Historian Michael Cohen has what he calls a counterpoint to Rick Perlstein's essay on the political and social importance of Democrats defending the social safety net. But on close reading, it seems that Cohen's argument is more of an extension, or a continuation of Perlstein's essay than a counterpoint.
He argues that "relying on class warfare attacks or strident defenses of entitlements might provide a short-term political boost for Democrats. It might even win them the 2012 election. But the larger challenge for liberalism is restoring faith in government and making the case to a skeptical electorate for greater public sector activism."
What is glossed over in Perlstein's re-telling of history is that the economic populism, which he claims was the root of Democratic success, has been supplanted by a conservative populism that portrays government, rather than big business, as the enemy. This of course has become the dominant political paradigm in the four decades since and is the political terrain on which President Obama and Democrats, in general, are today operating.It's not that Perlstein is wrong to suggest that Obama and the Democrats should defend the social safety net. They should. Considering that Republicans have foolishly passed a budget that would basically eviscerate Medicare, it's smart, short-term politics.
But it's hardly enough. The problem for Democrats, and liberalism in general, is that their solution for the current economic mess?more stimulus, more government focus on creating jobs are goals that voters share, but don't actually believe to be achievable.[...]
Indeed, this is the fundamental challenge that confronts the left in America today, and its resolution is one must come from something other than a rhetorically-gifted President. Rather it requires a concerted effort on the part of the left to mobilize public opinion, build a policy infrastructure and develop policy ideas that support progressive values. When Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980 he was riding rode the coattails of a powerful and effective grass-roots conservative movement. Progressives must do the same and think more strategically about how they can fundamentally shift the views of the electorate?and Democratic politicians?toward their worldview. It is not sufficient to traffic in the language of past glories or mobilize against something, as progressives have done so successfully in Wisconsin, in opposition, to legislation that would strip collective bargaining rights away from public sector unions. They also must learn to mobilize in support of something.
Defending the safety net is part and parcel of good government, so what Cohen is doing is less refuting anything that Perlstein has said than amplifying it. Perlstein talks about the importance of "saying clearly what you are for and what you are against," and Cohen takes it a step further to the necessity of acting on those beliefs.
Cohen is right to highlight how important it is for Democrats to reclaim the mantle of good, necessary government. That's going to be doubly hard given how much ground was lost in the debt-ceiling deal, which may be past redemption, even if a jobs agenda could somehow be shoe-horned into it.
He's to a certain extent wrong that what progressives need to do is fundamentally shift the views of the electorate. Poll after poll has shown that mainstream public opinion is essentially progressive. What progressives, and elected Democrats, have to do is articulate the importance of progressive, populist policies, then fight for and implement them. Turning the ideas into effective policy solutions and proving that they work will bring the public along, just as it did for FDR and LBJ.
Good policy is good politics. That includes protecting the social safety net, more vital right now in this recession than ever.
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