedom of individuals to live their lives as they see fit. I think that if Progressive leaders, like the President, spoke to these core values again, we'd be on top again. Policy means little if people don't hear the passion and value system behind it.

I wish our Progressive leaders would boldly assert these values. Instead, they're mealy-mouthed in an attempt to sound "main-stream". Anybody who thinks being mealy-mouthed is a good strategy should look at Conservatives. Are they trying to compromise their position to appear more "main-stream"? We wish! On the contrary, they're boldly asserting their values (as much as we may hate those values) and then going around acting like it's main stream. We may hate their values, but one has to admire their confidence.

I wish Progressive leaders would have some backbone and boldly assert the Progressive values I believe in. Lest you think I'm just saying this as their "base", I honestly think they'd do better if they did. It's working for Conservatives and they've been ousted from two branches of the Federal government. If our Progressive leaders boldly, decisively, spoke from core values with passion and expressed clearly to the American people why we're so fired up about them, people would listen, we'd have the majority of Congress to legislate it and we'd have the President to execute it. That's all they'd need to do for us to win!

I'm only a rank-and-file implementer. I can sign the petitions, donate money and volunteer, but the one thing I probably lack the power to do is to actually lead Progressives at a national level. That's why I feel so hopeless. "Yes I can," only works if the President and the rest of Progressive leadership advocates Progressive values and passion. I'm ready to implement, but I need leadership that I can count on to share my passion and values with the American people.

The following article, "Where's the Movement", by Dr. George Lakoff, a cognitive scientist and fellow Progressive at U.C. Berkeley articulates very clearly what I'm feeling right now:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/wheres-the-movement_b_435045.html