By Kate Murray ’22
Staff Writer
Medicare for all! Taxing the rich! Green New Deal! Student debt relief! These values are among those heard in the rallying cries of progressive politicians and voters in the 2020 election cycle. However, candidates who espouse these values are vastly underperforming on the national stage.
The progressive wing of the Democratic party is a sect that supports bold and substantive social change rather than incremental reform. They differ from moderates in their promotion of policies that challenge establishment interests and advance equity, especially for marginalized Americans.
Graphic courtesy of Anjai Rao-Herel ‘22
The proportion of progressive voters has been steadily increasing over the last quarter-century, so much so that they now make up 47 percent of the Democratic party, according to an average of 2019 political surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center and presented in a 2020 article. A Feb. 2020 Economist/YouGov poll, as cited by New York Magazine, found that this trend is especially pronounced amongst millennials and Gen Zer’s. According to the poll, an estimated 60 percent of Democrats younger than 30 endorsed Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders in the presidential election. The broad appeal of the progressive movement should realistically result in a larger share of these candidates in office, but numerous barriers keep these politicians out of power. A better understanding of the political arena in which these politicians compete can give insight into the future of the movement and inform activist agendas to remove obstacles progressive politicians face.
One major challenge for progressive politicians vying for office is primary elections. Since these candidates have to win the primary before advancing to the general election, it can be difficult to stage successful challenges against more moderate and sometimes more established candidates.
Politics major Amelia Malpas ’22 is currently writing her honors thesis on the post-Sanders movement of progressive challengers and its impact on the Democratic Party. She expressed that primaries are often an uphill battle for progressive candidates, especially those running against an incumbent.
“It’s actually fairly extreme and not moderate at all to oppose policy that a majority of people want.”
“Media framing and voters’ conceptions of the lack of ‘electability’ of progressive candidates probably play the biggest role when they run in swing seats where Democrats have a chance of winning if they mobilize and/or flip enough votes,” she said. “That’s because the partisan stakes are higher in these districts than in heavily Democratic districts … or when progressives run in heavily Republican seats where the chance of a Democrat winning is very low.”
Another considerable obstacle that progressives face when running for office is the role of the media in curating public opinion. “Something that bothers me is how the media calls the conservative wing of the Democratic Party ‘moderate’ when they are opposing policies that are extremely popular among Democratic voters and even a sizable number of Republican voters,” Malpas said. “It’s actually fairly extreme and not moderate at all to oppose policy that a majority of people want.”
The future of the movement remains a mystery, but historical trends may provide insight. On the bright side, 2018 and 2020 saw a surge of progressive candidates occupy the House of Representatives, so this trend may continue for the next several cycles. In theory, it's possible that the progressive wing may break away from the Democratic establishment and form a separate party, but this may not be an electorally-viable option. While they aren’t as powerful a block as voter preference would predict, progressive politicians have gained some representation in Congress by identifying with the Democratic party. Given the constraints of America’s two-party system, it appears that primarying moderate challengers is currently the most effective option available to progressives. Nevertheless, it is empowering to keep in mind that American voters still wield considerable power in carrying these candidates to victory. That is why elections must be kept open, free and fair so the American people can make their voices heard.