Progressives Talk Politics, and Protest Politicians

by Jo Freeman

What a difference a little opposition makes.

Last year’s progressive conference was down in the dumps – disappointed by Obama and without direction. This year’s progressive conference, held October 3-5 in Washington, DC, was girding for battle.

For years it called itself  Take Back America. After the Democrats captured the federal government in 2008, many thought progressives had done just that. But after calling itself “Our Future, Now” for two years it has returned to oppositional mode with a demand to Take Back the American Dream. 

The motivator was the Tea Party – seen as a grass roots social movement that stands for almost everything progressives are against. Impressed with how the Republican candidates for President pander to its power, progressives displayed a grim determination not to let them take over all branches of government.

The inspiration was Occupy Wall Street, which was into its third week. This spontaneous uprising by young people which has filled the streets of lower Manhattan prompted a bad case of protest envy among the older crowd attending the DC conference. Pretty much everyone wished they were there. 

The heros of the conference were the public employees of Wisconsin and Ohio, several of whom told a couple hundred attentive listeners what they were doing to take back their state governments. 

Last August Wisconsin voted to recall two Republican state legislators for voting for a law to limit the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers. In November the unions will start petitioning to recall Governor Scott Walker. 

In Ohio, where a similar law was passed, 1.6 million people signed a petition to put a repeal measure on the ballot. Voters will decide its fate in November.

There were a lot of speeches on what the American Dream meant, with one common theme – this isn’t it. Like the Tea Party, the torpid economy is seen as the primary problem. Unlike the Tea Party, the cure is seen as “Jobs, Not Cuts.” 

This year, conference organizers did not have to cope with disruptive protests from the floor, as has happened in the past. 

President Obama and his promises were among the missing. Robert Reich, Clinton’s first Labor Secretary, told everyone that they need to re-elect Obama and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said he approved of the Obama jobs bill.  Those were among the few mentions the President got. 

In 2008 progressives were giddy with anticipation; in 2010 they were depressed with disappointment. 

In 2011, President Obama wasn’t even present as a ghost. No one from his administration was invited to speak and his policies weren’t discussed. This year’s cheers for public officials went to half a dozen members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Wisconsin firefighters in their dress uniforms.